2A+ Cosmética: Hair Strand Factory

Mazzaferro invests more than R$ 5 million in hair strand factory
In just three years, Color Charts has gained 50% market share.

Mazzaferro, a company with 65 years of experience in the nylon segment, does not stop growing and innovating. And Mazzaferro Monofilamentos is the one that stands out the most in this sense. The unit has identified a number of opportunities to expand its scope of operations, moving from commodities to the niche economy, offering products and services with greater added value. One of the best examples of this strategic review is the Color Charts business unit, a manufacturer of wick cards for hair coloring.

Euromonitor data show that Brazil is the fourth in the ranking of the ten largest consumer countries of personal care, perfumery and cosmetics products. In terms of coloring, it ranks third, which represents a huge and rapidly growing market. For this reason, Mazzaferro Monofilamentos decided to map this market and visited 80% of hair color manufacturers. There, it identified that 80% of the cartridges were imported, with a very high lead time and high cost, making this product unfeasible, which is a fundamental part for the sale of coloring. It was then that the company decided to invest heavily to be the most productive and reliable supplier of hair dye color cards in Latin America, offering a competent and complete graphic creation service, which stands out for the quality of the product, the personalization of the service and the delivery.

The company has been working on this project since 2014, and today it already holds 50% of the market share. Of course, the path was not simple. To enter a previously unknown market, Mazzaferro had to invest heavily in expertise. The company kept seven professionals from finance, sales, engineering, maintenance, design, production and coloring for three months in Italy, in the city of Magenta. The aim was to transfer technology and know-how from the chosen partner. “It was a very enriching experience. We operated this partner’s factory at the same time we were building our own,” recalls CFO Wesley Ortolani. Between the exchange of knowledge and the assembly of the plant, more than R$ 5 million were invested. The plant is located within the Monofilamentos unit in São Paulo and occupies 2 of the 16,000 square meters of the factory complex. Between the pre-marketing of the market and the inauguration of the factory were only nine months.

Mazzaferro has been operating in the nylon business for more than six decades and this expertise has allowed the creation of a smooth yarn, with a very soft touch, without twisting, similar to human hair, which today already has more than 600 base color options. By making the mixtures between them, it is possible to achieve an infinity of tones. “Literally, we have a guiding thread as one of the pillars for the success of this unit, which in this case was registered under the name of Swatch Monofilaments, which means wick in English,” he says. This is an important, but not the only competitive differential. Unlike all other competitors, which rely on importing yarns from other continents, Swatch yarns are already produced in their base colors and do not require dyeing after they are ready. “This mass-dyed extrusion process, as it is called, has a quality that is clearly superior, more faithful to the color and with a controlled future reproduction,” he guarantees.

Another added value much admired by customers is the fact that Mazzaferro conducts the carton project as a whole, from the layout creation process to the finished product. “The cartons are very important for a color manufacturer. The brand needs to be very well presented in this essential sales tool both in the hands of distributors and at points of sale, such as perfumeries and pharmacies. It is also a powerful source of technical content for the professional, as it carries a lot of information on active ingredients, mixtures, color height, among others of fundamental importance for the professional. To ensure this level of expertise, our professionals are constantly trained in Italy,” he explains. Customized design also makes a difference. Everything is thought out specifically for each client, with minimalist and modern features, connecting the essence of each one to their product. That is why companies such as L’Oreal, Wella and Embeleze, are among the more than 150 customers of all sizes, from North to South of Brazil.

With a DNA of innovation, Color Charts always launches new products. In addition to the cards, the company has created several other products, such as gondola, counter or wall displays customized for each customer. “Often, when it comes to a launch, our designers design the artwork for the dye tube, the packaging and even the launch campaign pieces,” Ortolani boasts. In recent months, Color Charts has launched the beard cartouche, due to the great growth of this sector in Brazil and worldwide. There is also the card with sensory fragrance tech, where you can feel the scent of coloring. The Smart line, with QR Code, connects customers through social networks with the educational content of each brand. The latest launch was the Sliding Chart, a card with a sliding system, 100% recyclable, developed for hypermarkets, drugstores and perfumeries.

Currently, 35,000 cartridges are manufactured per month. Of these, 38% are already destined for Latin American countries such as Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay, Chile and even the world’s main beauty market, the United States. Growth is accelerating. In 2017, a 51% increase in turnover was recorded compared to 2016. The same is expected in 2018. In three years, the goal is to triple. The payback of this investment was approximately two years, and in June this year the company invested another 700 thousand reais in increasing the capacity in the production of wicks and finalizing the tampographic system. “We stand out for the quality of the product, the pre and post sales service, and the short lead time. We are confident in the progressive growth of this business unit,” Ortolani concludes.

Published on 2A+ Cosmética portal in August 11th, 2018:
doisamaiscosmetica.com.br/mercado-negocios/mazzaferro-investe-mais-de-r-5-milhoes-em-fabrica-de-mechas-de-cabelo