To provide a large amount of processed cosmetic products to the market, in addition to the supply of smuggled counterfeit goods from the northern border, cosmetic processing warehouses are one of the main sources for many businesses.
Known as a phenomenon on social networks, Vimac - a cosmetic factory introduced to meet GGMP ASEAN/ISO 22716 standards often posts advertisements about this being the place to "revive" the largest variety of processed cosmetics in Hanoi today.
Inside the second largest processing factory in Hanoi
Introducing himself as a person who needs to order a large quantity of processed cosmetics, the reporter went to the sales department of Vimac Processing Factory.
As soon as we knew we were potential customers, a sales staff named Ha (character's name has been changed) arranged to meet at the factory headquarters in Nguyen Khe Industrial Park, Dong Anh District, Hanoi City. Here, we are "affiliated" with a production line of cosmetic products to supply to many "cosmetic boss" specializing in sales on e-commerce platforms.
When we asked about wanting to produce vegan masks to whiten skin, Ha immediately affirmed: "Your task is to solve the problems raised by customers".
With the requirement that masks must have skin lightening ingredients but "cheap bean prices", Ha said that customers only need to make a request, the company will try to " give a little more" of Niacinamide - a form of vitamin B3 that has the effect of lightening the skin, darkening the formula, so that customers have a communication "story" when selling products.
"In case customers require a product with many uses, of course the selling price will also be higher. However, if customers want a mask that only costs from 7,000 - 9,000 VND/product, our company will adjust the formula. The lab staff will balance the ingredients here and there to meet the price and be at a certain efficiency," said Ha.
We asked "can you buy a lower price, because our customer base " Strengthens" the mid-life segment in rural areas? , Ha said that you can only make a mask with simple moisturizing properties, without treating acne or whitening. But when applied, there is still a feeling of exfoliation.
To increase the trust of customers who want to make a brand, Ha said Vimac is ready to lend factory space and meeting rooms for customers to film and take photos. "Whenever we produce, we can go down to film the extraction and packaging process... We will support you," Ha said, adding that if the product needs to be announced to the market, the company will be responsible for the implementation at a price of 4 million VND.
Even if customers want to have a " raw material growing area" to film an introduction video, Vimac can also support searching and arranging.
In the factory's meeting room, dozens of bottle samples used to contain cosmetics are displayed. He affirmed: "All of these models are imported from China. My side does not produce bottles, if customers need them, my side will import goods according to the sample".
Taking us to the lab, Hung (character's name has been changed), a product research specialist, said that customers who brought sample products here, including cosmetics from France, Italy, the US, Japan... were all here. As customers request the product, Vimac will try to create the closest version with that version, at least 80% similar.
For example, when a big brand product is born, they often invest heavily in exclusive technology and raw materials. Those raw materials are often ordered separately from the raw material manufacturer, even they are only available or are only limited to the European market, not yet available in Vietnam.
They are strategic partners, so they have early access to raw materials. As for the function, if we replace another ingredient with the same effectiveness, we can almost meet the requirements, said Mr. Hung.
According to the male expert of this lab, creating a formula similar to the original product is completely feasible. "Ladies and gentlemen, you can create a similar formula, just need to put another name or a similar name, as long as there is no breach of exclusive registration, it is still legal.
I have a similar product, the ingredients are 90% the same, even 100% the same is normal. The packaging should have all the ingredients listed as acceptable, something must be right, but the content does not need to show the percentage of the ingredients on the packaging, and the decisive factor for effectiveness is the mixing ratio and testing time, not just the ingredients, said the male lab specialist.
For example, a product with a 100% hypopharynx composition needs to be understood as follows: The original composition is actually 100% hypopharynx, not hypopharynx or the trunk of hypopharynx participating in that product, but the rate of hypopharynx participating in that product sometimes only accounts for 1%. So the product is still advertised as containing 100% of herring insects - this is a language trick in the business world.
During the advertising process about the factory, Mr. Hung also introduced many famous characters on TikTok and famous actors who also worked on products here such as cosmetics by TikToker H.K.N, or actors Q.T with a set of formats here.
New Zealand milk but the nutritional components are Chinese
Coming to the headquarters of another processing company named Lis Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company Vietnam (LisGroup), address of An Hung New Urban Area, Ha Dong District, Hanoi City, the reporter discussed with a sales employee named Lan (character's name has been changed).
Lan said that currently, the factory is producing many functional foods, supplements, health protection foods, milk... including the Antalica pineapple Detox product that is quite popular on the market, on many e-commerce platforms.
When we expressed our desire to make similar products but as supplements from the ingredients of cai luong, Lan said that the company did not want to accept them as supplements, because the supplements were being strictly inspected by the authorities. Therefore, to be safe for ourselves at this time, Lan advised us to make health protection food products.
"We mainly work on functional foods, protecting health; there is milk processing, but less, because this product was "beaten" a lot last time, so now they do not provide the function of dairy foods anymore, but only record it as a general food to protect health, improve resistance, and increase the immune system", Lan said.
"Previously, it was easy to request an announcement of bone and joint support, diabetes, and gout, but now it is no longer possible," Lan added. However, for functional foods related to hormones, the unit still has available recipes and products. As for the liver cooling tea line, Lan said it has now been fully announced, if customers have a need, they just need to re-diseign the packaging to be able to deploy.
Lan also affirmed that the company has several hundred sets of products with available disclosure documents; customers who want to run the product, but do not want to register to announce a new document, can run immediately.
"That is, when you are the mother of about 100 products, customers come to buy them, is any of them really a good one?" PV asked. Lan affirmed that this was true, but that was for customers who wanted pre-made products and wanted exclusive brand names, they had to register for new announcements.
Regarding post-inspections, Lan also affirmed that post-inspections are in cases of "fishing" or being involved in backlogs, but normally they are not.
During the investigation, Lan introduced a specialist of the company named Duyen. According to the introduction, Duyen was born in 2002, has only been working for 6 months but has been directly responsible for developing formulas for a series of products processed by Lis Pharmaceutical Company.
Discussing the source of raw materials used in the production of dietary supplements, Duyen said: "There are many different sources of raw material imports, if you want cheap prices, you can choose to import from China".
According to Duyen, when preparing the product declaration documents, the authorities will conduct an inspection of the origin of the ingredients. However, when it was announced to consumers, they did not know that.
Duyen said that if a food supplement wants to be cheap, it must reduce the content of ingredients to the lowest possible. Many NewZeland milk products, but some other nutritional components, can be imported to China.
For example, a NewZeland milk product, the carrier milk must definitely be imported from New Zealand, but some nutritional and mineral ingredients may be Chinese, Duyen said, and gave an example, in this milk product, to add calcium from the bones of Tuyet fish, it is not necessary to buy the bones of Tuyet fish to grit, but use pure ingredients (calcium powder).
Thus, under the "magic hands" of processing facilities, from ingredients of unknown origin and cheap prices, along with recipes inspired by famous brands, a series of cosmetic products and functional foods have been born. They are covered with flashy brand stories, "virtual" raw material growing areas, built to follow the reputation of celebrities. All in violation of legal regulations, taking the health and trust of consumers lightly.
