Madara shifts investment back to Europe after costly US experiment

Latvian cosmetics producer Madara Cosmetics is concentrating investment on Europe after an attempt to expand through US e-commerce proved too expensive.

The US experiment in 2025 cost several hundred thousand euros and had a negative impact on EBITDA, according to the company. Madara says Europe is now clearly the stronger investment priority: Spain is growing by around 50%, while Germany and France have recorded double-digit growth in recent years. The company has also taken Finnish e-commerce operations in-house.

The change comes as growth has begun to accelerate again. First-half 2026 revenue rose 17.5% to €13.4 million and the EBITDA margin increased from 7% to 11%.

Madara is also diversifying how it uses its manufacturing base: contract production has reached 18% of turnover. Meanwhile, its Micro-Keratin SILK Hair Mist became its best-selling product after sales increased ninefold in a year.

The emerging model is less about entering ever more markets and more about putting capital behind channels and European markets where customer acquisition is already working.