Henri Tinchant, Asquan

Henri Tinchant, Asquan

Premium Beauty News - It was not that easy to start from "almost" scratch?

Henri Tinchant - Not that simple you are right, but thanks to both the skills of a team and a clear vision of the current needs and wants of brands in the Beauty sector, the result is the one expected! After two years of work, communication, meetings, explanations, Asquan is a reality. We can be proud of the gone through road.

Premium Beauty News - What are your recipes for success?

Henri Tinchant - The first of them, a comprehensive service. Like for example, visiting customers with product mock-ups that we present. It doesn’t look like much, even if it is a significant investment for us, but it is fundamental to win customer adhesion! Innovation is on everyone’s lips, but in fact few companies adopt a real R&D approach.

Hence, it is important being able to rely on a top level creative team. We have a team consisting of no less than five designers, two of them based on the U.S. West Coast, two in Hong Kong and one in Europe. This creative strategy revolves around biannual presentations (spring-summer and fall-winter). Each year we present a total of 150 new products! The whole of it, supported of course by a strong R&D team.

The other plus is our ability to ensure an excellent sourcing while offering the appropriate production capacity in terms of packaging and formulation ranges in all areas.

Another important component of the recipe: a recognized, competent and very efficient team. A team of industry professionals, each of them with 10 years of experience in the field of beauty. Because I must stress on the fact that our strategy is based on three pillars: proximity, communication and service. To this end, we have seven people in the United States and a very experienced team of twenty five people in Hong Kong. To note that the Hong-Kong team is a perfect blend of Asian and Western employees (respectively 65 and 35 percent). This allows us to ensure a quality customer service with no less than seven languages spoken.

Premium Beauty News - What new areas of development have you been working on?

Henri Tinchant - On the commercial front, we decided to increase our scope of action in the skincare area. One person will be specifically dedicated to this market and will be based in the U.S. The second priority: Europe and, in particular, France. Third axis: we have redefined our organization around four divisions (Packaging, Full Service, Brushes and kits). Finally, fourth line of development: meet growing demand concerning environment. We are in the process of initiating a sustainability program, which we are currently developing with the help of a team of young graduates specialized in the field of environment. This program is called the "3 Rs" (Refill-Re-use-Recycle).

Premium Beauty News - What will you be showcasing at MakeUp in New York?

Henri Tinchant - We will premiere our 2019 Autumn-Winter Innovation Program covering our four divisions as well as our new range, "Frame".