Beauty in Mind mit Antonia Benvegnù: COSSMA

According to the latest statistics, the global beauty industry market size is set to be worth $571.1 billion in 2023. This number alone is astonishing, and it gives an idea of how many people are involved to generate and contribute to it: Manufacturers, brands, retailers, distributors, importers, salon owners, and, finally, the end consumers.

I have been working in the show business dedicated to the cosmetics industry for over 20 years, joining Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna, the leading beauty event worldwide, and contributing to its internationalisation and expansion.

For me, the world of exhibitions has always represented a real magic: the place where the world comes together for a few days, where business is concentrated at its most, where a full ‘city’ with booths and services is constructed and takes shape in a few days and then disappears!

It is unbelievable how many people are involved and gravitate around an exhibition: not only organisers, exhibitors and visitors, but stand builders, services of any kind (electrical, food), transports, hotels, restaurants.

If we look at the world scenario, the 5 Cosmoprof shows around the world mean moving a total of over 10,000 exhibitors and over 500,000 professional visitors from 190 countries, which prove how much business is generated around the events. Astonishing numbers.

The show business is therefore complex, challenging and ever-changing: it represents the best and most efficient way to put supply and demand together. The organisers need to be constantly updated with the market and trends worldwide, be able to offer not only square meters but consultancy and services, contents and special projects enriching the exhibition format. Each year organisers must reinvent their exhibitions, and this is the most exciting part of the job for me.

Working for events devoted to the cosmetics industry means dealing with beauty every day, a continuous discovery and surprise: Cosmopack in particular (the event devoted to the entire beauty supply chain), for which I am responsible, is highly stimulating because it offers the possibility to discover in advance all the innovations and novelties which will become the product in the future, the one which will be seen on the shelves and bought in a perfumery shop or beauty store.

It is a highly innovative and competitive segment, where the stakeholders in the industry interpret the needs of the consumers and translate them into cutting-edge products which do and make us feel good.

With 515 exhibitors coming from 38 countries (numbers from the last 2023 Cosmopack event), creativity, suggestions and inspiration are the code words which enrich the offer and the global discussion: it is an ongoing discovery and magic to see how a beauty product is conceived, manufactured and proposed to the market.