GT Cosmetics sets foot in Zamboanga

AS IT has been projected, GT Cosmetics Manufacturing’s Mindanao market is getting bigger indeed.

Taking off from the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Davao in 2005, GT Cosmetics slowly spread practically in all directions and now has made its presence felt in the City of Flowers, Zamboanga.

“This has been a long time coming,” said Engr. Leonora B. Salvane, GT Cosmetics founder and national sales manager who has foreseen the growth of the company’s market in Mindanao. “We have been planning to bring GT to Zamboanga even before the demand for our products in the Western Mindanao area was yet under our target level, but more pressing matters had to be prioritized.”

Salvane said they would now be able to cater to the demands of GT users in the region as the third oldest city in the Philippines is the commercial and industrial center of the Zamboanga Peninsula which consists of the provinces of Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, and Zamboanga Sibugay.

“Our loyal customers from the neighboring towns and cities, like Ipil, Pagadian, Dipolog, Dapitan, and Isabela in Basilan, need not travel far to buy their favorite GT products anymore, since they are now available in nearby Zamboanga,” Salvane said.

GT products are now sold in Zamboanga City at the Mindpro Health & Beauty Center in Mindpro Citimall and at Face and La Secret de Beaute in Yubenco Star Mall.

The penetration of GT Cosmetics in Zamboanga may well be the start of the Cebu-based company’s sweeping expansion in Mindanao as there’s no stopping them now from venturing into the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao with a Halal certification in tow.

GT Cosmetics was recently issued a Halal certification after its products and production methods have been tested and declared permissible to use in accordance with Islamic law by the Halal Development Institute of the Philippines.

Halal, which means lawful and permitted in Islam, does not only cover food and drinks but other items as well, like cosmetics and personal care products.

The Halal certification also allows GT Cosmetics to export its products to the Middle East and other Muslim countries like Indonesia and Malaysia, where a ready market has already been established for the proudly-Cebu-manufactured goods.

As GT Cosmetics embarks on its overseas venture in the United States, Malaysia, and the Middle East, and with the sustaining market growth in Southern Philippines, Salvane said they might put up a manufacturing plant in Mindanao next year.

“Now that our products are being distributed in the US and soon in Malaysia, we are considering on putting up a plant in Mindanao to complement our production output from our manufacturing facilities here in Cebu and Bulacan,” Salvane said.

In the US, GT Cosmetics is distributed by Elegantly Pure and products are available at the New Asia Market and Pearl Marketing in Connecticut and at the Chinese-American Mini Market in Rhode Island.

GT products can be purchased in about 200 retail outlets and in all leading drugstores nationwide, including Watsons Personal Care stores, Robinsons supermarkets, SM malls and supermarkets, Savemore supermarkets, Gaisano Metro chain of stores, and in other leading malls, department stores, and supermarkets.