Tristan Farabet, General Manager, Pochet Group

Premium Beauty News - Reasoning by "market", you cover the entire beauty sector. But nothing is more different in terms of growth dynamics than the make-up, skincare and perfume categories... How do you manage to adapt?

Tristan Farabet -Quite true, but this is why we constantly adapt our production tool to these constraints. As you now the huge advantage we have in our competitive environment is that we are able to offer an array of skills in the glass, plastic, metal and finishing areas. With us, customers find a one stop solution. As for our adaptation to these different dynamics and markets constraints, this is one of the reasons explaining the massive investments we are making at the moment, both industrial speaking and at the innovation level. We rely on a total envelope exceeding 200 million euros over five years. To stay ahead of the pack, our ambition, by 2023, is to become the best global high-end packaging company for perfumes and cosmetics, customers’ preferred company for its inventiveness and the excellence of its multi-material expertise.

Premium Beauty News - Regarding the make-up sector for example, how do you approach it and with what tools?

Tristan Farabet - Picking make-up is indeed a good study case because it’s by far the most dynamic sector at the moment, even if as far as sales a concerned, perfume remains our biggest activity. I must also say a word about skincare, which is impacting very positively our "glass" activity.

Speaking of make-up, we are investing a lot in this area, whether in Brazil, China or Europe with our Qualipac unit. These investments are focused on the industrial toll but also on innovation. Hence, in Brazil, where make-up represents a significant part of the factory’s activity, 20 million euros were injected into the construction of a brand-new building. This site brings together the entire Group’s industrial activities and expertise in perfume and cosmetic packaging: plastic injection, blow moulding, lacquering, metallization, decoration and assembling. It spreads over 18,000 m², i.e., 58% extra surface area, with the possibility for a 50% additional extension. In the long term, the plant will house 80 injection machines, and will enable Pochet do Brasil to also double its metallization capacity with new lacquering and metallization lines. I can also mention China where investments are permanent to modernize our two production sites.

Premium Beauty News - Investments and... innovations!

Tristan Farabet - That’s right! Innovation is permanent in this make-up niche thanks to the work of our teams and partners. For example, our "In’pressive" technology was used on nail polish bottles. As you know this technology allows sculpting the inner shape of the bottle with as much freedom as its outer shape. It enables to sculpt the colour, to magnify it in an innovative way, to make the nail polish even more desirable. The bottle truly carries emotion, and creates a real differentiation for brands, which is today essential in an ultra-competitive environment.

We also announced, via Pochet do Brasil, the launch on the market of our latest innovation, Lip Up, a very technical lipstick mechanism free from silicone and polyoxymethylene (POM). Lip Up results from a global development among the French, American, and Brazilian R&D teams. The 24-cavity mould is made in France, but the mechanism is exclusively produced in Brazil on fully automated lines.

Premium Beauty News - Industrial investments that concern all your areas of expertise?

Tristan Farabet - Absolutely! We must not forget, for example, the 10 million euros invested in a new electroplating workshop, in one of our two production units, in Aurillac, France. The new building is home to a new production line. This line enables to increase the production capacity by 44%, to process new colours and to improve quality and working conditions. In addition, the new process implemented represents a very important advance in CSR: it will help remove hexavalent chromium from the new production line, to divide by twenty the concentration of chromium and nickel releases and to reduce by 10 to 15% energy consumption.

Our efforts are just as important in the field of decoration. Since the past year, our three French decoration sites of Guimerville, Beaugency and Gamaches have been benefiting of a three-year investment plan of more than 17 million euros with the aim of making them the most efficient units available in the sector. This investment programme includes the optimization of the three sites, the rationalization of production flows, the equipment modernization, including new high-speed machines, and the automation of control operations as well as of loading and unloading operations. The whole modernization process was also designed with the aim to improve employees’ working conditions as well as the Group’s environmental footprint: calculation of the carbon footprint related to each operation, reduction of water consumption, etc.

The modernization approach was the same finally for aluminium, a particularly appreciated material at the moment, with, this time, an envelope of 10 million euros, for the replacement of some of the equipment and the commissioning of new automated lines.

Premium Beauty News - But glass remains by far your core business. And this material never stops surprising!

Tristan Farabet - We like pushing the limits a little more every day! With "Epure", for example, a lightweight jar with thin walls, our engineers have definitely crossed another glass technology threshold. This technique enables both, up to 50% weight reduction, while sticking to luxury codes, particularly gloss. This is the proof that glass can be both luxurious and lightened, provided it is perfectly manufactured.

The finest proofs of this glass/plastic/metal excellence in the way of pushing the limits are, for the most part, already present on the market. But I must say a word about "Gabrielle", Chanel’s new women’s perfume, which results from seven years of collaboration with our glass-making teams. It was quite a feat to combine to the extremely fine glass walls, perfect brightness and flawless execution with the same robustness as a in a traditional bottle. I could also say a word about "Twilly", the Hermès perfume bottle with its balanced glass distribution, its mastery and the finesse of its engraving. "Girl of Now" by Elie Saab, "Duo" by Armani, "Scandal" by J.P. Gaultier, "One Essentiel" by Dior, Givenchy’s skincare "Noir et Blanc", without forgetting in the make-up niche, Dior’s new lip stain, "Rouge Dior Liquide", "Prisme Libre" by Givenchy or "Ligne Couture" from Yves Saint.