Premium Beauty News - Indeed, the two years 2010/2011 have been a pivotal period for your group?
Albéa’s President, François Luscan
François Luscan - It’s the least we can say! Because when you look at it, it can be considered as a real recovery from our part with all the positive consequences that it implies in terms of industrial growth, teams involvement and improved service to our customers, be they regional or global.
We owe this strengthening of our financial and consequently, industrial capacities, to the confidence in our strategy and in our potential expressed by our new shareholder who, may I recall, acquired fifteen companies from the packaging sector among the 37 acquisitions undertaken the world over, during recent months. So therefore there was a real legitimacy to acquire Alcan Packaging Beauty [1].
This confidence was recently confirmed withthe acquisition of the Betts Group, thus perfectly complementing the global industrial system we had. Don’t forget that Betts owns six plants, in Mexico, the United Kingdom, Poland, Indonesia and in India producing more than 2 billion tubes and supplying customers in 45 countries. As a result, Albéa has become the world leader in the manufacture of laminated and plastic tubes.
Premium Beauty News - An essential structure in a highly globalised world!
François Luscan - Absolutely! This allows us to have platforms in all regions of the world providing the same service with the same efficiency and the same quality to all our customers whether global or regional.
Premium Beauty News - What are your priorities?
François Luscan - To have a top-level industrial tool! Our investment program is particularly consistent, and this, in all segments covered by Albéa. Of course, we are continuing our efforts to automate processes in the West and expand our presence in emerging markets whether in Brazil, India, Mexico, Russia. China and Indonesia. In parallel, we are strengthening all segments of our portfolio, from the mass market to the selective market.
There’s also a particularly strong emphasis on sustainability! These are new unavoidable core issues for today and even more for tomorrow. In order to address these challenges properly, we have deployed a 2010-2015 program of concrete actions in order to reduce the environmental impact of our products, industrial plants and supply chain.
Premium Beauty News - The means are surely consistent? Does your growth involve more acquisitions?
François Luscan - They are indeed! Both to develop ourselves internally - and we also have many industrial modernization projects underway in different regions of the world - but also externally, through strategic acquisitions with the objective to provide value added to our customers both in terms of geographical expansion and of technical expertise.
Premium Beauty News - Customers are increasingly demanding!
François Luscan - It is only natural when you consider the stakes have become very important for everyone. For our part, we feel we have a duty to offer solutions in terms of innovation, industrialization and logistic efficiency in all parts of the world where we are engaged. Two priorities: secure the supply chain for our customers and bear in mind the time to market concept, a real day to day challenge!
Premium Beauty News - The notion of full service seems to be in everyone’s mind. Especially in the make-up segment. Where do you stand in the picture?
François Luscan - You know we offer a solution on this point as we provide this type of service with our partners. But obviously it’s not the priority need of our first twenty largest key customers.
Premium Beauty News - If you look closely at the make-up segment, you can only feel concerned by the recent difficulties in the sector of lipstick tubes.
François Luscan - It’s true that we had to rethink our business model, particularly in Europe to cope with the economic slowdown in the sector. But this doesn’t necessarily mean we have given up the fundamental segment of cosmetics, quite the contrary. Our plant at Plouhinec, in Brittany, is becoming one of the most performing units in this area and we strongly believe in its successful development.
