COSVAPEX Le Havre and Normandy must be even more of an open door to the world for cosmetics
Press release from Marc-Antoine JAMET, president of COSMETIC VALLEY
On June 5, 18 months after its launch, more than 80 industrialists met in Rouen, within the Rouen Port Union and in the presence of the Prefect François PHILIZOT, Interministerial Delegate for the Development of the Seine Valley, to take note of the first stage of the COSVAPEX (COSmetic Valley Performance Export) project.
At the origin of the project, the observation that, in a context of internationalization and increased competition in the sector of cosmetic perfumery, its competitiveness passes not only by the excellence and the performance of the products but also by a sharpened logistics . Because, if they arrive at the other end of the world late for a launch campaign, damaged or pirated, if they are blocked in customs or lost in a warehouse, it does not matter the qualities of our products testifying to the excellence Made in France. The consumer will not see them.
Also the players in the two cosmetics sectors (30 billion euros in turnover, 2nd largest exporter in our country with 12 billion euros in trade surplus, 150,000 jobs) and logistics (10% of national GDP, 200 billion euros in turnover and 1.8 million jobs) they wished, under the impetus of the Cosmetic Valley and Nova@log clusters, to join forces in Normandy to seek the most "econological », that is to say the path to both economic and environmental performance, by launching the COSVAPEX collaborative project in December 2016.
Labeled by the Cosmetic Valley and Nov@log competitiveness clusters, it mobilizes a consortium of perfumery-cosmetics companies as well as several major partners, HAROPA/Ports de Paris Seine Normandie, Institut Supérieur d'Etudes Logistiques, CRITT T&L, Logistics Seine-Normandy and Institute of International Transport Law. First stage of a project which will continue, the study returned on June 5 and which costs half a million euros financed by the State, the FEDER and the Normandy region, but also Dior, Guerlain or Séphora, includes a diagnosis of import-export flows in the perfumery-cosmetics sector, an analysis of regulatory barriers to export in third countries emphasizing two delicate situations, those of Switzerland and Russia, and the identification of levers for improvement and "best practices" from which the industry could draw inspiration. The restitution conferences presented in particular the innovative solutions proposed by the FLUIDIS company for river transport in Paris, and, through the voice of the indisputable authority in my field, Jérôme VERNY, founder and director of the Transport Research Institute and innovative logistics, professor at NEOMA Business School, an overview of new logistics flows and the future of Asia-Europe rail.
This roadmap must now be implemented with the support and involvement of as many stakeholders as possible, to help maintain the competitiveness of the French cosmetics industry and its leadership role.
Marc-Antoine JAMET, president of the competitiveness cluster, declared:
“Far from glamor and glossy paper, French cosmetics works here, with recognized professionals, in an essential area of its competitiveness, that of logistics. I am delighted with the results of this first study, which has identified three important topics. First of all, the importance, so that a truck does not leave or return half empty, that storage spaces are optimized, of pooling our resources. Then the imperative to develop logistics, including by controlling the return flow, that respects the environment. Finally, the potential of our digital startups to imagine optimal solutions for securing containers. I would like us to continue this joint work between three major areas of the French economy: cosmetics, logistics and French Tech”.
