Premium Beauty News - Following the success of its shower gel refills, Yves Rocher is now extending the concept to several of its best-selling shampoos. What is driving this expansion?
Alexandra Ferré - This is part of a long-term strategy that Yves Rocher has been pursuing for more than 30 years to reduce the environmental footprint of its packaging. We introduced refill formats for our shower gels in France in 2023, and the results have been very encouraging. Today, we are the market leader by value in this segment, and we are now extending the refill offer to several of our best-selling shampoos. Our objective is simple: to enable more consumers to adopt more sustainable beauty habits without compromising on convenience or product performance.
Premium Beauty News - What lessons have you drawn from the initial rollout of your refill formats?
Alexandra Ferré - The market is showing very strong momentum. The penetration rate for refill formats has now reached 43%, and since 2023 the category has attracted nearly one million new consumers. At Yves Rocher, refill pouches already account for 13% of sales of the shampoo lines concerned after just two months on the market. Combined with our solid-format products, refill solutions now account for 20% of our shower gel sales.
Beyond commercial performance, the environmental benefits are significant. Over the past year alone, our refill formats in the shower category have helped avoid the equivalent of three million plastic water bottles, representing around 90 tons of plastic saved.
Premium Beauty News - Are consumers primarily motivated by the environmental benefits of refills or by the cost savings?
Alexandra Ferré - The two go hand in hand. We believe that more sustainable consumption habits also need to be affordable. Our refill formats typically offer savings of between 20% and 30% compared with purchasing two standard bottles. We follow the same approach with our solid products, which are generally priced 15% to 20% lower than their conventional equivalents.
Affordability is undoubtedly a powerful driver of adoption, but it is even more effective when combined with a clear and tangible environmental benefit.
Premium Beauty News - Are consumers making refills part of their long-term purchasing habits?
Alexandra Ferré - It is still too early to draw firm conclusions for shampoos, as the products have only recently been launched. However, in the shower category, we are seeing very high customer satisfaction and strong repeat purchase rates.
One figure is particularly telling: nearly 70% of customers who purchase a refill are first-time refill users. Once they have adopted the format, very few revert to buying only standard bottles, as they appreciate both the economic savings and the environmental benefits.
Premium Beauty News - Scaling up refill formats has required significant industrial investment. Can you tell us more about it?
Alexandra Ferré - We have completed two major investment phases at our production site in La Gacilly, France, where almost all Yves Rocher products are manufactured.
The first phase focused on our shower gel range. At the time, there was no flexible refill solution that met our requirements, particularly in terms of recyclability. We therefore developed our own lightweight refill bottle, which uses up to 80% less plastic than a conventional bottle.
Shampoos presented a different challenge because of the viscosity of the formulas, making that solution unsuitable. As recyclable flexible pouches became available, we invested in a dedicated filling line designed specifically for these formats. With an annual production capacity of five million units, the facility more than meets our current needs and could also be used to manufacture refill pouches for other brands. It is a strategic investment that supports both our current ambitions and the future expansion of our refill offering.
Premium Beauty News - What are Yves Rocher’s ambitions for refill formats in the coming years?
Alexandra Ferré - At brand level, our objective is to reduce our plastic consumption by 30% by 2030 compared with 2019.
In the shower category, refill and solid formats already account for 20% of our sales. In hair care, we are targeting a 10% share for refill formats in 2026, with some markets expected to exceed 15%. Indeed, adoption rates vary significantly from one country to another. Markets such as Italy and Portugal have embraced refill solutions very quickly, while others, including Turkey, are evolving at a more gradual pace.
Premium Beauty News - On the occasion of World Refill Day, is Yves Rocher exploring other ways to reduce packaging waste?
Alexandra Ferré - We are exploring several complementary solutions. Solid products are already a key pillar of our strategy, and Yves Rocher is currently the market leader in this segment in France, with around a 25% market share.
We are also testing new circular models in collaboration with industry partners, including deposit-return schemes for selected facial skincare products packaged in glass bottles. In parallel, we are assessing opportunities to expand refill formats into additional categories, such as facial care.
We have also experimented with bulk dispensing in stores, but the results were not sufficiently convincing, mainly because consumers did not consistently return with their containers.
Our conviction is that the greatest environmental impact will come from solutions that can be adopted at scale. Even the most sustainable innovation will have only a limited effect if it reaches only a small proportion of consumers. The real challenge is to make refilling a simple, convenient and mainstream habit.
