Skincare firm eyes Irish expansion as sales jump

NEW-ZEALAND-BASED natural skincare firm Trilogy said sales in Ireland have increased more than 400% in the last year and the company is considering expansion here.

Co-founder and director with Trilogy, Sarah Gibbs said the firm has had one of its most successful global launches in Ireland and despite the downturn sales are continuing to grow.

The company, which offers a range of natural skincare products, launched in Ireland last summer.

“Trilogy is all about high performance products and responsible, ethical business practices, so we’re delighted that prestigious Irish beauty editors and consumers are loving our products and clearly understand what the brand stands for,” said Ms Gibbs.

“Over the past year we’ve won numerous beauty awards, been on high profile television shows and in countless magazines. which is really exciting. We’re also helping grow the Irish market for natural skincare which is great,” she added.

Over the past 12 months the number of stores which stock Trilogy has increased to 300 stores and includes the Unicare pharmacy chain, Nourish, the Health Store and Arnotts.

“We have good distribution at present but we’re happy to look at other distribution opportunities which are appropriate for the brand,” said Ms Gibbs. In general Trilogy’s business growth is very good. They had sales growth of 48% across all markets in last year, 127% sales growth in Australia and, according to Ms Gibbs, this year is looking good.

“We’ve launched a number of new products over the past six months,” she said. “Natural skincare is one of the fastest growing categories within the beauty sector and when your products also perform, as Trilogy’s do, the customer demand is still there, even in tougher economic times,” she said.

“While we’ve had to adapt how we work, Trilogy’s sales have not been strongly impacted by the recession. Customers may not be spending as much as they used to, but they are still looking for an affordable luxury in these more challenging economic times. Ireland is a market we enjoy working in and know has huge growth potential due to increased customer interest in natural skincare here. This is part of a global trend as sales of natural skincare worldwide are growing about 20% per year,” she added.