On Friday, January 17, the ESSEC MBA in International Luxury Brand Management class was given the opportunity to visit L’Oréal’s Beauté, Recherche & Industries (BRI) factory in Lassigny, France. Situated just outside of Paris, Lassigny is a quaint town accessible by car in 1.5 hours. When we arrived, we were immediately greeted by L’Oréal staff, some of whom we had met at L’Oréal/ESSEC events earlier in the year.
The class was then welcomed with refreshments and petit déjeuner as the L’Oréal team treated us to a presentation on the history and evolution of BRI. When the Lassigny factory was founded in the 1960’s it originally served only the Yves Saint Laurent brand, but when L’Oréal purchased the plant in 2008, they greatly expanded. Now the factory produces perfumes and anhydrous makeup (lip gloss, lipstick, eye shadow) for a variety of brands including Giorgio Armani, Lancôme, Viktor & Rolf, and Yves Saint Laurent, among others.
L’Oréal has 41 self-owned plants, primarily in Europe. An impressive 90% of L’Oréal’s products are made in-house, and one of the primary reasons behind this is so that L’Oréal can better manage responsibility and safety. Along the same lines, corporate responsibility and environmental preservation is a main focus of the group, specifically by reducing carbon, waste, and water usage by 2015 (and they are well on the way to their goal!). Three of L’Oréal’s luxury plants produce almost all luxury products for L’Oréal.
Following the information session, L’Oréal experts escorted us on private tours of the lip gloss/lipstick factory (where eye shadow is also produced) and the perfume factory. During the tours, we were able to see actual products in the creation phases, including some very exclusive perfumes! It was extremely impressive to see everything come together, from the initial coloring stage to final product and packaging. After the tours, we were kindly treated to lunch at the factory and enjoyed the time getting to know more the Lassigny and L’Oréal staff.
Thank you L’Oréal!
