MILAN — “Continuity” is essentially the most frequent term Anthony Molet uses when outlining Davines Group’s strategy across the board.

After 20 months within the role, the chief executive officer of the Italian beauty company, which operates skilled hair care brand Davines and skincare label Comfort Zone, is committed to continuing “to grow the corporate in step with our purpose, which is to do our greatest for the world, creating good life for all through beauty, ethics and sustainability.”

A noble mission that to this point has proven to be remunerative as well, because the company — which was founded in 1983 by the Bollati family — keeps growing each its size and international footprint.

In 2021, the group had 191.8 million euros in sales, up 25.6 percent in comparison with the previous yr and up 17.7 percent versus 2019. Molet projected an additional 20 percent increase to 230 million euros in revenues this yr and targets reaching between 250 million euros and 260 million euros in sales in 2023.

He credited the performance to the “continued consistency inside our organization on the whole, consistency with our message with regards to sustainability, consistency with our distribution channel. We remain very near the hairdressers and aestheticians, to the skilled a part of the business, and it appears to be paying off. So we are going to proceed to achieve this,” said Molet, confidently adding that he sees the firm growing by double digits “until at the least 2030 without the acquisition of every other company.”

The manager is further accelerating the trail traced by his predecessor Paolo Braguzzi, who broadly contributed to scaling up the group in financial and reputational terms, in addition to enhancing its distinctive holistic, sustainable mission, which was sealed by the B Corp certification in 2016 and a fair higher certification rating in 2020. For instance, when Braguzzi joined Davines in 2004, total sales were 27 million euros, while in 2019 revenues reached 163 million euros, making Davines certainly one of the leading skilled hair care players in Italy.

Leveraging Molet’s own experience — the manager previously helmed the North American subsidiary of Davines Group for 13 years, contributing in turning that market into the best-performing one for the corporate — the group is further boosting its international reach, too. Molet revealed that effective Jan. 1 a latest subsidiary in Germany will probably be added to the firm’s network.

“It is a very strategic marketplace for us: first, it [counts more than] 80 million people… Its economy could be very strong because it has certainly one of the strongest GDP in Europe and I believe that our message on sustainability will resonate thoroughly there,” noted Molet, underscoring that each the Davines and Comfort Zone brands have been steadily growing there.

“We had the identical distributor for the last 20-plus years, but we felt that after so a few years it was time for us to ascertain a subsidiary there. We had a really smooth transition with [our partners], actually… and we’ve decided to permit them to maintain [a little] a part of the distribution,” said Molet.

Headquartered in Parma, Italy, Davines Group is present in greater than 90 countries. Along with Germany, it has branches in London; Latest York; Paris; Mexico City; Hong Kong, and Deventer, Netherlands. No other openings are within the pipeline in the intervening time, said Molet.

The U.S. and Europe remain the group’s leading markets by way of sales, but the corporate grew double-digit in every country. Specifically, a robust push in Asia and Latin America enabled Davines Group to report increases in those regions of 20 percent and 30 percent, respectively. “We’re very confident that latest regulations in China should open some doors for us,” said Molet, referring to animal testing procedures, while he also identified India as a next goal for the corporate.

Breaking down the group’s performance in 2022 by category, sales for the hair care division grew 20 percent while skincare revenues were up 17 percent.

Despite the fact that these results beat Molet’s expectations, the manager mentioned different challenges over the past yr, starting in the primary quarter with the continued impact of COVID-19 and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Then, as a consequence, the entire supply chain became an actual challenge, not only by way of increases in prices, but much more importantly, by way of availability of raw materials, which sometimes forced us to fine-tune a few of our formulas,” said Molet. “I feel that it’s beginning to slowly be behind us, but still that was probably the largest challenge this yr.”

To face the situation, early within the yr the group decided to extend inventories, each by way of finished goods and raw materials, “which enabled us to face this crisis,” recalled Molet. Still, the corporate had to regulate its products’ prices — even doubling them in some markets — because of the scarcity of ingredients and rising energy costs.

“In 2023, we’re taking a look at what I’d consider a conservatively aggressive price increase again,” admitted the manager.

When it comes to corporate structure, after having implemented some key management changes last yr, Davines Group made latest hires in human resources in addition to within the communication department, which Molet defined as “a giant focus for us because I feel we achieve this many things with regards to sustainability that need to be communicated in the proper way.”

To wit, Davines Group’s longtime expertise in developing high-performance, natural formulations, recycled and reusable packaging and implementing environmentally friendly initiatives are the assets that earned the firm each credibility and a bonus at a time when every business is attempting to tweak its structure and product offering in a sustainable way. The ever-increasing appetite of international customers for natural beauty products further propelled the corporate’s sales.

“Sustainability is becoming an increasing number of present in people’s conversation. Today statistics show that many individuals are willing to spend extra money for corporations with a purpose and that care in regards to the environment and we’re definitely making the most of this trend,” confirmed Molet, highlighting that the brand’s official commitment to the cause began in 2006.

“It’s also true that we see a variety of greenwashing because many corporations attempt to jump on this trend, but I believe what has been helping Davines is its level of commitment,” he said, citing different projects the firm has implemented.

For instance, last yr Davines Group teamed with Rodale Institute, a U.S.-based nonprofit that focuses on regenerative organic agriculture. As result, it expanded its Davines Village headquarters to incorporate a regenerative organic farm, research center and education hub geared toward exploring how these farming practices can influence the availability chain of private care products while concurrently helping to mitigate climate change.

Earlier this yr, the Italian company also joined forces with greater than 30 fellow certified B Corporations to ascertain the B Corp Beauty Coalition, the mission of which is to advertise systemic change within the beauty industry by improving its sustainability standards through collective motion. These include identifying and sharing social and environmental best practices; exploring modern solutions; publishing results, and implementing clear communication to lift consumers’ awareness in associating beauty with responsibility, amongst others.