West Coast, Europe, Full Service, Environment... HCT is on the move!

The HCT model continues to prove its worth. The financial year ended in late April with growth of over 15% compared with the previous year, with many developments in a context of strong growth. It is a model that focuses on diversifying the customer portfolio, thereby avoiding any negative impact if one customer slows down its orders or if a region proves less buoyant.
Finally, it is a model that has been committed from the outset, and even more so today, to developing small indie brands by supporting them as they grow.
This was a good choice, as these small brands are developing and growing faster today than they were ten years ago. Denis Maurin provides an update...

Has your long-standing position of being the best in the “full service” market remained the basis of your strategy?

Denis Maurin: Offering more and more and providing a highly diversified range of products is essential for our business. This “full service” offering allows us to serve customers who do not have sufficient internal resources and to offer innovative solutions from different countries with different trends. It is a model that allows us to develop and launch products very quickly because we are in control from start to finish.
For us, “full service” means that we manage every detail of the project. This allows us to remain proactive. We control the timing from start to finish. We put ourselves in the customer’s shoes.
Since KDC acquired Hct, our product range has expanded considerably, particularly in the areas of personal care, hair care, body care, and high-end skin care formulas, but also in makeup, thanks to the Group’s laboratories, which enable us to develop unique products.

Europe seems to have become a key area of development for you. What are your strengths?

Denis Maurin: Europe is indeed a rapidly growing market for us, as many of our customers are based in this region. It therefore made sense to strengthen our presence there, particularly for the supply of packaging.
We had been working with several suppliers for years but, as you know, we decided to focus our efforts on one of them by acquiring a plastic injection molding plant, Laffon, last year.
It is a highly automated and efficient manufacturer that produces packaging for makeup (mainly cases), jars for loose powder, and SkinCare/SunCare sticks. We have also decided to develop even more sticks.
It should be noted that one of our strengths lies in our ability to offer high-volume production, which allows us to be more competitive than Asia.

Are there many new products this year?

Denis Maurin: It’s important to note that we develop an average of more than 30 new standard products each year. These standards may be more traditional products with a more modern design or more innovative packaging in terms of distribution or handling. The goal is to offer as many options as possible that will allow brands to differentiate themselves and, above all, to be able to launch products very quickly. This is because we invest in our own molds. We decide to invest without necessarily having orders. We don’t hesitate to bet on a particular product very early on to enable brands to always have new products available for launches.
Among our latest innovations is our “Calico” pack, a compact airless product with a very appealing rounded design, made from a single material with a recovery rate of over 97%. The bottle has a retractable pocket that protects and dispenses even the most sensitive formulas with ease.
Also worth noting is our pure essence pack, a lip gloss with a screw cap that is both stylish and functional. It unscrews quickly and is quite surprising!
We will soon be launching a range of sticks, from DeoSticks to SkinSticks and SunSticks, not to mention makeup sticks, Airtight sticks and sticks with ingenious and different mechanisms, all made in Europe or Asia.

The environment is a major focus for all packaging companies today. What are your strengths in this area?

Denis Maurin: Our creative teams, who specialize in trend analysis, are always looking for new ideas to improve what we produce and, above all, to be more environmentally friendly. Every year, we work with our teams on two major collections in terms of design. The environment is at the heart of everything we do. We produce models that allow our customers to fully understand our ideas. We work together to make these concepts even more suited to environmental constraints while respecting each brand. Our innovation team continuously tests and works on new materials.
It’s clear that many recent developments are less luxurious and simpler in order to meet these environmental needs, but that doesn’t mean we’re not also working on more high-end concepts that are very eco-friendly so as not to lose that premium effect, while obviously remaining within acceptable cost ranges! It’s a real challenge, but it proves that there is always a way to develop superb products that are also more environmentally responsible!