Premium Beauty News - The end of 2014 is at the corner. Your division accounts for more than a third of the turnover of the Albéa Group, which will exceed $ 1.5 bn in sales. And the envelope of industrial investments earmarked for CRP is commensurate to the ambitions set by the Group to develop this activity!

Guillaume de Demandolx - That’s right! Our Group proves once again its ambition to offer our customers all the possibilities in terms of packaging solutions but also of applicators for their brands. I remind you that this division, CRP, that I am heading, includes all the packaging solutions for the make-up industry but also the skincare and perfume industry. Our factories are located in every part of the world, and another particularity is that the turnover generated by each main region is very much balanced between Europe, North America, Asia and South America. The other division of the group, to be equivalent in size is the one that produces plastic and laminated tubes. The past few months have been, as you said, particularly tonic for CRP. To start with this new production site which was commissioned recently in Bottanuco (Italy) and which specialises in mascaras (brushes and packs) and gloss applicators. It is the result of the integration of two existing sites in Italy, near Milan (Verderio and Imbersago). It has a production area of 3,000 sqm and a warehouse capacity of 3,000 sqm. Warehousing, tooling, injection, extrusion, and blow moulding, decoration and assembly, thermal varnishing, UV lacquering and metallization are all fully integrated. The facility will hosts a dedicated development unit for mascara brushes and a comprehensive brush library for both fibre and plastic brushes. Amount of the investment, several million euros. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all the teams who enabled this move to happen in the best conditions possible and with no direct impact on our customers. The creation of a single integrated site not only enhances our manufacturing efficiency and responsiveness but also delivers a wider range of value added services and encourages the interaction between our customers and our teams. In line with this investment, I also want to recall that we are launching "Tips Studio" that brings together all the group’s expertise in terms of applicators: mascara brushes (fibre and plastic), lipgloss, eyeliners. We are working on innovative or conventional applicators, mass or prestige, available off-the-shelf or developed specifically for our customers, and which are based on proprietary technologies. Our teams decipher both women’s expectations and the latest trends. Through cutting-edge prototyping technologies, our ambition is to constantly offer customers new application solutions that meet the market’s various demands.

Premium Beauty News - Another significant investment is the start of the new facility in Suzhou, near Shanghai in China.

Guillaume de Demandolx - This is so far Albéa’s only site to house in dedicated buildings the complete scope of the group’s core expertise: tubes, cosmetic plastic packaging (mascaras, lipgloss, compact, bottles) and dispensing systems. The site was designed to reduce time to market and improve flexibility and logistics performance. The new site expands over 30,000 sqm and represents an investment of $ 14m. It was built in just 15 months. Suzhou is Albéa’s centre of excellencein China for mascaras (brushes and small bottles) and dispensing systems. I remind you that the Group also has four other sites in China (in Zhongshan, Shenzhen and Shanghai), each a centre of excellence for a particular packaging, and two sales offices.

Premium Beauty News - Another major project focuses on improving the development process of new products.

Guillaume de Demandolx - Yes, this is very important and all of our sites are concerned. It is essential to respond quickly to customer needs and, above all, to be able to make available for them, in no time, our latest innovations. Our President, François Luscan, had already clearly highlighted this in your columns, a year ago. He was already saying at the time that, concerning innovation, you must always be ready, not to say ahead of competition... “Quality” and “Time to market” are ongoing topic for us. We have therefore implemented an entire process to improve the reliability and accelerate the development of new products. Deadlines, quality, competitiveness... we want to reduce or eliminate risks associated with complex and sometimes recurring projects. Consider that almost a third of our portfolio is renewed every year! Our French factory of Parigné-L’Evêque was one of the first to adopt this new process and performed particularly well this year with several very successful launches in spite of their complexity.

Premium Beauty News - We reviewed France, Italy, China...

Guillaume de Demandolx - I can also say a word on Brazil where we are investing in new technologies for the assembling of lipstick. As for Indonesia, it reinforces a little more each day its expertise and excellence in the manufacture of compacts and is developing in a still dynamic regional market.

Premium Beauty News - And what about 2015?

Guillaume de Demandolx - These last 24 months were dedicated to industrial investments, our future investments will be more concentrated on both technical innovation, operational excellence, new product launches and what’s essential, the training of our teams.

Premium Beauty News - Make-up remains CRP’s driving force?

Guillaume de Demandolx - It’s almost 65% of our business! It’s therefore very important! And, as you know, "the gesture" has become an essential element that guides our research and developments.

Premium Beauty News - A word on the latest launches in which you participated?

Guillaume de Demandolx - We will showcase at Luxe Pack Monaco a host of novelties. In my category, new mascara brushes (plastic) and innovative lipgloss applicators complementing the existing applicator offering, renamed ‘Albéa Tips Studio’. Albéa Tips Studio brings together all the group’s expertise in terms of applicators: mascara brushes (fibre-based or plastic), lipgloss and eyeliners.

With the opening of the new site in Bottanuco, our global centre of expertise gets a new development and testing centre. While the production of applicators is performed in regional platforms in Italy for Europe, in the US and Mexico for America and in China for Asia.

 In the tube category, we are launching Reflection: PBL (Plastic Barrier Laminate) tubes featuring a web structure with multiple metallic effects and with bounce back properties similar to traditional plastic tubes.

 In the dispensing systems category: Albéa via Rexam is at the origin of the Panache technology, which has revolutionized the perfume industry with the launch of the high-end, airy, light, fragrance spray. We are now launching SP22 Panache, a "fine mist" version for skincare products that is going to transform the skincare routine.
 We mustn’t forget the full service category: our full service activity is still in its infancy but growing quickly, outside its homeland, the USA. What we offer is full-service as part of a industrial approach.