REGULAR users of GT Cosmetics Manufacturing’s soap line may now have a reason to rejoice as the company has launched in Cagayan de Oro the new packaging of its three saleable herbal soap variants -- Carrot, Papaya and Bleaching.
On Thursday, the new packaging was unveiled by no less than GT’s owner and national sales manager, Engr. Leonora B. Salvane, during a press conference at Hotel Conchita.
Salvane said they choose Cagayan de Oro as the first site of the launching in Mindanao due to the overwhelming support that Kagay-anons showed to the company’s soap products.
The company earlier held the first launching of the soap line’s new packaging in the Visayas region, particularly in Cebu, Bohol, Bacolod and Iloilo.
GT Cosmetics Manufacturing started penetrating the Cagayan de Oro market in 2003. Now, its three soap products are available at SM City Cagayan de Oro, Watsons and Limketkai Mall.
Salvane said by August 2, GT soaps would be available in all Robinsons Malls in Cebu, Manila, Bacolod and Iloilo for the first batch while Robinsons Cagayan de Oro would be included in the second batch.
GT Cosmetics Manufacturing started in 1994 in Liloan, Cebu with Salvane, a chemical engineer by profession, making “home-made” soaps as a pastime.
In her free time then, Salvane can often be seen in the kitchen making soaps and cut them into rectangular shapes, with no labels. Before she knew it, her pastime became an instant hit. It was in 1996 when she put labels on her soaps and started doing extensive marketing.
Fifteen years after, GT soaps are now available in key cities in the country.
“We are doing well in the market because our products are affordable despite the very expensive materials we are using. This is because we always give people more than what they wanted,” Salvane said.
She added they do not spend much on advertisements, which give them more savings.
“We don’t have that much exposure in the media because it is the product that does the selling,” Salvane said.
GT soaps are basically made of highly-refined coconut oil, which the company buys in Cebu, and papaya/carrot extracts which it buys from Manila. Though the other ingredients are imported, Salvane said their products are still affordable.
“Since the time we started, we only have price increases twice because we want to be affordable to the masses without sacrificing the quality of our products. GT soaps are also inexpensive because we are the ones who manufacture and market them at the same time,” she said.
GT soaps 120-gram packs are available between P60 to P72 each, depending on the variants.
Salvane said their herbal soaps are safe to use, even by infants who have prickly heat.
By next year, she said GT Cosmetics would be launching new products for its cream lines and is eyeing to go into additional body care products such as lotion and shampoo.