Sunday July 5, 2009
A bed of roses
By SANDRA LOW
A French beauty brand known for products that please the senses shares its secrets.
WHILE many beauty brands are experiencing an uneasy calm in their boutique activities, a 33-year-old French beauty brand is still smelling like a rose.
Over tea at Carcosa Seri Negara, Kuala Lumpur, Tanguy de Buchet, L’Occitane’s general manager for South-East Asia comments, “Even during the current economic climate, when we expected to see a drop in consumption, we haven’t really seen it yet and we are still rolling in double-digit growth.
“People are still buying as before, but buying habits have changed in the sense that they are looking for slightly lower-priced items,” says the 37-year-old Frenchman.
He was in Kuala Lumpur recently to launch the Rose Nuit de Mai collection.
Tanguy de Buchet says one of L’Occitane’s successful traits is the sensuous textures of its products. L’Occitane, which originates from Provence in France, is well-known among beauty addicts with a passion for nature.
“L’Occitane is doing the best in Malaysia, which is the number one market for South-East Asia, followed by Thailand. Although Thailand has the most points of sales, they register a lower sales figure than Malaysia, which has the most boutiques,” says the Bangkok-based De Buchet.
He points out that the brand has been here for seven years and the local team has made a terrific impact on communicating what L’Occitane is truly about.
With the abundance of competing products in the market that are based on natural ingredients, how does L’Occitane remain competitive?
De Buchet replies that L’Occitane stands out simply because the company can assure its customers that it knows exactly where its ingredients come from, because it has exclusive contracts with the producers.
The brand is based in Provence where the company sources all its ingredients (with the exception of some ingredients – such as shea butter – which are purchased through a fair price programme from the Burkina Faso village in Africa).
The company also tries to use organic ingredients as much as possible and develop organic textures.
Although it is aware that organic products are the fastest moving sector in the beauty industry – garnering a hike of 20% a year – De Buchet says, “We are dealing with natural products so you are never really sure of the quality of your products, and to keep the same level of quality is not easy.
“Although L’Occitane is Ecocert certified where 95% of the plant ingredients are natural organic origins, we don’t apply a full organic status for our products because it comes with many constraints.
“For instance, sometimes, you cannot use preservatives, which means the life span of the product is shortened and there’s more exposure to bacterial contamination.
“Also, one of the successful traits of L’Occitane lies in its texture. It is a question of the sensuality of the brand. In some cases, if ingredients are fully organic, it will affect the sensuality of the textures and smells,” he explains.
As for new developments for the brand, De Buchet smiles and quickly says, “There is always something exciting happening for L’Occitane.
“In fact, about 15 months ago, L’Occitane acquired a leading organic French skincare brand called Melvita (roughly meaning “life coming from honey” in Latin).
“We are working with Melvita to develop the brand separately, with the focus on health. We will be coming up with skincare, body care and nutritional products. However, there is no launch date at this point in time for Asia.”
One of the founding principles that the L’Occitane company has been built on is that products are never tested on animals.
As such, De Buchet assured that honey is the only animal-based ingredient that is used in the company’s products.
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