Ori Leslau is the 28 year old chief executive of Confetti, a personal care company, that has targeted emerging and frontier markets.
He claims he regularly gets emails from people in Tripoli, Erbil, Baghdad and Kerala thanking him for bringing his products to their towns.
“It feels crazy,” he says. “I would never have believed people would get so attached to personal care products that they email the company. But in a town where there is limited supply and some dreadful quality we are supplying products that are not only great value and far above the quality of the competition, we change people’s lives. We get emails all the time.”
He came to the UAE as a fresh faced 20 year old working for Yardley of London, the oldest and internationally famous, personal care brand.
He always knew that life could teach him more than university and with a passion for money and a career he left school at 18 and went into sales. He set up Confetti Group in 2012 and now sells one million units every month.
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His main products are deodorants, body sprays and fragrances for women, with the scents sourced from the same factories in France that produce uber premium brands. The average retail price for his deodorant is US$1.50 while his fragrance sells at $4.50, price points which make he says makes his products big sellers in emerging markets. New products coming online include dry shampoo, shampoo and body splash at the beginning of next year and will be launching a new men’s range and a women’s intimates range.
His target is to have a presence in 20 or more countries and launch in South America in the next few years. This will take a serious investment which has been hard to secure locally.
“Convincing local banks to lend large amounts on a ‘working capital’ basis has been slightly challenging,” says Mr Leslau.
“However private investors are bullish on the markets we operate in and know the potential upside. I think the next investment round will be in excess of $10 million.
“If we can offer shareholders a compelling proposition on a genuinely sustainable growth trajectory then I think we should be able to attract the investment.”
According to Euromonitor International the UAE’s beauty and personal care sector is forecast to grow at a compound annual rate of 5.8 per cent to 2020. That pales, however, alongside Saudi Arabia’s which is forecast at 12 per cent, Pakistan’s at 8.2 per cent and India’s at 8 per cent.
Confetti’s assembly lines are in the UAE – deodorants in Sharjah and the perfume in Ajman.
“I couldn’t believe it when I found two plants on my doorstep,” says Mr Laslau. “I was looking at investing upwards of $1m on a production line and it saved me the set-up, importation, labour and visas and made the brand come to life.
“The UAE, and its vibrant SME scene, was a key mover in me creating the brand because it made it more than possible.”
Confetti Group has only six employees in the UAE and Mr Leslau hopes after securing new investment that number will rise to 10 while also adding an additional 10 staff at his India office. Confetti Group has already pushed its way onto the shelves of the UAE’s supermarkets.
“We are in over 7,000 plus outlets regionally. In 5 years I hope Confetti will be a leading personal care option for women in 30 plus countries across Africa, India and Asia covering skincare, hair care, fragrance and intimates.”
ascott@thenational.ae
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