LOCAL sun-care company Ganehill is hoping supermodel Megan Gale will help them crack the lucrative European market following an exclusive launch in Italy recently.
Ganehill, which owns Megan Gale’s Suncare products, manufactures and markets a range of Invisible Zincsun care products, which feature the new ZinClear product.
The technology was developed by another Perth company, Advanced Powder Technologies.
Ganehill CEO Andrea Horwood said the company chose Ms Gale because of her recognition in Italy, which has already proved successful with Milan’s famous department chain, La Rinascente.
Ms Horwood said there had been very good indications from the market so far in Italy and that the response had been positive from the UK, where the range was also launched last week.
She said it was important to launch before the start of the European summer.
Ganehill had been encouraged by recent research to come out of the UK, Ms Horwood said, that revealed traditional sunscreens do not effectively block UVA rays — the most damaging of the UV rays.
The new zinclear product is said to be more effective at blocking UVA rays.
Before an exclusive launch at La Rinascente last week, Ms Gale said it was great to be able to promote Australia and give Italians a sense of what Australia is all about.
“My interest in promoting healthcare products – particularly given the problems people have with skin cancer in Australia – comes from my upbringing in Perth,” Ms Gale said.
Austrade, who assisted Ganehill launch into Europe, said its success would help other companies looking to export to Italy by raising interest in all things Australian.