“Service and cost efficiency are the crucial factors when choosing your board supplier”, says Mr Michael Ludwig, Packaging Development Manager at Dr Scheller Cosmetics AG in Germany. “We don’t have the right equipment for testing different board grades and are therefore dependent on the technical service of the suppliers.”
Besides the technical testing of the board, Frövi also has possibilities to offer advice regarding design solutions. “Frövi is extremely service-minded in this respect and their PackLab recently helped us out with packaging solutions for a new range of products that we should present to a customer. They worked very professionally and I am very impressed. Besides this kind of service, the price is also important. Over the last four years we have had the task to reduce the cost of the packs by 7 % per year. It is becoming more and more difficult to reach this goal. We have to look at all different parameters in the production- and distribution chain. Also in this respect Frövi has proved to be competitive, as you can reduce the grammage with their board, which also means less DSD (tax), plus greater efficiency and less down-time in the filling line”, says Mr Ludwig.
Packaging extremely important
That packaging is important for the sales was proved last year, when Dr Scheller changed the design of the packs for their nature range. Customers didn’t recognize the products on the shelf and the colours didn’t give the right impact. From being a successful product the figures dipped drastically down. Dr Scheller learned from that mistake and have re-designed the packs with colours that give a fresh and clean impact. But they had to start the marketing from scratch again.
Private labels and men’s skin care a strong trend
Competition on the cosmetics market is tough. The established brands are all losing shares to private labels that are offering good products at a lower price. Dr Scheller is one of the big producers of private labels, where the retailers are designing the products to fit into their image. For Dr Scheller the private label business is offering production on a big scale with all the purchasing advantages. At the same time the competition, with their own brands, is getting harder.
Anti-tired cream
Another strong trend is the increasing market for men’s skin care and cosmetics. The target group is young men willing to try something new. Men are vain – as well as women – the young men are just not as reluctant to admit it as the older…… While women are fighting their wrinkles the hottest product for men today is anti-tired cream.