Coverpla, a custom packaging service

Coverpla took a major step forward in 2024 with the arrival of a new investor, GENEO Capital Entrepreneur. The company has thus acquired new resources to accelerate its growth while maintaining its entrepreneurial momentum. The group’s long-standing investors, Bpifrance, Société Générale Capital Partenaires and BNP Paribas Développement, continue to support the group and have reaffirmed their backing for the existing team. This milestone was also marked by the strengthening of the management team around Sébastien Saussereau, who was appointed Chief Executive Officer.
A new board of directors, new objectives after years of growth and, for this year in 2025, a new image, a new logo and, above all, the company’s 80th anniversary! We take stock with Bruno Diépois, Chairman.

To sum up Coverpla, you are both a creator/designer of packaging for the beauty sector, you have your own molds that you entrust to suppliers, particularly glassmakers, but you also manufacture your own plastic parts (covers, caps, etc.) in your own factory in Nice. A model that works!

Bruno Diépois: It’s clear that what we offer is a welcome niche product in the current climate of tension. And it’s up to us to position ourselves between innovation and resilience. Our creativity is still going strong, as we’re launching lots of new bottle and cap designs in 2025. We have created a genuine custom packaging service (glass shapes, specific caps, engraving, etc.).

Tariff increases are at the heart of the debate. How are you experiencing this period? Is it having a real impact on your business and, if so, to what extent?

Bruno Diépois: It is a fact that the US market has been severely impacted and is now completely at a standstill. We first had to deal with price increases for materials.
Then the general price increase (+10%) threw everything into question.
These increases are very volatile and we are seeing a real rollercoaster ride in our customs duties. These tariffs are sometimes beneficial compared to the Chinese competition, but often unmanageable. It’s a bit like stock market fluctuations. Impossible to anticipate. In fact, American customers are waiting to place orders and the market is collapsing.
On the other hand, we have never had so many new small customers in the rest of the world, which is helping us to come out on top.
This does not prevent us from strengthening our commercial offering in the United States. We have resumed distribution of Technicaps products and technologies in that country.

Europe is more than ever a growth hub, but it’s not the only one. Can you tell us about your development in the rest of the world?

Bruno Diépois: Northern and Eastern Europe are solid markets for us. And that’s what’s clearly sustaining our revenue.
In general, we benefit from a solid network of agents and a structured commercial presence abroad. And our objectives are clear: to conquer two new countries per year while supporting new brands in Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and the Middle East.

The environment is now a major concern for all suppliers in the beauty sector. Please describe your strengths in this area.

Bruno Diépois: Refillable products have certainly become one of the “flagship” solutions in eco-design today. There is a real desire among traditional brands to support their customers in this direction. Younger brands are also very “tuned in” to this type of solution. That’s why we are expanding our offering in this area by increasing the number of bottles with screw caps and adding refill systems to our range. Refillable travel products are becoming increasingly popular. But our offering also includes wooden caps, recycled Surlyn, lightweight bottles, 100% recycled glass, and more.
Just take a look at our CSR report on our website. But even though we remain fully committed to the eco-design values that have always been part of our DNA, we have moved beyond the notion of “green at any cost.” It is up to us to legitimize a balance between luxury and eco-design if we want to remain in line with the positioning of the brands. For example, premium bottles with recessed bottoms and double bottoms that strike a compromise between material content and luxury design.

You mention new products. Any examples this year?

Bruno Diépois: Yes, I can mention new, very “trendy” cap shapes (round—Perla in zamak, Karma, Olivia, Azero in wood—organic—Kayou), as well as new formats in Surlyn, zamak, and wood, and new home fragrance products.
We are learning to observe and analyze markets more effectively so that we can respond quickly by adapting our new product offering. And we have become very agile thanks to feedback from our internal and external sales teams, our market intelligence unit, and our development department. When it comes to rapid development, our network of industrial partners remains a huge asset.