Key takeaways

If your product is a premium one with good margins, it is easier to weather a sudden rise in tariffs.

The founder of Abel Fragrance says having a warehouse in the US puts her in a better position because she is paying duty on landed goods not the retail price.

While some Kiwi exporters may be wondering about whether to go to the US market this year in light of the tariff disruptions, one Aro Valley fragrance entrepreneur is forging on, undaunted.

Abel Fragrance founder, Frances Shoemack is serious about growing her US business, in New York specifically, where she has a team of two and a warehouse.

The Kiwi businesswoman had a piece of good luck in the run up to the US tariffs coming into effect on April 5. A big shipment of Abel Fragrance arrived in New York from Europe three days before the new rules kicked in.

“We were very lucky, our shipment cleared customs in time,” says Frances.

That shipment should last until August and a new one will land in September when the tariff situation may have changed..

The brand recently scored a coup in New York.

Printemps, one of Abel’s US stockists, has just opened a state of the art store at 1 Wall Street, the size of a NZ department store and it is using the Abel room spray throughout, in the changing rooms and in its bags.

Printemps dept store 1 Wall St MG_6242.jpeg

Having a base in the US puts her business in a better position as an exporter, Frances believes.

“Because we have the warehouse, we’re paying duty on the landed goods not the retail price,” she says.

The Abel fragrance product range is coming to the US from Europe where it is manufactured, not New Zealand, so in fact Abel could be facing a possible higher tariff than the blanket 10% once the 90 day pause is over.

“Because of the supply chain, we have a natural hedge. A lot of our production supply chain costs and revenue are in euros and pounds,” she says.

With revenue in US dollars, the weak NZ dollar is a positive for exporters, making the tariffs easier to take.

What makes Abel fragrance different

In the States, consumers are paying US$185 for a 50ml bottle of Abel fragrance and in New Zealand the cost is $270. Frances has recently pushed prices up and tariffs have contributed to this, she says.

What is different about Abel, which was launched in 2013 in Amsterdam where Frances and her husband Dave were doing a belated OE, is it has always been made with natural ingredients, not petro-chemicals which 99% of perfumes start as, she says.

“We don’t use anything fossil fuel derived - our ingredients start their life as a plant. If cars are moving away from fossil fuels, surely perfume should. We were out there on our own, using biotechnology before anyone in our industry was even talking about it,” she says.

Abel’s global headquarters is in Wellington’s Aro Valley, where it has a lab and showroom open to the public on Fridays and Saturdays. There are seven staff in Wellington, one in Auckland, three in Amsterdam and two contractors in NYC.

The brand’s master perfumer is Kiwi Isaac Sinclair who lives in Paris, and is one of 50 master perfumers in the world.

Abel's other export markets

Frances has exported Abel since launching from its initial home of Amsterdam.

The brand exports to France, Belgium, Holland and Germany, Japan and the Middle East.

“In both Japan and the Middle East we work with distributor partners,” she says.

“We’ve consolidated our focus in the early years - it’s easy to get trigger happy when cool opportunities come up,” Frances adds.

The experienced exporter is keeping her eye on the prize - the American market.

“Where I am putting time and money is in New York,” she says.

And while the Abel footprint is focused on NYC, California is Abel’s busiest US market from an e-commerce perspective so there is more to come, adds Frances.

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Abel Fragrance is focused on the US as a key market, tariff or no tariff