P&G Global Skin & Personal Care has introduced New Zealand natural anti-ageing skincare brand Snowberry into global travel retail with an exclusive launch event in partnership with Aelia Duty Free (Lagardère Travel Retail) at Auckland Airport.
P&G, owner of international best-selling skincare brands SK-II and Olay, acquired Snowberry, founded by cosmetician Soraya Hendesi, in February 2018.
The Auckland launch on 19 September was graced by P&G Global Skin Care President Markus Strobel; Soraya Hendesi; Snowberry Co-founder Mark Henderson; Snowberry Scientist Dr. Travis Badenhorst; P&G Global Travel Retail General Manager Shweta Sharma; and Lagardère Travel Retail – Pacific Chief Executive Officer Przemyslaw (Pezemek) Lesniak.
The Moodie Davitt Report was on location to report exclusively on the event. Underlining the importance of the Snowberry launch – the first step in a planned global travel retail roll-out to selected doors – we will publish a special edition of The Moodie Davitt eZine later this week, that profiles the brand and examines plans for international growth.
The inauguration saw the unveiling of a stunning Snowberry high-profile activation at the front of the Aelia Duty Free departures store. The event was highlighted by a stirring Maori pōwhiri (welcoming ceremony), featuring a wero (challenge) from a Maori warrior who lay down a small branch for Markus Strobel to pick up (signifying traditionally that the recipient has come in peace). Guests were then entertained by a rousing Maori haka and songs.
Soraya Hendesi told guests: “As a child, I spent many hours making beauty potions out of the flowers in our garden for my mother and grandmother whom I adored. I’ve always had this vision of capturing the best of nature but in a product that truly works. I’m so excited about this launch here today. For me, Snowberry is a dream come true, and I’m so happy to share it with you.”
Markus Strobel told guests: “This is a great day for us. We had been scouting the whole world to find a brand like Snowberry and we found it right here in New Zealand. So it is only fitting that we present the brand to the world first from Auckland airport.
“Snowberry is a world-class brand with a unique combination of authentic, natural ingredients directly from the Snowberry Gardens* combined with outstanding science and clinically proven, result-based skincare. It is a groundbreaking offering in the natural skincare category and I couldn’t be happier to launch it today.”
Speaking for Lagardère Travel Retail, Przemyslaw Lesniak said, “This is a very exciting day for Lagardère Travel Retail to open Snowberry at Auckland Airport. There’s no doubt that it would not have been possible without the great relationship we have with P&G and Aelia globally. That was very helpful when we started discussions about Snowberry to build the momentum and trust.
“It’s been an amazing journey for our teams. I remember we met for the first time in January and we came to the Snowberry Gardens. We saw all this passion around the product as well as the knowledge behind it – and the science that’s been developed to sustain the future of this brand. We said to ourselves back in the office in Sydney, ‘This is definitely the brand to have in our store. We need to have a launch in Auckland – it’s a must, a no-brainer.
“From the first meeting, it’s taken just nine months to open in travel retail, which is a great achievement by all the teams… and a great benchmark for our industry.”
P&G Global Travel Retail General Manager Shweta Sharma told the audience, “We’re proud and privileged to be able to present this brand with amazing skin efficacy and ingredients that are indigenous to New Zealand to Auckland Airport through this partnership. Together with Lagardère Travel Retail we made this happen in the record period of nine months from the first time we talked to launching it today in this rousing opening.”
*About Snowberry and the Snowberry Gardens
Snowberry was founded in 2007 in Auckland by cosmetician Soraya Hendesi, who not only wanted to create a natural skin care that was safe but an anti-ageing skincare that could be proven to work.
Snowberry’s major international breakthrough came in 2015 when its New Radiance Face Serum was the only anti-wrinkle serum invited to be presented to the 23rd World Congress of Dermatology in Vancouver. Unlike most skincare brands, Snowberry is unique in proving its serums to the only standard accepted by dermatologists – the Gold Standard Clinical Trial.
Uniquely, Snowberry’s new-to-the-world bioactives are sourced from over 8,000 native New Zealand plants in the ‘Snowberry Gardens,’ situated just north of Auckland. There, skin-renewing Harakeke Seed Oil and immune-boosting Kanuka Honey Extract are harvested for use in various Snowberry products.
Snowberry comes to travel retail – a special Moodie Davitt Spotlight Series e-Zine, publishing this week
Martin Moodie reports from Auckland on a global travel retail launch for a unique New Zealand brand Interviews – P&G Global Skin & Personal Care President Markus Strobel on what drew the multi-national giant to an independent New Zealand brand and what lies ahead. – Soraya Hendesi on the fulfilment of a childhood dream; a quest for total trust and authenticity in skincare and a marriage made in heaven with P&G. – P&G Global Travel Retail General Manager Shweta Sharma and Lagardère Travel Retail – Pacific Chief Executive Officer Przemyslaw (Pezemek) Lesniak on a partnership forged out of a determination to champion an authentic and unique local brand. On location at The Snowberry Gardens: Very few skincare companies, cultivate their own ingredients, let alone rainforest plants, to discover new-to-the-world bioactive skincare ingredients. The Snowberry Gardens, just north of Auckland, are one of the only skincare bio-discovery gardens in the world. Come with us on a journey to a magical place where nature and science converge; and where over 8,000 New Zealand native rainforest plants are cultivated – informed by scientific assay and Rongoā Māori (traditional Maori healing). |
