Challenge accepted: Canadian fragrance brand eyes untapped opportunities in Japan’s fragrance segment

My Daughter Fragrance was founded six years ago by Janey Ganson, who launched the brand with one fragrance – Joyful.

The brand launched a new fragrance every year for the next three years. The four fragrances are now part of the Love Notes collection, a range perfumes dedicated to Ganson’s daughter.

“It's called My Daughter Fragrances because it's a universal phrase that transcends religion, race, culture. When women see it, they can identify with it and understand exactly what it means. It's very emotional and powerful,” ​explained Ganson.

The brand manufactures in Grasse, France with locally sourced raw materials and packages the products in Canada.

“The concentrate is manufactured in Grasse. All the raw materials come from Grasse. We have a lab there to make sure we are compliant with the IFRA Standards and meeting all the regulations. Then we do all the blending, curing, filtering and bottling in Canada,” ​said Ganson.

Eye on Japan

Currently, My Daughter Fragrances is available primarily in Canada and the US. It entered the Asian market two years ago via Hong Kong.

While that business is still small, Ganson told CosmeticsDesign-Asia​ that the response to the brand prompted it to look into more opportunities in Asia.

This year the brand attended Cosme Toyko in order to find the partners to help them enter the Japanese market.

Ganson noted that it was important to find the right partner to help navigate the challenging market.

She added: “Once we find a partner in Japan, I hope to build a solid relationship to make sure we can work together to promote the brand. If you can figure out Japan, you can figure it out anywhere because it’s a real challenge to crack.”​

One of the biggest challenges the company faces is the weak interest in fragrances among Japanese consumers.

“Fragrance in Japan is tricky because it’s not really part of their culture. They don’t have a history with it, like Europe does. But I feel there’s obviously a market for it, it just hasn’t been fully tapped yet,” ​said Ganson.

However, she believes the brand’s fragrances will resonate well with Japanese consumers.

“The way our fragrances wear is very conducive to the Japanese culture because its polite and gentle. It's not going to waft in and be offensive. I feel for this culture, the fragrances are perfect.”​

Ganson believes fragrance usage among consumers will continue to rise in Japan and hopes the brand can be one of the pioneers in the market.

“Everyone is looking for the next new thing, so they have to find products that specifically aren’t available in Japan yet. I’ve been meeting people who are looking for the next new opportunity they can tap into and they have been responding well to the brand so far.”​

Aside from Japan, Ganson also plans to strengthen the brand’s presence in Hong Kong. She said she still saw Hong Kong as a significant market despite the political turmoil that has bogged down the retail sector.

“Yes, everything is in a lull right now because of the situation in Hong Kong. No doubt businesses are suffering but I believe it will cycle back around.”​

Ganson added that she is also interested in expanding the brand into Singapore.

“Singapore is definitely of interest because there’s a very healthy import business for fragrance. It’s also very straightforward to expand your business there.”​