Martina Berto commences work on cosmetics factory in Indonesia

Indonesian traditional cosmetics supplier Martha Tilaar’s s subsidiary Martina Berto has announced the commencement of work on its third factory located in Bekasi, West Java.

The factory, which is estimated to absorb Rp44bn ($4.8m), will to produce 269 tonnes of herbal cosmetics, spa products and traditional medicine annually upon completion, reported The Jakarta Post.

Spread on 9.5ha area in Bekasi’s Cikarang Industrial Park, the cosmetics plant is located in close proximity to the company’s herbal medicine plantation area, Kampoeng Djamoe Organik.

Indonesia’s Industry Minister MS Hidayat, during his participation at the plant’s ground breaking ceremony said, "I believe this industry will have a thriving future, given Indonesia is the second biggest herbal, cosmetic and aromatic plant producer in the world, producing about 30,000 kinds of plants".

The company is also eying on promoting its brands in the international markets and planning to unveil two new stores in Southeast Asia to supplement its two existing branches in Singapore.

Martina Berto marketing director Samuel Pranata said the company is considering opening stores in Singapore, Malaysia or Brunei.
"The cost of opening a branch is about $100,000," Pranata said.

In 2011, Martina held 18% share of the country’s domestic cosmetic products market and 25% share of the herbal product market, the website reported.

The company posted revenue of Rp144.77bn ($15.7m) for the first quarter 2012, marking 10% increase over Rp131bn ($14.2m) in the same period last year, and reported 14.51% surge in 2011 revenue of Rp648.37bn ($70.5m) over Rp566.18bn ($61.5m) in 2010.

Martina Berto president director Bryan Tilaar, commenting on the results said, "We aim at double-digit growth in the upcoming years. We’ve targeted Rp 49 billion in profits".