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PROFILE

Antonio Puig Castelló founded the perfumery and cosmetics company that carries his name in 1914. But it was not until 1922 that it launched its first product as manufacturer. Milady was the first lipstick produced in Spain and became an overnight success. Two decades later, in 1940, Puig launched Agua Lavanda Puig, the company’s flagship eau de toilette. Made entirely from home-grown ingredients (rosemary, different varieties of lavender and lemon) owing to the ban on imports imposed by Spain’s ruling autarchy, the product achieved a huge market share.

In 1942, the company was flourishing and opened larger premises on Barcelona’s Travesera de Gràcia, now the head office of the Puig Beauty & Fashion Group. Continued growth led it to build two other new plants in Barcelona, the first on the Besós industrial estate in the sixties and the second in Vacarisses in 1995.

The sixties laid the foundations for the group’s expansion with the creation of a brilliant team and the consolidation of its corporate values. The company maintained close contacts with research laboratories in search of quality perfumery and cosmetics products. Globalisation followed with the creation in the USA of its first company outside Spain.

Puig’s global growth has been unstoppable since it set up business in Paris following an agreement with cutting-edge designer Paco Rabanne, whose label joined the group in 1968. Intensive activity in France led to the construction of a perfume factory in Chartres in 1976. In the mid eighties, a growth strategy based on agreements with fashion labels reached a turning point when Puig signed a deal with designer Carolina Herrera to create and exploit all her fragrances. In 1995, the group extended this agreement to include the Carolina Herrera fashion business. In 1998, Nina Ricci Paris fashion and perfumery also joined Puig.

In 1995, the group acquired Spanish brand Genesse and part of Perfumería Gal. 1996 saw the launch of the Puig Beauty & Fashion holding company, which took on all the company’s perfumery, cosmetics and fashion businesses. In 2000, these activities were restructured into three divisions: Prestige Beauty Brands, Fragrances & Personal Care and Fashion. In the same year, Puig Beauty & Fashion acquired the Spanish company Myrurgia and in 2001 took over Perfumería Gal.

Growth and globalisation over the last decade has brought the Puig group a fivefold increase in turnover, with a figure of €893 mill. in 2003, of which foreign sales accounted for 55%. Today, the company’s products – a combination of mass market fragrances and select perfumery – are made in 7 production centres in Europe and 2 in Mexico, and distributed to more than 150 countries. A recent agreement with multinational beauty products manufacturer Coty has boosted Puig’s position in the US market.