04.29.10
Avon Acquires Liz Earle Beauty Company
UNITED KINGDOM: Avon Products has acquired Liz Earle Beauty Co. Limited, a privately-held UK brand of naturally active skin care products sold primarily through direct-to-consumer channels. The brand, now part of Avon’s global skin care portfolio, will continue to be managed independently as a stand-alone brand under the leadership of co-founders Liz Earle and Kim Buckland. It will also maintain its headquarters in Ryde, Isle of Wight, UK.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Andrea Jung, Avon’s chairman and chief executive officer called the partnership “a perfect fit” for both companies.
“Liz Earle’s tightly edited range of award-winning, naturally active skin care products is highly complementary to Avon’s anti-aging skin care and broader beauty portfolio. It also represents a long-term opportunity to develop a stand-alone Liz Earle direct-selling representative channel,” she added.
“We are very excited to be aligning with an iconic global beauty brand like Avon,” said Liz Earle, who co-founded the brand 15 years ago with Buckland. “We believe that the Liz Earle Naturally Active Skincare philosophy and extraordinary brand loyalty we have built in the UK, when combined with Avon’s presence in more than 100 markets around the world, offers an outstanding opportunity for global expansion for our company.”
According to Colin Hession, managing director of Colin Hession Consulting and a Happi columnist, Avon may need something new in its“developed, Western markets, notably domestic U.S., as well as UK and Germany, in order to drive margin and get away from some of the promotional discounting they’ve been doing on Anew to drive volume.”
“The issue,” Hession continued, “will be whether they can grow this small brand sufficiently to turn percent margin into absolute cash, while retaining Liz Earle’s rather folksy, home-spun image.”
Beiersdorf Reorganizes
GERMANY: Citing a future that will be “shaped by uneven growth in global markets, changed trade structures, increasing consumer interest in low prices with an excellent price to performance ratio and intensified competition from private label manufacturers,”Beiersdorf’s executive board has announced a restructuring.
Effective May 1, the executive board has been reorganized into three functional and three regional areas of responsibility.
“Fifty percent of the expected growth in the global cosmetics markets will occur in the skin care category. This translates into excellent growth opportunities for Beiersdorf, because skin care has always been our core competence,” explained chairman Thomas B. Quaas at an internal executive managers meeting in Hamburg. “With innovative product developments, flat organizational hierarchies and quicker decision processes, we will be able to respond to local consumer wishes even more flexibly and align ourselves even more precisely with the respective market development.”
Quaas will remain chairman of the reorganized executive board, board member Pieter Nota will continue to be responsible for marketing and innovation, and Bernhard Düttmann remains in charge of finance and will also take on the human resources portfolio, the company said.
Markus Pinger will take responsibility for the Americas region and continue to be in charge of the global supply chain. James C. Wei will head up the Asia region and a new board member will be named for the Europe region.
Peter Kleinschmidt, formerly the executive board member in charge of human resources and sustainability, is leaving Beiersdorf after having served the company for 25 years.
Avon To Build R&D Center in China
CHINA: Avon announced plans to open a new R&D center in Shanghai in the People's Republic of China. The new regional center, which will be open this year, will be Avon’s largest R&D facility outside of the U.S. Located in the Jinqiao Hi-Tech Park, the stand-alone 40,000-sq.-ft building will span six floors with additional capacity to expand. The site will primarily serve China, but will also support other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, while reporting directly to Avon’s global R&D center located in Suffern, NY, according to the New York-based direct seller.
“We’re delighted to be opening our new R&D center in Shanghai. This reflects our continuing commitment to the China market, which remains a significant long-term growth opportunity,” said Avon’s chairman and chief executive officer Andrea Jung. “We believe that our expanded R&D presence in China will enable us to be closer to consumers and ensure that we leverage our scientific talent effectively to meet the needs of Chinese women.”
In China, Avon currently has a regional R&D facility in Guangzhou, which conducts research activities for cosmetics and nutritional supplements. The research capability for cosmetics will move to the new regional R&D center in Shanghai, while research for nutritional supplements will remain in Guangzhou. Avon also has regional research and development facilities located in Argentina, Brazil, China, Japan, Mexico, Poland and South Africa.
Origins Debuts in China
CHINA: Origins Natural Resources Inc. and The Estée Lauder Companies have rolled out the Origins brand in mainland China. Stocked at the Parkson Department Store in Shanghai, Lauder expects to open four more Origins doors in Shanghai and Beijing by the end of June.
“This is such an exciting day for Origins,” said Jane Lauder, senior vice president, general manager of Origins, and a member of The Estée Lauder Companies’ board of directors. “We’re thrilled to be able to offer Chinese consumers the opportunity to experience Origins’ diverse range of high performance skin care products that are powered by nature and proven by science.”
“Chinese consumers are passionate about skin care and natural ingredients, so Origins will be very relevant to this market,” added Carol Shen, general manager of The Estée Lauder Companies in China. “In fact, the main ingredient in one of Origins most popular anti-aging collections, called‘A Perfect World,’ is White Tea, an extremely potent antioxidant which comes from the mountains of the Fujian Province in southeast China.”
Lauder first entered China in 1993 with Estée Lauder and Clinique. Today, nine of its brands are stocked in the country.
“China is strategically important for our company and we expect that Origins will help fuel our continued expansion here,” said William P. Lauder, executive chairman of The Estée Lauder Companies and one of the founders of the brand.
Company executives helped commemorate the launch with a symbolic tree planting near the Origins counter inside the Parkson department store.
Sabinsa Earns International GMP Certification
INDIA: Sabinsa Corporation’s manufacturing facility in Bangalore, India has achieved Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) Registration through NSF International’s Dietary Supplement Certification program.
“While ingredient manufacturing facilities are not required to be GMP certified, we believe such a demonstration of commitment to quality is essential for ingredients companies,” said company founder Dr. Muhammed Majeed. “I’ve been quoted describing Sabinsa as a responsible and reliable ingredients company, and this certification independently verifies that commitment.”
While Sabinsa has six manufacturing facilities, approximately 90% of its nutritional ingredients are produced in this GMP certified facility. The 77,500-sq.-ft. facility houses state of the art manufacturing for herbal extracts, nutritional and specialty fine chemicals and their compositions, with an additional 15,000 sq. ft. devoted to lab space.
More info: www.sabinsa.com
Indena’s Milan Site Earns ISO140001 Certification
ITALY: Indena has been granted the ISO14001 certification for its main production site in Settala/Milan.
“We are proud of having received the ISO14001 certification because it validates our ongoing commitment to progressively reduce the environmental impact of our production activities,” said Lorenzo Palvarini, Indena’s HSE manager.
Under the direction of an established environmental affairs committee, Indena has adopted behaviors aimed at the improvement of its environmental impact in its production sites and offices. Some of these efforts include reducing the consumption of water, optimizing and saving energy as well as reducing waste products. This certification formalizes a process the company has been undertaking for a long period of time.
More info: www.indena.com
Beyond Beauty Paris Is Sept. 12-15
FRANCE: With 19,000 visitors, including 28% from overseas, Beyond Beauty Paris 2009 reported a 4% increase in visitors despite an uneasy economic environment. With three-shows-in-one, visitors will get an all-around view of the market and that it is a unique opportunity for networking, according to the organizers.
Beyond Beauty 2010—which will be held Sept. 12-15—is slated to be yet another comprehensive event—encompassing Cosmeeting, which reveals new trends and alternative brands that are looking for international distributors; Creative, which brings together packaging, ingredient and private label suppliers to the cosmetics industry; and the European Spa Exhibition and Summit. During Cosmeeting, there will be the Beauty Challenger Awards which selects the best emerging brand, Beauty Challenger of the year, the best brand certified natural, the Organic Beauty Award and, a new one, the Beauty Pharma Award, the best brand presented in the para-pharmacy and pharmacy sector.
At Creative, organizers are inaugurating a platform called Beyond Beauty Make Up Trends, at which where suppliers, makeup artists and experts will highlight key trends and innovations.
The Natural and Organic section at Cosmeeting will bring together the new generation of natural brands, and Creative devotes a space to “Green Ingredients” especially dedicated to natural cosmetic ingredients that result from sustainable development. Also, in the same spirit, a “green” circuit will clearly indicate the exhibitors who practice a bioethical and sustainable approach.
For 2010, event organizers have launched the Beyond Beauty blog at www.blogbeyondbeauty.com, which will serve as an intermediary to communicate news about show exhibitors throughout the year.
More info: www.beyondbeauty.com, www.beyondbeautyparis.com
Shiseido To Centralize Data, Enter Chinese Hair Salons
JAPAN: According to a report in the Nikkei Business Daily, Shiseido Co. will build a new system connecting all of its sales companies abroad to its head office in Tokyo in order to centrally manage all business data. The move will include orders, inventories, payments and factory workers.
By July, the system will first link headquarters to eight subsidiaries in Europe, including France, Italy, Germany and Spain. Chinese and U.S. subsidiaries will be connected in fiscal 2011 and fiscal 2013, respectively, according to the report.
In other news, Shiseido plans to enter the Chinese commercial hair care market, with a goal to have Shiseido Professional and Joico brands stocked at 700 high-end beauty parlors in Beijing and Shanghai this year.
Amway Phiippines Celebrates 13th Anniversary
PHILIPPINES: Amway Philippines is celebrating is 13th anniversary of operations. During that time, the firm has built eight distribution centers and reportedly established the independent businesses of more than 40,000 Filipinos nationwide. These Amway Independent Business Owners (IBOs) offer more than 100 Amway products, including Nutrilite vitamins and dietary supplements, Artistry cosmetics and home care products. According to Ador Bonquin, country manager of Amway Philippines, despite the global economic downturn, Amway performed well, with Artistry sales increasing by 27%.
Limited Brands To Expand BBW in Middle East
KUWAIT: Limited Brands is looking to build its international presence, and in doing so has forged a new franchise partnership with M.H. Alshaya, Co. to operate Bath and Body Works stores in the Middle East. M.H. Alshaya Co., which is based in Kuwait, is an international franchise operator for more than 55 of the world’s most recognized retail brands, including Starbucks, H&M, American Eagle, Pottery Barn, P.F. Chang’s, Office Depot and Boots.
Initial plans call for Bath and Body Works Middle Eastern doors to open before the end of the year.
“As we grow our business with the support of M.H. Alshaya and its leadership, we will benefit from their success and knowledge as we strive to provide these new customers with an emotional experience that is true to our brand,” said Leslie Wexner, chairman and chief executive officer of Limited Brands.
In other news, the firm has created Limited Brands Canada, a Montreal-based company that will support all Limited Brands retail stores and strategic expansion in Canada, including Bath and Body Works. Additionally the firm has tapped Joanne Nemeroff to serve as president of Limited Brands Canada, in addition to her role as president of La Senza.
CPL Aromas Increases CAFOD Assistance
UNITED KINGDOM: Having supported Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) for 10 years, CPL Aromas has increased its involvement and financial assistance to the international aid charity. This year, CPL Aromas has made a donation of $120,000 and the firm is also committed to providing a portion of its profits to CAFOD every year.
The 2010 donation will help fund the following projects; Advancing human and legal rights in the West Bank and Gaza Strip by offering protection in these vulnerable communities; Helping to provide sustainable livelihoods and assisting in trade projects for peasant farmers in Honduras; Reducing the vulnerability of young girls to commercial and sexual exploitation in Nicaragua; Provide trauma healing for the poor and impoverished surviving victims of the genocide that took place in Rwanda during 1994; and rebuilding a primary school in Khartoum that was destroyed by flooding in September 2009, a move that will immediately benefit 650 children.
“I am so pleased that our efforts have enabled the company to make this important contribution to CAFOD who we are proud to have been associated with for 10 years,” said Chris Pickthall, CPL Aromas Group chief executive officer.•