Eastern Europe’s cosmetics market may be recovering from recent economic crises but it is still tough for the smaller players, report Mark Rowe from London, Zlatko Conkas from Novi Sad, Serbia, Mike Stein from Prague and Blake Berry from Warsaw
During the spring of 2011, the prevailing view throughout eastern Europe’s personal care and toiletries market was that while business was not exactly buoyant, the worst of the recession was over. Then came the credit crises and the faltering Euro. The result is a decidedly mixed picture: some multinationals are proving resilient and others less so but international and local players everywhere are confronting rising prices for raw materials and demand for lower costs from customers.