Olivier Salaun, PSB Industries

Premium Beauty News - A bit of history first...

Olivier Salaun - Yes, and history is important! Especially since the history of the Group dates back to 1904, the year when the Baikowski family founded the Pierre Synthétique Baikowski company in Paris. The company started manufacturing synthetic gemstones, from ultra pure alumina powder for the watch and jewellery industries. Already the "luxury" segment! The relocation in Annecy where our headquarters are, dates back to 1919 and the company’s initial public offering of 1955. In 1984, The Entremont, Cachat, Wirth and Provendis families acquire stakes in the company and begin a policy of acquiring companies in new business segments. Five years later, 100% of CGL Thermoformage and a 55% stake in Ceica (Texen) are acquired by the group. In 1991, Jean-Baptiste Bosson is appointed Chairman of Pierre Synthétique Baikowski, subsequently renamed PSB Industries. The group then refocuses on its niche markets, implementing an active organic growth and acquisition policy, and will continue to strengthen its activities in packaging (custom cosmetics, perfumes and thermoforming) and specialty chemicals particularly overseas. In 1996, the factory in Mexico is created, then in 2008, Mar-Lee, an American company, based in Fitchburg, Massachusetts and specializing in injection moulding for the personal care and healthcare industries, is acquired. This year, as you know, we acquired the US company C+N Packaging, who is a recognised player in the design of plastic packaging components for the fragrance, cosmetic, and consumer product industries, and who serves prestigious customers like Avon, Estée Lauder and Elizabeth Arden, with its plants in North America and Poland. Clearly, this acquisition will help us accelerate our international expansion on the Luxury & Beauty market by enriching our customer portfolio, strengthening our industrial and commercial position in North America and also by reinforcing our presence in the fragrance and wine & spirits segment.

PSB Industries has become over the years a responsive and innovative group of companies with solidarity-minded and responsible industrialists heading them. It is a dynamic group, listed on the NYSE Euronext, with more than half of its turnover generated by international sales, with production sites in France, Poland, the United States, Japan and Mexico, whose main shareholders are French industrialists.

Premium Beauty News - You have plans for 2020!

Olivier Salaun - Absolutely! For over a century, the success of PSB Industries has been based on its values and the combined strengths of the three brands: Baikowski, CGL Pack, and Texen. Each is a market leader, and each has decisive advantages and a genuine culture of accomplishment. This exceptional industrial heritage enables us to establish new objectives, as set out in a project that we called "Ambition 2020". This project shows, in stages and in clearly defined markets what our course should be. This is a winning strategy for customers, partners, employees and shareholders. The strategy will encourage us to nurture the values shared by our 1,600 employees, (including C+N Packaging), the complementary fit of our skill sets, the rich array of our talents and our passion for innovation. Our very strong values are based on respect, customer satisfaction, team spirit, performance and creativity.

Premium Beauty News - What were the main strategic focus areas in terms of industrial investments over the past months and what are the ones planned in the short and medium term?

Olivier Salaun - Generally speaking, to better serve Luxury & Beauty markets, we need to strengthen our manufacturing presence in the Americas and set up operations in Asia to benefit from growth in emerging countries. Don’t forget that we clearly stated that we wanted to double our sales in our strategic markets with acquisitions in France and internationally, targeted investments and a dynamic culture of innovation and continuous improvement.

On the industrial side, we invest about 5% of our turnover every year more particularly to automate and robotise our injection and surface treatment plants. We recently invested a million euros in the implementation in France of "Texen Lab", our Innovation Unit, and there is more to come...

But I must also emphasize on the human investment all this represents, a key strategic focus of our Ambition 2020 plan being Sustainable Development and Human Capital. Our group has been driven by strong behavioural and action values and principles that form the basis for the relations of confidence that should exist between the company, its partners and its shareholders as well as between members of its staff. Our responsibility primarily covers our customers, to whom the Group’s companies undertake to provide high‐quality products that comply strictly with safety and environmental impact standards, but it also covers our employees. Concerning this last point, we are very careful to develop employees’ skills and working conditions, especially with respect to their safety and the protection of their health. It is also with this in mind that the Group’s active environmental protection approach is an integral part of its transparent sustainable development policy. (CSR).

To ensure the coordination of all these actions, I created the position of Corporate Human Resources Management in January 2014, to make sure that we give us the means to achieve our ambitions and support the development of our skills.

Premium Beauty News - Beauty packaging often means "Full service"! Moreover, are there activities in the beauty packaging segment where you are not present! What is your insight?

Olivier Salaun - This is typically the role of the people who are in charge of the "Business Development & Strategy" unit, with the Senior Management and the sales and marketing teams We are currently reflecting on all these points. It is a fact that full service is an underlying trend that calls for an answer, particularly in certain geographic areas or for some customers who do not want to integrate production or packaging operations. We’re working on it. Concerning other trades or technologies in which we are little or no at all involved, and you’re probably referring to the sub-segments of metal, mascara applicators and pump systems, we are also working on it!

Premium Beauty News - In one of your recent communications, you talk of making "winning marketing choices"!

Olivier Salaun - That’s true! Making "winning marketing choices" is to sometimes disengage from non-core markets and develop, in particular internationally, to position ourselves as a leader on our core markets and acquire new customers. It is important to diversify our portfolio. Making "innovative" marketing choices also means being a permanent source of innovation and improvement to ensure the success of our partners through co-development. But the "key" element is a strict financial management. We must constantly strive to improve our financial performance to provide the means to achieve our ambitions and ensure the Group’s future.

And finally, we have developed a new corporate graphic charter, with a slogan that suits us, perfectly illustrates our vision and will bear our Ambition 2020 strategic plan: Industrial Imagination!