Canadian-made natural and organic skin care products are now available to Vietnamese consumers with the opening of the first store of Scentuals Natural and Organic Skin Care in Ho Chi Minh City today.

Minister of International Trade Teresa Wat cut the ribbon opening the store during her trade mission to Vietnam this week, Nov. 8-11, 2015, while promoting the province and trade with B.C. to a country with a growing middle-class signalling increased interest in B.C. products and services.

Scentuals is a family-run business out of Coquitlam, B.C., currently employing 10 people full-time and five part-time, selling its products online in Canada and supplying close to 1,000 retailers. It makes handmade, natural and organic products such as baby shampoo, anti-aging creams, aromatherapy, face and body cleansers, massage oils and bar soap all in small batches.

President and co-owner, Mai Mowrey, said they source ingredients from all over the world, purchasing only those that are high-quality and traceable, and most importantly, from fair trade sources. For example, she noted that in order to benefit from lavender oil’s de-stressing qualities through aromatherapy, “the essential oil must be of high quality and therapeutic.”

Mowrey's interest in natural products began when her brother was diagnosed with cancer and she became aware of some of the harsh chemicals commonly used in every day products. Research led her to the decision to find a company that created products that helped people without harming them.

To date, Scentuals has relied on word-of-mouth for its success, and its customer base has been local and Canadian. Now, she and her Canadian-born husband, Daniel, are branching into Vietnam, Mai Mowrey’s birthplace.

Mowrey said they did their homework before deciding where to open their first store in Asia. Her recommendation for any B.C. company interested in doing business in Vietnam or elsewhere is to first contact staff from the B.C. Ministry of International Trade and travel to the country to find out how they do business there.

The store in Ho Chi Minh City is located in the premium shopping mall on the ground floor of the Bitexco Financial Tower, the tallest building in in the city, and is the first of three stores that the company plans to open in Vietnam. Scentuals’ initial focus will be on educating potential new customers about the healthful effects of using natural and organic products.

Quotes:

Teresa Wat, Minister of International Trade and Minister Responsible for Asia Pacific Strategy and Multiculturalism –

“Ministry of International Trade staff are available to assist B.C. businesses wanting to expand into Southeast Asia. The story of Scentuals is a good example of how promising small businesses are recognizing the potential to grow their businesses abroad, and our government wants to support more small- and medium-sized business like this to broaden their market base by exporting B.C. goods and services.”

Mai Mowrey, president and co-owner of Scentuals –

“We owe our success to the high-quality products we sell at a reasonable price. The Vietnamese already love western-made products, now our job is to educate them about the importance of buying products with natural and organic ingredients. There’s a lot of western influence in Vietnam and the timing is right.”

Quick Facts:

• As a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Vietnam is a large market of 90 million people with a lot of trade potential for B.C.
• The number of middle-class in Vietnam was eight million in 2012. That number is projected to increase by as much as four times to 43 million by 2020, and 92 million by 2030.
• B.C. exports to Vietnam have risen significantly in recent years, from $49 million in 2010 to $104 million in 2014.
• The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement gives  BC businesses new and improved access to key Pacific Rim markets including Vietnam, especially in sectors like fish and seafood, agriculture, forestry, technology and manufactured goods where tariffs were high and will now be reduced or eliminated.

Learn More:

Follow the trade mission on Twitter @BCJobsPlan (twitter.com) , #BCTM15

For more information about B.C. trade and investment opportunities visit: http://www.britishcolumbia.ca/

To learn more about Scentuals click here: www.Scentuals.ca