Mixing the ingredients to success. The story of a Romanian exclusive dermato-cosmetic brand on the verge of going international

Passioned since the 8th grade about liquor mixes, a Romanian pharmacist (28) from Alba Iulia,  Emanuel Lazar, has mixed the ingredients and created a niche business with dermato-cosmetics products. He launched in 2014 his first dermato-cosmetic creme with urea for skin dehydration, exfoliation and skin maintenance in the treatment of psoriasis, after a vital creme was withdrawn from the market. Currenly his brand has 10 products in the portfolio. This month he launched another product under his Eladerm brand, a micellar lotion. BR talked to Lazar and found out more about Eladerm and how it succeeds to compete with international brands.

Which is the story? How did the idea of creating dermato-cosmetics products come?

I discovered my passion since the 8th grade, and due to my parents, who owned a pharmacy in Alba Iulia, I succeeded to make my dream come true and transform it into a career.

Working in the pharmacy, I identified the market necessity of a cream with emollient effect. At the beginning, I used the cream of another producer, to which I was adding several actives and vitamins. This cream was withdrawn from the market and I was left without the base of unction that I used. That was the moment I decided to start the research to generate a first base of cream. Afterwards I developed the range Eladerm with urea that covers several necessities of the skin, and it was released on the market in 2014. It became successful.

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How do the Eladerm products differentiate from other Romanian and international brands’ products?

We tried to identify a solution for each skin disease. In this respect we tried to develop a network that contains an active with a research behind for the respective disease, and also to explain how our product works for solving the respective problem. My goal was to produce cremes with natural incredients close to 100% and the price to be smaller than the one of the foreign competition.

How do you keep up with the competition? Do you have a marketing strategy?

Being at the beginning, our marketing budget is small, but we try to increase it constantly. Mainly our promotion is online. In this respect, we collaborate with 2 marketing agencies. It was very hard to compete with the big international brands which invest millions of Euro annually in marketing. However, I didn’t discourage and I aimed to analyze which are their mistakes. After a detailed study, of close to 2 years, I concluded that many of the similar cremes that are on the market have components  in higher concentrations than the specialists in the field recommend. When I launched the product, I did it with amost zero budget for marketing and I succeeded to make it known on the Romanian market.

Which was the initial investment?

The initial investment in the beginning phase was around EUR 150,000. The location (which was the most expensive asset) I already had. For the laboratory equipment I took loans.

How many employees are currently in the business?

We are two. And there is one more person outsourced for online.

Which has been the evolution of sales from 2014 until now? What sales do you estimate for 2018?

In 2014 I started by reaserch. The effective production started in 2016, but it wasn’t an entire year of activity. The first entire year of activity was in 2017, when we had a pretty good evolution. Taking into account that we currently have 10 products and our goal this year is to reach 20, we hope this developemnt will aslo be seen in the sales.

How many products do you currently have in Eladerm portfolio?

Currently we have 10 products. Besides the products available on our site, we have products taht we sell only in pharmacies. Moreover, in our laboratory, which is in the same location with the pharmacy, we develop customized products.

Which are the plans for this year and for the following years?

This year we aim to reach a portfolio of 20 products. In the next year we aim to develop products for as many skin diseases as possible. The next product that we’ll launch will be a creme for the treatment of rosacea.