By Dee Truong · Product Development & Market Trends · Published 15 May 2026
For anyone sourcing OEM or ODM manufacturing in Asia, the Hong Kong beauty calendar has one unmissable fixture, and its 2024 edition confirmed the format is still the region’s largest. Cosmoprof Asia returned to Hong Kong for its 27th year in November 2024, spread across two venues and four days, and drew more than 60,000 industry professionals sourcing ingredients, packaging, finished products and contract-manufacturing partners.
Understanding how the show is structured matters more than the attendance figures alone, because Cosmoprof Asia is really two shows running in parallel under one umbrella — and only one of them is built for buyers hunting a manufacturing partner. Here is what happened at the 2024 edition, how the show is organised, and what a brand owner or OEM buyer planning to attend should know before booking a badge.
Key takeaways
- Cosmoprof Asia 2024 drew 60,975 attendees from 119 countries and regions, with 2,500+ exhibitors from 47 territories.
- The event runs across two venues: finished beauty at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre (HKCEC), and the supply chain at AsiaWorld-Expo, under the Cosmopack Asia name.
- For OEM/ODM and private-label sourcing specifically, Cosmopack Asia is the hall that matters most — not the main Cosmoprof floor.
- 74% of international stakeholders travelled from outside Hong Kong to attend, and the hosted-buyer programme brought in 600+ senior executives and top buyers.
- The show is organised by Cosmoprof Asia Ltd, a joint venture between BolognaFiere Group and Informa Markets, running in Hong Kong since 1996.
What Cosmoprof Asia is
Cosmoprof Asia is the Asian edition of the global Cosmoprof network, organised by Cosmoprof Asia Ltd, a joint venture between BolognaFiere Group and Informa Markets. It has run in Hong Kong every November since 1996, making the 2024 edition its 27th year. The event is split into two complementary shows under one roof system: Cosmoprof Asia, covering finished products such as skincare, colour cosmetics, hair care, fragrance and retail; and Cosmopack Asia, covering the full supply chain — ingredients, formulation, packaging, machinery, contract manufacturing and private label.
That two-show structure is the single most important thing for a first-time attendee to understand, because the two halls serve very different visitor intentions. Retailers and distributors gravitate toward the Cosmoprof side to discover finished brands and ready-made private-label ranges. Brand owners and OEM buyers looking to shortlist a manufacturing partner belong on the Cosmopack side, where factories, fillers and packaging suppliers present side by side.
Scale of the 2024 edition
The 27th edition confirmed the post-pandemic rebound in Asian trade show attendance was complete. Organisers reported 60,975 visitors, with 2,500+ exhibitors representing 47 countries and regions. Notably, 74% of international stakeholders travelled to Hong Kong from outside the city specifically for the show, underscoring its role as a regional hub rather than a primarily local event.
The hosted-buyer programme brought in more than 600 senior executives and top buyers, a structured matchmaking element that connects qualifying buyers directly with relevant exhibitors rather than leaving networking entirely to chance encounters on the show floor. For OEM buyers with a specific sourcing brief, applying to a hosted-buyer programme ahead of the show is generally a more efficient way to secure meetings than cold-approaching booths during the event itself.
Why Cosmopack Asia matters most for OEM sourcing
If the goal is finding or shortlisting a contract manufacturer, Cosmopack Asia at AsiaWorld-Expo is where the actual sourcing happens. OEM/ODM factories, fillers and packaging suppliers from across Asia and Europe present side by side in the same hall, making it one of the more efficient places globally to compare multiple contract manufacturers in a compressed timeframe rather than scheduling separate factory visits across several countries.
This is a meaningfully different experience from walking the main Cosmoprof floor, where the focus is finished brands and retail-facing products rather than manufacturing capability. Buyers attending specifically to source production should plan their show days around Cosmopack Asia first and treat the Cosmoprof hall as secondary, unless competitive and trend research is also part of the trip’s purpose.
National pavilions and country-level sourcing
A recurring feature of the show is its national pavilions, where exhibitors from a single country present together under a shared pavilion structure rather than scattered individually across the hall. This makes it considerably easier for buyers with a specific country-sourcing preference — for example, looking specifically at Korean, Japanese, French or Italian suppliers — to walk a single pavilion and compare options from that market directly, rather than hunting for relevant exhibitors across the entire show floor.
For OEM buyers weighing whether to source locally in Southeast Asia versus from a specific overseas manufacturing hub, spending time in the relevant national pavilion is often a faster way to gauge that country’s current export capacity and specialisation than researching individually online.
CosmoTrends and the show’s awards programme
Alongside the exhibition floor, the 2024 edition featured the CosmoTrends report, a trend-forecasting resource the organisers publish around each edition, and the Cosmoprof & Cosmopack Asia Awards, which recognise standout exhibitors and products across categories. Both are useful reference points for brand and OEM teams trying to track where the wider industry’s innovation focus is heading, independent of any single supplier’s own marketing.
Buyers who cannot attend in person but want a sense of the show’s trend direction can typically access the CosmoTrends report through the official Cosmoprof Asia website after each edition closes.
Planning a first visit
First-time attendees planning for a future edition should register in advance through the official Cosmoprof Asia site, since hosted-buyer programme applications and pre-scheduled meetings typically need to be arranged before the show opens rather than on-site. Given the two-venue structure, allocate travel time between HKCEC and AsiaWorld-Expo into the day’s schedule rather than assuming both halls can be covered back-to-back without a transit gap.
Buyers with a narrow sourcing brief — a specific product category or region — benefit from mapping relevant exhibitor lists and national pavilions ahead of arrival, since the show floor across both venues is large enough that an unplanned walk-through will not surface every relevant supplier in a single visit.
Sourcing considerations beyond the show floor
A trade show like Cosmoprof Asia is a strong first step for identifying and shortlisting potential OEM partners, but it does not replace the due-diligence steps that follow — factory audits, sample evaluation, and confirming a supplier’s regulatory and certification status for the buyer’s target market. Brands planning to source from an overseas manufacturer met at the show should still confirm local notification requirements in their home market, such as NPRA cosmetic notification for products entering Malaysia, before finalising a supply agreement.
For brand owners newer to how OEM and ODM sourcing conversations typically progress after an initial trade-show meeting, our explainer on what OEM manufacturing involves is a useful primer, and our broader market reports & industry trends coverage tracks other regional trade shows relevant to beauty sourcing.
How it fits alongside other regional beauty shows
Cosmoprof Asia is not the only trade show worth tracking on the regional beauty calendar — Cosmopack and Cosmoprof also run editions in Bangkok, and other regional shows such as Vietbeauty and IBE Kuala Lumpur draw more country-specific audiences. Cosmoprof Asia’s advantage over these smaller regional shows is scale and international reach: with exhibitors from 47 territories and attendees from 119 countries, it offers a breadth of supplier comparison that a single-country show cannot match in one visit.
That said, brand owners focused specifically on Southeast Asian or Malaysian manufacturing partners may find a regional show closer to home more time-efficient for a narrower sourcing brief, reserving the trip to Hong Kong for years when a wider international comparison is the priority. Tracking both calendars in parallel is generally the more complete sourcing strategy for OEM buyers without a single fixed regional preference.
Frequently asked questions
When and where is Cosmoprof Asia held?
Every November in Hong Kong, across two venues: the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre (Cosmoprof) and AsiaWorld-Expo (Cosmopack).
Who organises Cosmoprof Asia?
Cosmoprof Asia Ltd, a joint venture between BolognaFiere Group and Informa Markets, which has run the show in Hong Kong since 1996.
Is Cosmoprof Asia useful for finding a contract manufacturer?
Yes, specifically through the Cosmopack Asia side of the show at AsiaWorld-Expo, which is dedicated to ingredients, packaging, machinery and contract manufacturing rather than finished retail brands.
How many people attended the 2024 edition?
Organisers reported 60,975 attendees from 119 countries and regions, with 2,500+ exhibitors from 47 territories.
This recap is based on the official Cosmoprof Asia 2024 post-show release and organiser communications. Always confirm current dates, registration and hosted-buyer eligibility on the official Cosmoprof Asia website.
About the author
Dee Truong is a Vietnam-based professional with experience in the beauty and consumer-product sector. Her interests include product development, market trends and the commercial side of bringing consumer products from concept to market. LinkedIn
