It is a country renowned for beauty queens and plastic surgery, but Venezuela’s economic woes have created a desolated personal care and beauty market, where consumers count themselves lucky if they can find shampoo and deodorant.
With six Miss World and seven Miss Universe winners to its name and a reputation for image-obsessed consumers, Venezuela should be a booming market for beauty and personal care products. Indeed, at first glance, it is; in 2014 consumer sales rose to over US$6.5bn from $4.5bn in 2013, according to Euromonitor International, while annual per capita spending on the sector jumped from $147.70 to $211.70.