If you're looking to introduce cosmetics into the South American market, the first thing you'll likely get stuck on is where to even begin looking for buyers in Peru or Chile. I ran into the same question while preparing to expand into South America, so I wanted to put together some of the practical information I found useful along the way.
The first place I checked was KOTRA. KOTRA runs a trade office in Lima, Peru, which helps connect local companies with export opportunities and buyers. Its website, Export24, actually lists a program called Prospective Buyer Discovery Support, so if you're just starting to look into the Peruvian market, you can reach out through that channel to ask about buyer information. KOTRA also operates trade offices across several other South American countries, including Chile, so it turned out to be more efficient in practice to look up the contact office for each country separately.
Beyond trade offices, industry resources are worth checking too. The Korea Cosmetic Association's website has published interviews with buyers who've entered the Chilean market, covering how K-beauty has been gaining traction there. The Korea Trade Insurance Corporation has also released cosmetics buyer information through the public data portal at times — useful as a reference for getting a sense of the market before reaching out to Peruvian or Chilean buyers directly.
In the end, buyer discovery comes down to how accurately you've prepared your information.
I've heard more than once that, practically speaking, it's a good idea to prepare a company profile and product information before requesting a buyer consultation. Buyers in Peru and Chile reportedly check product certification documents and ingredient information quite closely, so having your minimum order quantity and pricing policy ready in advance makes the first conversation go much more smoothly. Given variables like language and time zones, it also helps to let buyers know in advance what hours you're available to respond.
It's also worth knowing that, for a first move into South America, it's common to start with small sample trades rather than large contracts. And since Peru and Chile have different market characteristics, the research also confirmed that it's better to prepare for the two countries separately rather than taking the same approach to both.
In the end, buyer discovery comes down to how accurately you've prepared your information. Securing local information first through a credible institution like KOTRA, then working through the Peruvian and Chilean markets one at a time starting from the Lima trade office, feels like the realistic first step into South America.
I hope this is a small help to anyone preparing for the Peruvian or Chilean market.