L’Oréal inaugurates giant factory in Indonesia to serve South-East Asian markets

L’Oréal invested EUR 100 million over a period of 6 years in what is, to date, its largest factory in the world. The 66,000 m2 building, which was inaugurated two days ago, is located at the Jababeka Industrial Estate, West Java, Indonesia, around 60 kilometers east of Jakarta. The objective is to address the booming demand of South-East Asia.

“As we have been successfully operating a factory In Indonesia since 1986, the country is therefore the clear choice for L’Oréal’s ASEAN production hub,” said Jean-Philippe Blanpain, L’Oréal’s Executive Vice-President of Operations. Indonesia, a country where the cosmetics giant records its highest growth in Asia Pacific, is also a key contributor to the L’Oréal objective of reaching one billion new consumers within ten years.

Making a total of 43 L’Oréal factories worldwide, the new Jababeka plant will manufacture hair and skin care products for the mass market brands, L’Oréal Paris and Garnier. 30% of the production will cater to the domestic market while 70% will be distributed to all other countries in the South-East Asian region.

In 2013, the plant will produce 200 million units. According to L’Oréal, the installed capacity reaches 300 million units with the potential to reach up to 500 million units per year. “The plant features state-of-the-art facilities including high-speed production lines, processing tanks with automatic recipes management, a lighting system based on movement detection and an advanced technology water treatment plant which is currently under development,” the group adds.

The Jababeka plant, which employs 450 staff, out of the nearly 800 working for L’Oréal in Indonesia, is also the first LEED [1] certified factory in the country.