Premium Beauty News - Can we say that now, more than ever, Coverpla has settled as the alternative perfume brands’ glassmaker?
Bruno Diépois - Today, Coverpla supplies almost 60% of the perfume bottles showcased in shows like Pitti Fragranze, a major reference in alternative perfumery. What makes Coverpla unique is its exclusive positioning. We work with the best European glassmakers – Pochet, Bormioli Luigi, or Saverglass – and we accept to manage a huge stock to meet the flexibility needs of our clients. We have a surface area of 8,000 m2 of workshops and warehouses, where we store about 2 million bottles, with 300 references and 1 million caps (with 50 basic references). It represents a high risk, but it also makes it possible for us to offer a matchless service. We are the only ones to have such an important stock.
Premium Beauty News - Your service is also characterized by the possibility to produce very small quantities.
Bruno Diépois - Definitely, but it is not just that. Brands expect flexibility, and that is what we offer them. Our orders amount to 6,000 euros each, on average, but this figure is not very significant, since the difference between the various orders is huge. In fact, the quantities we are asked to produce usually vary between 3 and 10,000 items per order… although of course, we do receive big orders from time to time.
Beyond the reduced quantities we are requested to supply, our business has another feature: flexibility and speed. Can you believe that a third of our monthly turnover is generated by orders placed the very same month?! And we serve about 600 clients a year, which involves 60% of products destined for export. Therefore, we need to be extremely reactive and flexible, and both our sales force and logistics must be very strong.
Premium Beauty News - You only work with standards. How can you meet brands’ need for personalization, then?
Bruno Diépois - First, we have a comprehensive catalogue and varied references, whether in terms of bottles, corking, pumps, or pump covers. Then, we innovate. We must keep creating and launching new designs if we want to attract customers. That is why we design three or four caps a year, in Surlyn, Zamak, aluminium, or wood. We take care of injecting Surlyn caps ourselves. Lastly, there is decoration. We offer a large choice of finishing techniques (decoration, lacquering, frosting…) that we usually use in our own screen printing (enamel - ink) and hot stamping workshop.
Premium Beauty News - Is the niche perfumery market still as dynamic as it used to be?
Bruno Diépois - We have not observed any slowdown in our market. Indeed, during our most sluggish years, Coverpla reached a growth of at least 2 to 3%. But we work with clients that represent small or medium-sized companies, and they come from all over the world. That is why Coverpla will be present at the CosmeTech CosmeTokyo show on January 20-22, 2016, then at the PCD show in Paris on February 3-4, at Cosmopack-Cosmoprof in Bologna, Italy, on March 17-21, at Beauty Eurasia in Istanbul on April 21-23, at Luxe Pack New York on May 11-12, at ExpoPack Mexico on May 17-20, and at the World Perfumery Congress in Miami on June 14-15, 2016.
