Sales: $2.1 billion 

Comments: The L’Occitane Group encompasses eight brands, has a presence in 90 countries and more than 8,500 employees.

L’Occitane Group has vowed to hit a “science-based net-zero target” across all its brands. Focusing on continuing to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2031 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, its targets have been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

“We are aiming to achieve ambitious targets with this commitment. Although our company has many options for transforming its production units, products and distribution, the creation of this low-carbon world requires us to develop solutions with our consumers and our partners,” said Adrien Geiger, the L’Occitane Group’s chief sustainability officer.

The company has outlined a three-pillar roadmap to get there. It entails:

1. Reducing emissions from energy consumption. The L’Occiantane Group aims to halve GHG emissions generated by the energy consumption at its own sites primarily through using renewable energies together with improving energy efficiency. In 2021, 95% of the electricity consumed came from renewable sources.
2. Reducing shared-responsibility emissions. This involves finding solutions with partners, suppliers and customers, The Group also plans to eliminate air freight by 2030 for the transport of its products. And in order to change and support consumer habits, L’Occitane Group joied the 50L Home coalition, which encourages responsible water use.
3. Conserving and restoring ecosystems to neutralize residual emissions. The Group aims to neutralize its residual emissions by 2030.

In other news, L’Occitane’s Elemis brand is now a certified B Corporation.

Sales: $2.0 billion

Sales jumped 15.8% last year. By brand, L’Occitane en Provence accounted for 76.3% of sales, followed by Elemis (12.7%), LimeLife (4.0%), Sol de Janeiro (1.5%) and other (5.5%). China is L’Occitane’s biggest market, accounting for 18.4% of sales. Other top markets and their share of sales, US (14.1%), Japan (11.6%), UK (11.1%) and Hong Kong (6.7%). China, US, UK and Hong Kong were the key contributors to the Group’s overall growth, with growth rates of 16.8%, 13.5%, 21.4% and 24.0%, respectively.

L’Occitane en Provence sales rose 15% last year, as stores reopened and foot traffic returned to normal. Elemis’ sales soared 42.4%, as travel restrictions eased, and spa wholesale and cruise ship businesses rebounded sharply.
Online channels continued to grow, thanks to a successful omni-channel business model and stronger collaboration with digital partners. In contrast, LimeLife sales fell nearly 31%. The brand had a tough time retaining beauty associates as the US economy expanded and employment conditions improved.

Despite retail closures due to covid-19 in many parts of the world, L’Occitane’s total number of retail locations fell less than 1% last year to 3,068.

In September, André Hoffmann succeeded Reinold Geiger as CEO. In other key moves, Thomas Levilion retired as CFO in June. He was succeeded by Christian-Matthias Klever. In 2022, the company expects sales to top €2 billion, despite headwinds in China and its exit from Russia.

Sales: $1.7 billion

The pandemic delivered a double blow to beauty retailers last year. Consumption was down and retail stores were forced to close for portions of 2020. L’Occitane’s US business filed for bankrupty protection. Still, L’Occitane International’s sales fell just 6.5% last year. Online sales soared 69.2% and accounted for more than 33% of sales.

Perhaps most important, the Group expanded its bottom line in an extremely difficult atmosphere. Although gross profit fell 4.8%, gross profit margin increased 1.4 points to 83.0%. The improvement was primarily due to a favorable channel and country mix with an increased proportion from online channels and from countries in Asia which have a higher gross margin.

The company noted that demand for L’Occitane en Provence, its core brand, remained strong. Consumer demand soared for soaps, moisturizers and hand hygiene products in the pandemic. L’Occitane accounted for 77.7% of corporate sales, followed by Elemis (10.3%), Limelife (6.6%) and other (5.4%).

With a digital-first strategy, Elemis expanded rapidly. The brand debuted in all 269 Sephora stores in China. Elsewhere, Elemis entered new markets across Asia, Europe and the Middle East. It also launched more than a dozen e-commerce websites in key markets, including France, Germany, Italy, Hong Kong, Taiwain, Singapore and Thailand. China accounted for 17.1% of sales, followed by the US (15.7%), Japan (14.0%) and UK (10.0%).
L’Occitane products are available in 90 countries. At the end of 2020, it had 3,486 retail locations and 1,609 stores operated directly by the group.

Sales: $1.7 billion

For the year ended March 2020, L’Occitane International S.A.’s sales grew 15.2% to $1.7 billion. These results were achieved even under the context of COVID-19 toward the end of the year, thanks to decent sales momentum throughout most of the year, targeted investments and the contribution of its newly-acquired brand, Elemis, according to the company.

Elemis offers four beauty franchises, while capitalizing on its five strategic distribution channels: digital, retail distribution, QVC, professional spa and maritime, according to the company. Since FY2019, the Group has pursued the “Pulse” strategy, designed to empower its teams, achieve sustainable growth and improve profitability. Two major actions included making targeted investments in skin care and focusing on an omni-channel approach.

The L’Occitane en Provence brand launched the Immortelle Reset serum in 2018, and just 1.5 years after launch, one million units were sold in FY2020. Along with the addition of Elemeis, L’Occitane Group believes it can strengthen the skin care segment even further. Meanwhile, the Group has always strived to provide customers with a seamless and memorable omni-channel experience through its various distribution points—be its own retail stores, e-commerce or other online channels.

L’Occitane’s omni-channel know-how was particularly important when the outbreak of COVID-19 led to global store closures. Its strong web activities supported the 41.8% growth of online channels, which helped compensate for some of the sales lost from store closures, said the company.

Sales: $1.6 billion.

L’Occitane International boasts 1,572 company-owned stores around the world, 86 of which are in France.
Leading company news this year is its skin care expansion. L’Occitane International S.A. revealed it will acquire Elemis for $900 million in cash. The  company is being sold by Steiner Leisure Limited, a portfolio company of L Catterton. Elemis offers four beauty franchises, while capitalizing on its five strategic distribution channels: digital, retail distribution, QVC, professional spa and maritime, according to the company.

In other news, The L’Occitane Group is opening a new L’Occitane en Provence concept store in New York City. The 1,870-square foot store located at 555 Fifth Avenue is described as a unique immersive destination that will communicate the brand’s signature pillars through a range of interactive customer touchpoints.

Designed by L’Occitane’s international artistic director Daniel Contorni and Paul Blackburn, vice president of concept design, construction and merchandising, the store will be “an evolutive space continuously changing to highlight seasonal campaigns,” said the brand.

While the existing L’Occitane experiential boutique at Flatiron continues to offer exceptional service and skin care innovation, this new spot will be “more disruptive and attract new customers, encourage engagement and produce user-generated content for social media,” according to brand.

L’Occitane en Provence remains the Group’s core brand, accounting for 87.4% of total net sales.

Sales: $1.4 billion

Sales slipped less than 1% last year, as the number of retail locations jumped 8.2% to 3,285. The company maintained its selective global retail expansion and increased the number of its own retail stores by 2.7% to 1,555.

The group’s emerging brands, Melvita, L’Occitane au Brésil and Erborian, each recorded double-digit growth. Gains came primarily in in Japan, France and Brazil, where, according to the company, there is strong demand for superior quality products at reasonable price points. Japan represented L’Occitane’s largest market at 16.6% of sales. Other top 10 countries and their share of sales are: US, 13.0%; China, 12.1%; Hong Kong, 9.4%; France, 7.7%; Luxembourg, 5.1%; Brazil, 4.6%; UK, 4.5%; Russia, 3.8% and Taiwan, 3.0%.

L’Occitane entered the color cosmetics space during the year with the acquisition of LimeLife; the company was rewarded for its investment when LimeLife’s sales tripled during the year. Now, LimeLife is available in Canada and the UK, in addition to the US and L’Occitane is exploring other acquisitions.

R&D expenses rose 12.3% due to new projects for L’Occitane en Provence brand.

In April, L’Occitane hit the road in the US with its new L’Occi Truck, a new retail store on wheels that marks the first-ever traveling shop experience for the brand. Kicking off in Washington, DC at the Cherry Blossom Festival in April, the truck is scheduled to make stops in key cities and regions as well as buzz-worthy events and festivals that align with the brand’s DNA. The road trip ends in Los Angeles in October.

Sales: $1.4 billion

Sales rose 3.2% last year and, unlike some other members of The International Top 30, L’Occitane reported good gains in China and Brazil, in addition to growing contributions from emerging brands. On the topic of emerging brands, earlier this year, in May, L’Occitane spent $128 million on LimeLight by Alcone; the purchase will speed up the company’s expansion in the color cosmetics segment, and LimeLight itself will be expanded outside the US. In fact, thanks to LimeLight’s direct and online sales model, CEO Reinold Geiger told L’Occitane’s shareholders that expanding LimeLight’s reach should involve minimal investment. That may be optimistic, but then, L’Occitane has had great online success during the past year.

The number of stores rose nearly 4% to 3,037 as of March 31, 2017. L’Occitane added 24 stores in Asia-Pacific, 26 in the Americas and closed one for all of Europe and South Africa. Meanwhile, the group accelerated expansion of its emerging brands with 29 net store openings. Through March 2017, there were 54 Melvita stores, 36 L’Occitane au Brésil stores and five Erborian stores.

By region, Japan accounts for 18% of sales, followed by US (13%), China (11%), Hong Kong (9%), France (8%), UK (5%), Russia and Brazil (4% each) and Taiwan (3%). The rest of world accounted for 25% of sales. China, Japan, Brazil and “other countries” were the primary growth drivers. Sales in Brazil soared 30% thanks, in part, to favorable exchange rates, while sales in Japan jumped 15.5% to record levels. Sales in China improved nearly 6%, due to a second-half rebound in sales. Russian sales rose 9%, despite the recession. Sales in Taiwan were relatively flat and French sales fell about 1%. Hong Kong’s sales fell 10.3%. US sales fell 1.1% and a weak pound caused UK sales to tumble 13.4%. During the year, L’Occitane jettisoned the Le Couvent des Minimes brand.

L’Occitane may be rooted in traditional retail, but the group knows its future is online. The Click and Collect pilot program is expected to be expanded beyond Europe, and management is studying ways to make the online/in-store shopping experience a seamless one.

Sales: $1.4 billion

L’Occitane International S.A. is a global natural ingredient-based cosmetics and well-being products enterprise touted for having “true stories from around the world.”
In addition to celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, L’Occitane en Provence opened its fifth flagship store in Disney Springs, a center for world-class shopping, unique dining and high-quality entertainment at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, FL.

“We are so excited to officially open our doors at Disney Springs,” said David McConnachie, senior vice president of retail development at L’Occitane Inc. “L’Occitane en Provence strives to share the beauty of Provence, France with the rest of the world, and this new store offers us a great opportunity to serve as a go-to beauty destination for the many local shoppers and vacationing guests who visit Walt Disney World Resort.”

The store’s layout is divided into four key areas for guests to shop: Harvest Fragrances, Distillation, Soap Artistry and Texture Bar. Within each area lives a personalized experience from fragrance bottle engraving and customized soap stamping to real-time skin care consultations. New digital touch-points include iPads, mobile charging stations and an interactive photo booth that digitally transports shoppers to the emblematic lavender fields the South of France is known for, according to the company.

Sales: $1.2 billion

Sales rose nearly 12% last year. The BRICs certainly didn’t sink L’Occitane, as sales in China, Hong Kong, Brazil and Russia rose 20.1%, 13.1%, 10.6% and 10.4%, respectively. Yet, even as it expanded a presence in emerging markets, L’Occitane continued to develop emerging brands and emerging technologies. For example, e-commerce accounted for nearly 9% of sales last year, and executives are implementing new systems to enhance online sales. Still, the company isn’t forgetting its brick and mortar roots. During the year, L’Occitane opened 91 own stores, compared to 82 in the previous year.

By country, Japan accounted for 16.0% of sales last year, followed by US (13.0%), Hong Kong (11.4%), China (8.7%), France (7.7%), United Kingdom (5.7%), Luxembourg (5.0%), Russia (4.3%), Brazil (4.2%) and Taiwan (3.3%). Other countries accounted for 25.6% of sales.

This year, the company will continue to invest in strategic areas such as product innovation, digital and CRM, marketing and sales distribution channels, as well as emerging brands such as Melvita, au Brésil and Erborian. Finally, L’Occitane is upgrading and selectively expanding its own retail store network.

Sales: $1.4 billion

L’Occitane’s Group’s net sales were $1.4 billion for the year ended March 31, 2014, an increase of 1.1%. At constant exchange rates, the net sales growth was 9.4%, according to the firm, which is based in France and operates across the globe through its namesake banner and other brands (Melvita, Le Couvent des Minimes and Erborian).

One of those global markets is Brazil, where sales rose 4.0%. At constant exchange rates, the growth was 20.8%, which makes that country one of the firm’s fastest growing markets (along with China and Russia). In Brazil, the economic environment remained challenging, according to L’Occitane, yet growth came through the launch of a new local brand, L’Occitane au Brésil. Three new L’Occitane au Brésil stores opened their doors during that period, according to the company. And, L’Occitane said it is preparing for a future franchise network in Brazil.

As part of its ongoing retail development endeavors, L’Occitane Group increased the number of its retail stores to 1,295 and renovated and relocated 121 stores during the past fiscal year. In addition, the firm said it “stepped up” digital marketing investments to promote greater brand awareness in the digital space and support the higher margin. In fact, e-commerce retail is the fastest growing channel of the group and accounts for about 7% of the group’s retail sales.

On the R&D-front, company’ expenses increased by 22.6% during the year.

On a less positive note, earlier this year, claims made in some L’Occitane Inc.’s advertisements caught the attention of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as there was not sufficient scientific data to support the claims. As part of the final consent order, the FTC fined L’Occitane $450,000.

Sales: $1.3 billion

Sales jumped more than 14% for the year ended March 31, 2013. The gains came primarily  from the US, Russia, Hong Kong and China. No wonder then that the company’s global retail network strategy remained on track, as both emerging markets and developed markets posted 14% growth in retail network development. During that time, Russia and China were the fastest growing countries and the core L’Occitane en Provence brand was most popular with these consumers.

For more than 30 years, L’Occitane has ensured that all of its products are created with completely natural and sustainable ingredients throughout the entire production chain. On Earth Day (April 22, 2013), L’Occitane celebrated with eco-refills for its best-selling shampoos, conditioners, liquid soaps, face cleansers, body washes and oils.

The company also rolled out a fundraising, fair trade soap for International Women’s Day on March 8. The Women’s Day Soaps are produced in Burkina Faso as part of a development partnership with a local factory. The factory has been run entirely by women and supports their economic emancipation, said the company.

L’Occitane also recently revamped its website.

Sales: $1.1 billion

Making news headlines this year, Club Med announced an exclusive partnership with L’Occitane to create the first L’Occitane branded spa in North America. The spa opened in December 2011 at Club Med Sandpiper Bay, an all-inclusive family resort in Florida.

Angelica Exfoliating Gel is new from L’Occitane.

The 5,000-sq.-ft. spa features seven indoor treatment rooms including one designed for couples massages, a manicure and pedicure area, Zen lounge and a L’Occitane boutique featuring more than 80 products. The spa experience and interior decor was specifically designed for Club Med Sandpiper Bay.

L’Occitane’s new Radiance & Color Care Mask.

“Each L’Occitane product is a multi-sensory spa experience in itself—our partnership with Club Med takes the indulgence one step further with expert treatments,” explained David Boynton, L’Occitane group managing director North Atlantic and Australia. “We’re thrilled to offer L’Occitane fans a new way to experience Provence in an elegant setting.”

In addition to adult treatments, the spa also features teen and junior treatments for younger guests, including pedicures and facials.

Sales: $1 billion

For its most recently concluded fiscal year (March 31, 2011), L’Occitane International’s sales rose an impressive 26.1%, reflecting net sales growth in most business segments and geographic areas. Operating profit increased 19.9% to nearly $175 million.

“During the year, we continued to implement our strategic plan in boosting sales growth and strengthening our presence globally through accelerated store openings as well as putting in place investments for future growth and developments,” said Reinold Geiger, chairman and CEO. “As a result, we delivered solid performance across the board especially in emerging markets such as China and Russia.”

In fiscal 2011, the company increased the total number of retail locations from 1,541 to 1,828 and the number of its own retail stores jumped to 895 from 764. The latter includes 50 additional stores in Asia, (24 in China, 11 in Japan and four in Hong Kong), 58 in Europe and 23 in the Americas.

In the Asia-Pacific region, a marketplace where L’Occitane has accelerated its network expansion, combined sales in Japan, Hong Kong, China and Taiwan accounted for 41.9% of L’Occitane’s total sales in fiscal 2011.

By business segment, net sales contribution from the “Sell-out,” “Sell-in” and B-to-B segments were $753 million, $236 million and nearly $33 million respectively.

R&D expenses for the year increased 27.4%, according to the company.

According to Geiger, looking forward, L’Occitane will further develop the awareness of its brands and the ability to attract more traffic into its stores, significantly increase customer base in its key developing markets including Brazil, China, Russia and Korea, and focus on further development of its US business.