Premium Beauty News - You are probably one of the oldest companies in the sector in Germany. For years you have been highly specialized in the manufacture of packaging for the make-up industry. Today you are concentrating more on skincare products.

Lyne Hélène Bouchard - That’s right! One can even say that this is the last year we will be manufacturing make-up cases, which have, as you know, contributed to establish the notoriety of Louvrette for decades. A renewed focus, which now dates back to several years and which has been strengthened this year with our new Managing Partner Fabian Erlhöfer, given the predominant part the skincare sector now represents in our customer portfolio. The “jar” alternative was clearly chosen twenty years ago.

Three years ago, we decided to set foot on the market of airless packaging in partnership with the Megaplast and Gaplast companies. Aside from that we also sell bottles and all their complementary accessories (caps, closures, etc...).

Premium Beauty News - Your Company will turn fifty next year. The opportunity to announce new investments? People talk of 3 million euros.

Lyne Hélène Bouchard - That is true and we are quite proud of that. By a happy coincidence, we will also take the opportunity to launch a series of investments. This will firstly concern a significant expansion of the factory in April 2014 (+ 2,500 sqm on two levels). A surface extension that will take place in two stages. A first stage, which will enable to create a new storage area and to install four additional injection presses and a second stage to install new production machines, some injection presses and more importantly, the integration of our decorations workshop for our packages. In total, we will have in the end more than 30 injection machines.

But what is also important is the technological shift Louvrette took several months ago. A shift that materialized upstream by acquiring new digital high-precision machines for the design of our moulds and at the same time, the intend to focus increasingly more on the manufacturing of PET packaging with thicker walls (9,5 to 13mm), for jars, making them more suitable for the conditioning of next generation cosmetics. So far, our jars were mostly designed in SAN, PP, SMMA, with PET only representing 5% of our products.

Premium Beauty News - Precisely, let’s talk about your products! An important share of your production is dedicated to airless packaging.

Lyne Hélène Bouchard - However, jars remain one of our main assets. Jars even became airless since we have been offering for the past months a jar of this type with an inner pocket, always in partnership with Megaplast and Gaplast.

But there is more to it. We constantly offer new standard lines also including blow moulded bottles.

We offer both standard and custom-designed solutions. We provide a complete solution from the concept phase to the product launch. Our team manages the design, product development with 3D technical drawings, prototyping, tool making and in-house manufacturing. Our jars are available in sizes ranging from 5 to 200 ml.

In 2011, we actually developed the Airless Regula Prestige jar. With its bag-in-bottle technology it offers maximum product safety. 15, 30 and 50ml airless bottles are also available. 150, 200, 250 and 400ml bottles are also available in HDPE (glossy or satin-finish) or in co-extrusion with a soft-touch surface. They are complemented by single or two-part caps, functional closures (Disc and flip tops) as well as lotion and spray pumps for which we specially developed high-class caps.

Premium Beauty News - France is one of your main markets?

Lyne Hélène Bouchard - Just behind Germany, that right. But we have operations throughout Europe and we are starting to develop ourselves in the United States, Asia and Russia.