This Montreal company is the largest cosmetic manufacturer in Canada

Article content

Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page.

David Cape is more than happy about the ‘buy Canadian’ movement sweeping the country.

Recommended Videos

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

This Montreal company is the largest cosmetic manufacturer in Canada Back to video

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

Play Video

In fact, he’s thrilled.

“I’ve been on this Facebook group that’s called Made in Canada, certainly something that I think was not really that popular until a few months ago, and it’s blown up,” says Cape, president of Groupe Marcelle Cosmetics.

For Cape, it’s more than just about business. It’s about family too.

“We’re a 75-year-old company based in Canada, a family owned business,” Cape shares of the cosmetics and skin-care brands. “I’m the third generation, and we even have the fourth generation in the business.”

Founded in 1949 by a Montreal pharmacist named Victor Cape, the company Groupe Marcelle has since grown to include four brands: Marcelle Cosmetics, Annabelle, CW Beggs and Sons, and Watier. 

“We compete with giants and we really kind of see ourselves as playing a large role in that competitive landscape,” Cape says of the company’s presence on Canadian beauty shelves.

With products spanning skin care to makeup, Cape says there’s a lot for Canadian customers to discover within its offering. The only problem is, not everyone knows the brands are from here.

“Because we’re so large and so widely distributed, people haven’t necessarily, in the past, thought about what the origins are,” Cape says. 

The company, which is billed as the largest cosmetic manufacturer in Canada, producing around eight million products per year, is hoping the current patriotic push prompts an increased connection between its products and its homegrown history.

“No one’s going to kind of give you a pass because you’re the home team,” Cape says. “But it’s a really great and exciting thing to see that now, women and men across Canada, as they look at their products are saying, ‘What opportunities are there for me with Canadian products?’

“We certainly are seeing a lot more excitement.”

What’s unique about Groupe Marcelle in the mass beauty space is that the majority of its products are manufactured in Canada. Some products, such as fragrance and skin care, are made entirely in Canada, while others are made internationally, Cape notes. Select ingredients and packaging elements are also sourced internationally.

“We make everything we can,” Cape says. “There are certain technologies that don’t exist in Canada, so making pencils is one of the things that we’re not able to do. And specific makeups and pigment technology is not there.

“But we manufacture our creams and our lotions, all of our liquids, and many of our makeup products are made here as well.”

The company operates a research and development lab, complete with cosmetic formulators, at its Montreal headquarters.

“We do all of our innovation,” Cape says.

This research has allowed Groupe Marcelle to incorporate several Canadian-sourced ingredients into its formulations, including Labrador tea extract, ginseng, and edelweiss flower, according to Cape.

“It’s always changing. It’s always moving, and the competitive nature of the industry forces us all to be on our toes at all times and really innovating so that we can really meet the needs of our consumers,” Cape says. “For us, the ability and the privilege to be able to lead with those ingredients in our products is something that we’re really proud of and excited about.”

Cape points to the cosmetic and skin-care company’s expertise in tinted moisturizers, colour cosmetics and cleansers, such as eye makeup remover, as particular products of note among its four brands.

While Groupe Marcelle products are available in the U.S. through Amazon and select specialty stores, as well as some stores in Europe and Asia, Cape notes the focus is firmly on Canada.

“We’ve grown mostly because we’ve continued to see that there’s great opportunity in Canada,” he says.  

One aspect of retail in Canada that Cape says has really evolved in recent months “as this tariff discussion has evolved” is the interest from retailers in highlighting Canadian products on its shelves.

“Because of our supply chain and we’re so close to the market, we’ve been able to kind of react and pivot where necessary to really meet the supply needs,” Cape says.  

He says retailers like London Drugs, a major retail partner for Groupe Marcelle in Western Canada, have been keen to present the company in a new way so that shoppers know, first and foremost, that they’re buying Canadians.

“They said, ‘We know you’re Canadian, and what kind of identification can we put on the product so that we can make it easier for people to understand that,’ ” Cape shares. 

Cape, who has been president of Groupe Marcelle since 2003, hopes it’s a strong signal toward ensuring shoppers know more about their — and other — homegrown brands.

5 more Canadian beauty brands to know

Looking to add more Canadian options to your beauty bag? Consider a product (or two) from these five fabulous Canadian brands:

Basma Beauty

Cheekbone Beauty

Midnight Paloma

Website:Midnightpaloma.com

Vancouver-based Midnight Paloma is a company dedicated to clean beauty and hero ingredients in its bath and skin-care products.

Read our Q&A with Midnight Paloma, originally published January 2019.

Three Ships

Website:Threeshipsbeauty.ca

A natural skin-care brand based in Toronto, Three Ships is driven by results. They offer serums, eye masks, face creams and more that are “radically transparent” and clinically proven, according to the brand.

Aharris@postmedia.com