“To simplify the lives of our customers, we have created a unique site, which does not exist anywhere else”, explains Frédéric Lagacherie. “The challenge was not just to gain efficiency, by bringing together the innovation and customer support teams of the group’s two makeup entities: above all, we aimed to invent a new space to serve brands”, says the former L’Oréal Group Industrial Equipments Sourcing Director, who joined Anjac Health & Beauty a year ago.
A Centre of excellence a stone’s throw from Paris
The new premises are located north of Paris, in the suburban city of Clichy, which will soon be linked to the Orly airport through a metro line that will cross the Paris conurbation from north to south.
The 1,400-m² site boasts not only a showroom, but also two laboratories: one dedicated to powders and the other to fluids and hot-cast products. There is also a series of workstations with a total capacity of around 60 employees. Initially, it will count 45 people, including 25 in the laboratories and the regulatory department.
The Clichy innovation centre will be directly linked to the production sites, where dedicated teams will be responsible for the industrialization of innovations.
A white glove service
For Frédéric Lagacherie, this initiative marks “the entry of Aircos and Pascual into a new era”. The Anjac Group’s two fast-growing makeup entities are aiming to structure their development around three key areas: a unique customer experience, accelerated innovation, and flawless execution.
“Our new innovation centre will help us offer our customers a novel makeup experience, a unique white glove service with bespoke developments just a few minutes from the centre of Paris”, he explains.
To meet the needs of a category that is particularly keen on new products, the Centre was designed as a real launch box, with a new NPD department and a cross-functional Innovation team. “We have hired several new employees to beef up our research and speed up the development of new products”, adds Frédéric Lagacherie. Research on powder structures will be launched to create new textures and processes.
“We work with market leaders, particularly on loose powders. Several powders, now best-sellers in Europe and North America – with shiny or matte finishes – are derived from Aircos research”, emphasizes Mélaine Lescop, Marketing & Communications Director of Aircos & Pascual.
Execution-wise, Aircos and Pascual are committed to safety and compliance, in particular with strengthened microbiological expertise, which is essential since formulas contain fewer and fewer conservatives. At the same time, the teams have been working to enhance the robustness of the supply chain, by consolidating Sales and Operations Planning, and extending the scope of certifications.
Double-digit growth and new capacity
In addition to the new Centre, Aircos and Pascual have scheduled a several-million-euro investment to increase their capacity and acquire new technologies.
The Aircos site in Romorantin, in central France, and the Pascual Cosmétiques site in Ferrières-en-Brie, East of Paris, saw their capacities boosted, respectively for powders, and fluids and hot-casting. Also, the Aircos site in Ardon, about two hours south of Paris, is ceasing its packaging activity: its entire production area is being converted to makeup, so Aircos can triple its loose powder capacity.
As for technology, the teams have been focusing their efforts on the performance and sensoriality of loose and compact powders, as well as on replacing raw materials such as talc or silica. As regards lipsticks, Pascual’s site in the East of Paris has one of the few cold moulding machines using negative temperatures that can help produce innovative, natural formulations on a large scale.
These new investments should support a growth rate of 25 to 30% per year and help the Anjac group become a benchmark in the makeup sector.
As a preview to the official inauguration of the Centre, the Aircos & Pascual Cosmétiques teams will be presenting their very latest innovations at the MakeUp in Paris show, on May 29-30, 2024.
“One of the main areas of innovation remains skinification and hybridization, which consists in enhancing makeup with skincare actives or UV filters. For example, we will showcase versions of our Aquastick technology, which helps incorporate a high water content into solid formulas for a fresh effect, and use natural actives, such as floral waters. We will also be exhibiting formulas which were objectified with efficacy tests, in partnership with our scientific management and in line with our line of conduct: ’Science as Foundation, Emotion as Benefit’”, concludes Mélaine Lescop, Marketing & Communications Director, Aircos & Pascual Cosmétiques.