Arcade Beauty’s employees, board members, suppliers, and customers, including L’Oréal, Puig, Shiseido, Charlotte Tilbury, Chanel, Estée Lauder, and Coty, came together on September 26 to celebrate the group’s 10th anniversary with a cocktail party at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. At the dawn of its second decade, the Group has undertaken a strategic transformation from a supplier of sampling solutions to a key player in contract manufacturing, Carl Allain, CEO, told Premium Beauty News.
Premium Beauty News – Arcade Beauty is now 10 years old. You have been instrumental in the creation of the company.
Carl Allain – Arcade Beauty is the result of the merger between Arcade Marketing and Bioplan Beauty in 2014. We have celebrated our 10th anniversary during a very enjoyable party in a magical place, surrounded by our customers, suppliers, shareholders and of course Arcade Beauty employees. It was much appreciated, and we received lots of very positive feedback.
I joined Bioplan Beauty as COO in charge of Global Operations, 13 years ago. I contributed to the acquisition and integration of Mappel in Brazil, Le Papillon and Aphena in the US, before handling the merger that gave birth to Arcade Beauty. I then managed the Europe region from 2016 to 2021 and took over as Group President in October 2021.
Premium Beauty News – What has been the biggest challenge in your tenure as CEO at Arcade Beauty?
Carl Allain – I would mention three very important challenges: the refinancing of the group, which was necessary post-Covid, the changing of strategy to become a leader in contract manufacturing, and the restructuring in the US.
Premium Beauty News – What do you see as the key innovations that will shape the future of sustainable beauty sampling?
Carl Allain – There are two major market demands that impact our business. The first is switching our packaging solutions to recyclable materials, such as paper. Our road map on this initiative is ahead of schedule. The second is the creation of refilling solutions based on our technical expertise in flexible materials.
Premium Beauty News – How has Arcade Beauty adapted their business and product development strategy to ensure both innovation and sustainability?
Carl Allain – Both, innovation and sustainability are at the heart of our strategy, and all our teams are focused on these challenges. We are very attentive to the market and our customers, and we made strong commitments to sustainable development early on, in terms of eco-design, carbon footprint reduction, and supplier on-boarding.
Premium Beauty News – How does your latest acquisition, the perfume manufacturing site in Ploermel, France, play in your long-term strategy for the group?
Carl Allain – We are evolving our business model towards the filling and assembly of full-size products, beyond the sample, and the acquisition of Groupe Rocher’s Ploermel perfume manufacturing site in France goes in this direction. It allows us to provide full turnkey solution in Europe for fragrance products, from blending to filling, from samples to full-size
Our customers come to us because we are more flexible than others and accept challenges of all kinds. Our ambition is to be able to fill and package any type of product, with small or large container, glass, paper or plastic, for small or large runs. That is what we love. We will continue to cultivate this difference.
Premium Beauty News – What is your vision for Arcade Beauty for the next 10 years?
Carl Allain – We aim to be the global preferred partner for the beauty industry, providing Smart samples and Responsible full-size products. To realize this vision, we are committed to: encouraging saleable samples; developing premium samples and mini-products that correspond to consumer needs; focusing on eco-design to develop eco-responsible alternatives, leveraging our expertise in flexible material; offering refill packaging solutions for all type of cosmetic and perfume full-size format.
Premium Beauty News – What advice would you give to future leaders in the beauty industry, based on your experiences leading Arcade Beauty through this milestone?
Carl Allain – My advice is to constantly ask questions, to remain humble in the face of future changes and challenges, to be in action and movement, and finally, to take risks.
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