Bathing beauty

Portugal’s Claus Porto brand of bath soap is courting Asian consumers after winning the hearts of Oprah Winfrey and Madonna By  Patrícia Neves Macau now has the world’s first shop selling only Claus Porto products, a Portuguese brand of high-end bath soap. The shop is called Futura Clássica and the distributor, which goes by the same name, intends to use it to promote sales of Claus Porto goods elsewhere in Asia. The shop opened last month near the Leal Senado tourist area. It is a venture by four Portuguese entrepreneurs based in Macau. Two of them, actress Margarida Vila-Nova and her husband, film director Ivo Ferreira, had been selling Claus Porto soap and perfumed products at the Portuguese Corner Shop, in the Old Ladies’ House, since 2011. Last year, the brand’s owner, Ach Brito & Ca SA, invited the couple to become exclusive distributors of Claus Porto products in Macau, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. They formed a partnership with lawyer Rui Simões and digital marketing manager Carlos Machado to establish Futura Clássica. Ms Vila-Nova says the partners “concluded that it was important for the brand to have its own showroom in Asia, like other big cosmetics companies”. This allows customers to become familiar with Claus Porto products and their provenance, she says. “This shop represents a milestone,” says Ach Brito’s head of marketing, Mónica Vieito. “The company usually does not have brand-name stores.” Ms Vieito describes the shop as “a unique commercial opportunity” as Asia becomes “increasingly interesting” as a market. The prices of the products sold in the shop range from MOP50 (US$6.25) to MOP1,000. About 10 million bars of Claus Porto soap are made each year. About 150,000 were sold in Asia last year. Whiff of fame Claus Porto products first appeared in Asia about 10 years ago. Ach Brito began appointing distributors in individual Asian markets in 2011. The main market for Claus Porto products is the United States. Television presenter and media owner Oprah Winfrey, film actor Nicolas Cage and pop singer Madonna are among the famous Americans that use them, Ach Brito says. Claus Porto products are sold in about 50 other countries. Ach Brito intends to expand the market for its products from Europe and North America into Asia and Africa. The Claus Porto brand was established in 1887. The maker now uses retro packaging designs to accentuate the brand’s longevity. “We differentiate ourselves through decades of experience and the romantic feel of our products,” Ms Vieito says. “But we operate with an eye to the future.” Ms Vila-Nova is confident that Claus Porto products will succeed in Asia. “We believe in the potential of the brand. It is a centenarian brand. Its products are handmade and 100 percent vegetable-based,” she says. Ms Vila-Nova describes the cosmetics market in Asia as “extremely competitive”. But the Claus Porto brand’s “sophisticated fragrances and vintage-inspired designs” will find it a niche in the market, she says. She would like Macau’s upmarket hotels to sell Claus Porto soap and put it in their guest bathrooms. The spa in the Four Seasons Hotel Macau already sells the soap. Shopping in style “We’ll try to sell the soaps to luxury hotels and spas. We’ll also explore the corporate gift market,” Ms Vila-Nova says. The partners in Futura Clássica hope to recoup their investment in about two years. They have not said how much they have invested. The brand made an appearance at last month’s Maison & Objet Asia trade show in Singapore. The partners intend the Futura Clássica shop to set the standard for displaying and selling Claus Porto products in Asia, serving as an example for other retailers of the brand. Their aim is to have at least 40 partner outlets for Claus Porto products in Macau, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore within two years. Ms Vila-Nova says: “The next step could even be a franchising model”. The shop is designed in Art Nouveau style, inspired by notable shop premises in Europe. It has two floors. Ms Vila-Nova says the upper floor will be used for “a complementary project”, which she is keeping under her hat for the moment. Futura Clássica rents the shop. But Ms Vila Nova says the terms of the lease are fixed for three to five years, giving the partners some protection against the landlord joining the rush to jack up rents like other owners of commercial property in Macau. Turning soap into a luxury The Claus Porto brand has nearly 130 years of history. It was established in 1887 by two Germans living in Portugal, Ferdinand Claus and Georges Schweder, who opened a factory in Oporto for making soap and perfume. When World War One broke out, the partners fled Portugal. Factory manager Achilles de Brito, founder of Ach Brito & Ca SA, took over the business and in 1919 he bought it. In the 1980s, the brand struggled as competition increased and Ach Brito’s distribution arrangements proved inadequate. Brother and sister Aquiles and Sónia Brito took over the family business in 1994 and started a revolution, repositioning Claus Porto products as luxuries. Ach Brito now exports most of what it sells.