($11.5 billion) for the first time, with growth of 21.3 per cent year on year.  The country’s Food and Drug Safety Ministry states that the cosmetics sector has become an integral part of South Korea’s economy, representing 25.7 per cent of the country’s exports, more than biopharmaceutical products and smartphones. At the centre of South Korea’s beauty boom is Olive Young, South Korea’s top health and beauty chain with over 1,200 stores nationwide. A subsidiary of the CJ conglomerate, the company has an estimated value of 4 trillion won ($4.6 billion) and was reported to have raised more than 240 billion won in operating profit in 2022. South Korea’s answer to Sephora, Olive Young is best known for its large selection of K-beauty brands, along with several in-house brands for men and women. At the end of last year, the company became the only health and beauty chain to survive the pandemic, after its main competitors, Lalavla (previously Watsons) and Lohb’s shuttered most of their bricks-and-mortar locations.  Having dominated the local beauty market, Olive Young is now setting its eyes on an overseas expansion and a new potential product category that could bring in over US$60.5 billion. Here’s why Olive Young is the one to watch for the beauty industry. Uniquely curated offerings One of the biggest factors in Olive Young’s success is how it has nurtured emerging K-beauty brands to inject freshness into their product lineup. Some of the hottest K-beauty brands, such as Rom&nd, Lilybyred and Beauty of Joseon, became household names through Olive Young.  Among its initiatives to foster brand growth is its annual Olive Young Awards & Festa, which celebrates the year’s most popular products, along with up-and-coming names in the health and beauty sector.In 2022, the convention attracted more than 20,000 attendees, with 97 brands participating. There, the company revealed its top three products in terms of sales in each category, including health supplements, skin moisturisers, lip products and even beauty tools. Nearly 82 per cent of the 128 prized products were smaller, independent brands. One of the top brands in the health supplement category was Foodology. The brand was established in 2017, but began selling its products at Olive Young only in March of 2022 and quickly became a bestseller in just eight months.Foodology CEO Park Jeong-ha said, “We were able to grow due to Olive Young noticing our potential and partnering with us to sell our products, allowing us to reach out to more customers.“Being here [Olive Young Awards & Festa] is a chance for us to listen to what the customers like and want, which we can apply to grow as a company.”Olive Young’s ability to identify and foster relationships with these newcomers creates a healthy dynamic that mutually benefits the retailer and the brand. For the brand, being stocked at Olive Young means getting more exposure to a wider market, and Olive Young gets to stay ahead of the trend curve by stocking the hottest brands early on.Another popular brand that emerged through Olive Young is Rom&nd, which dominated the lip category. Taking both the first and third places, the company reported that year-on-year sales at the retailer grew by 108 per cent.For many, winning the Olive Young awards is a huge badge of honour. These popular products are often printed with special packaging and labels stating “No. 1 product sold at Olive Young” or “Winner of the Olive Young awards” plastered at the front.  Expansion outside of Asia Olive Young’s next big mission is to bring K-beauty to the forefront of the world. Since 2019, the retailer has been diversifying its business internationally. It began with the launch of its direct-to-consumer global online shopping site that catered to more than 150 countries – the first of its kind in South Korea. Olive Young also officially launched on online platforms T-Mall and Rakuten, to capture the Chinese and Japanese markets. In 2021, the retailer made its way into the Southeast Asia market via a partnership with e-commerce giant Lazada.  Last year, Olive Young shifted its focus to the Middle East with its own in-house brand Wakemake, through Amazon UAE and Noon, an e-commerce platform based in the region. In January this year, the brand was also made available offline at a local beauty chain called Faces.In a statement given to UAE media, an Olive Young representative said, “Because consumer preferences over K-beauty products with price and quality competitiveness is increasing recently, we will closely monitor the Middle Eastern market by exporting our own brand lineup.”  Wakemake specialises in colour cosmetics. It was chosen as Olive Young’s first brand to be exported to the Middle East to meet the demand of the local consumers. The retailer also mentioned it hopes that this can be a bridgehead for entering other markets throughout the Middle East. Recently, the brand’s hit product ‘Any-Proof Pen Eyeliner’ became popular in the region due to its long-lasting formula and affordable price, garnering a 4.5-star rating on Amazon UAE. A big bet on femtech While beauty has been the main engine behind Olive Young, the retailer recently announced it plans to develop feminine care products due to rising interest among young Korean women.Femtech is expected to be the next big thing in women’s health. A study by McKinsey & Company estimated that femtech – technical applications designed to support and improve women’s health – has a market size between US$500 million ($747 million) and US$1 billion ($1.5 billion), with forecasts that suggest double-digit growth opportunities in the near future.Olive Young’s femtech offering, called W Care, is dedicated to menstrual wellness, reproductive care, Y-zone cleansing and even undergarments. In addition to physical W Care zones at the retailer’s bricks-and-mortar stores, it also plans to release a mobile application that will help women track and manage their menstruation cycle and fertility.The launch of W Care is part of Olive Young’s larger campaign to “intensively nurture” the feminine care trend, which included a nation-wide promotional roll-out, along with a web series focusing on the topic. “We are seeing more female consumers who want to make independent decisions on products that support maintaining a healthy lifestyle,” a company official said. “In line with this trend, Olive Young plans to discover promising new brands and products for women’s health and lead the popularisation of the domestic W Care market.” The retailer is betting huge on femtech, as it thinks the local market has the potential to reach 80 trillion won by 2027.