Creative cosmetics solutions Albea

CREATIVE COSMETICS SOLUTIONS

Albea is a global leader in the packaging of cosmetics and fragrances, as well as oral and personal care products. Industry Europe looks at its innovative cosmetics packaging and its plans for further expansion.

The Albea Group has grown to become one of the world’s most successful and innovative packaging companies, with a clear focus on the cosmetics and skincare industries. Its product portfolio is one of the most extensive in its field, ranging from plastic and laminate tubes to mascaras, lipsticks and lip glosses. The company also produces compacts, plastic closures, shells and spray caps, as well as jars, lids, cosmetic accessories and promotional items. Today the company employs almost 10,000 people and operates 34 manufacturing facilities worldwide, of which 13 are based in Europe.

Innovation driving sales

The Albea Group’s mission is described by Francois Luscan, its president and CEO, as: “To be the best global packaging company in the eyes of our people, our customers and our shareholders.” To maintain its ‘topdrawer’ position, Albea offers a truly global dimension to its operations, as well as innovation, operational excellence and highly creative design teams. The company also lists its core values as integrity, accountability, trust, transparency and teamwork.

Evidence of the success of this philosophy can be seen in the many global brands that form its customer base. For example, its unique, SpinArt™ rotating lip-gloss products, which consist of three rotating lip-gloss applicators, deliver a perfectly homogenous formula onto lips with maximum shine in just one step. In addition, their bold, eyecatching design gives them a distinctive, shelf-appeal advantage.

Another Albea exclusive is its ‘coloursensational’ lipstick produced for Maybeline New York. Working in close collaboration with Albea, Maybeline New York has created a new lipstick with an exceptional design for its ‘Illustrious’ top-of-the-range lipsticks. With a special copolyester (PCTG) pink cap and silver plated ABS plastic base, this lipstick features a unique design that combines elegance, shine and subtle lines that create an appearance that is both modern and exciting.

A company representative said, “As a truly global player, we provide a wide range of dedicated customer services, and prefer to be seen as a global company, but with a domestic and local focus. Furthermore, we do not just serve the big cosmetic and fragrance brands but also smaller companies and those who would like to take advantage of our creativity and production expertise to launch new products. We can offer our customers a standard range of products as well as customised products that benefit from our latest technologies. These include our advanced printing technologies, which offer photo-like special effects and metallic, mirror finishes. “In addition, we provide applications that offer advanced technological processes for the design and manufacture of flip-top closures. These are created for items such as toothpaste, which involve special peel and seal, ‘virgin’ flip-top membranes. We cover the whole range of possibilities when it comes to packaging for our market sector and provide design, prototype and testing services as well as a full range of packaging consultancy services. In addition, our financial strength means that we can continue to invest in new technology and offer special design and added-value services for our customers.”

A clear strategy for growth

A continuous programme of investment in new technology and manufacturing capabilities, in association with innovative design teams and dedicated customer services, has provided a firm foundation for growth. Whilst continuing to grow organically, the group is also open to acquisitions providing that they offer operational synergies and complement their existing product ranges.

In keeping with this strategy, Albea recently announced its acquisition of Rexam Personal Care, cosmetic division – a leading producer of dispensing systems and make-up packaging for the Cosmetic

and personal care markets. The division operates 11 plants in Europe, the Americas and Asia. CEO Francois Luscan said of the move: “This acquisition is consistent with Albea’s strategy of building a strong, sustainable and profitable growth platform offering packaging solutions to the cosmetics and personal care market. We believe this transaction will allow us to better serve our customers worldwide and further enhance our strong focus on product innovation.”

As part of its strategy for growth, Albea is committed to creating innovative products with the lowest possible environmental impacts. All Albea products continue to benefit from the Eco-design 3R philosophy: (reduce, recycle, replace) developed in association with its own research department and university partnerships. This has enabled it to offer its customers design and packaging based upon renewable and recyclable materials.

The company representative added, “We take our commitment to the environment seriously throughout our manufacturing processes to ensure an efficient integration of eco-design in all our activities. In terms of the future we are also looking at extending our capabilities in key European markets, such as France, Germany, the UK, Poland and particularly in Russia where there is a strong developing market for the big cosmetic brands. In addition, we are increasing our presence in the growing Asian markets. I am pleased to say that despite the economic downturn in Europe, the cosmetics, personal and oral care markets seem to be weathering the storm better than most.” n

Mitsui Chemicals

As one of the globally leading suppliers of extrudable tie resins marketed under the trade name ADMERTM, Mitsui Chemicals enjoys a long business relationship to the ALBEA Group and its predecessor companies. Since many years, ADMERTM tie resin is the preferred adhesive resin, among others used in the production of coextruded multilayer tubes for the cosmetic and food industry. Such tubes are often equipped with aroma and oxygen barrier layers (mostly EVOH or polyamide). In these barrier tubes, ADMERTM tie resins are acting as functional adhesive layers, bonding conventional polyolefins to the barrier layers. The European headquarters of the group, Mitsui Chemicals Europe GmbH, is located in the city of Dusseldorf, home of one of the biggest Japanese communities in Europe. Next to the European markets, it is successfully serving the markets in the Middle East region and Africa (EMEA markets). The product portfolio consists of, among others, various functional polymers, elastomers, functional films, PP compounds, information and electronics materials and fine chemicals. Visit the local website to get a complete image of the product portfolio: http://eu.mitsuichem.com. Mitsui Chemicals would like to thank ALBEA for the trustworthy cooperation over the past years and is looking forward to its successful continuation in future.

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