Last year, you unveiled CAP 2026. This strategic plan aims to transform the group into a sustainable production model. Sobriety, decarbonization, eco-design are among the group’s major development axes. What are your main challenges?
The first is that of competence. We need teams that are strong in product development, industrialization and therefore in technical expertise. The question that arises is how to succeed in retaining experts and making them want to stay long-term. This is a major challenge given our activity which is based on the allocation and renewal of projects. As a family group, our opportunity is that we are not forced to publish results every quarter. It is an asset to be able to work over the long term and mobilize the energies of our experts without overreacting to the vagaries of the short term.
CSR policy has taken on a major role in recent years…
This is our second challenge. We must integrate increasingly complex requests aimed at “premiumizing” packaging, while meeting the CSR ambitions displayed and published by our customers. This year, the group has invested between 45 and 50 million euros. This involves the electrification of one of our furnaces in Guimerville (it will be operational at the end of the year, editor’s note). We are also transforming our galvanizing line in Aurillac to make it the most ecological on the market. We are adapting it to enable the transition to new recyclable materials on a scale and without the use of chrome 6.
Are you considering the widespread use of electric ovens?
The decision has not yet been made. We must wait and see if the technology is well mastered and if it is satisfactory. If this is the case, the decarbonization of our industry will probably involve the electrification of all our ovens. In 2033, the Pochet group has committed to reducing its carbon footprint by 50% (compared to 2014). In France, we will be the first in the bottling industry to produce using electric energy. This energy transition is also accompanied by better management of our consumption. This is the purpose of our collaboration with the start-up Metron, which will allow us to optimize all of our energy consumption.
This partnership is not the only one. The group has announced six collaborations in less than a year, including one with the Neyret group for laser technology for glass decoration, MagREEsource for recycled magnets… Is it no longer possible to work alone?
These partnerships and the opening of the group constitute a third challenge. We must not forget to look at the world in which we operate. It is changing faster and faster. The only way to respond to the many challenges posed by our customers is to open the group to its ecosystem. We operate in a proactive manner. We are widely opening the chakras of an industry that has traditionally been closed and inward-looking.
You even go so far as to collaborate with your competitors…
We have entered into an agreement with Koa Glass, a Japanese glassmaker whose culture is close to ours. The objective is both a technical and capacity exchange. We have committed to helping each other. This involves sharing know-how on hot glass, decoration techniques, and even exchanging molds. Another example, we will soon announce a partnership that has enabled – this is a first – Pochet and one of its competitors to produce a product that is identical in every way on behalf of the same client. This new approach will provide our client with greater agility in managing its stocks.
You are involved in the processing of glass, metal and plastic. Which activity is experiencing the strongest growth?
Glass remains the heart of the group’s reactor. On the plastic and metal side, the decision was made, as part of the Cap 2026 strategic plan, to refocus activities. In May 2024, we sold Pochet do Brasil, a Brazilian plastic injection plant. Last year, it was in China, where Pochet had two locations, that a site dedicated to plastic injection was closed. These operations illustrate the strategy of redeploying our assets. The group is giving itself the means to look at the growth opportunities that will be available to it, whether in glass or other activities. The group is not looking for revenue growth at all costs. It aims for performance and profitability.
Long siloed, your offer is now multi-material. Doesn’t this go against the trend of making packaging more minimalist and more recyclable?
Our value proposition meets the expectations of our customers who, I remind you, are moving towards ever more “premiumisation”, i.e. complex packaging. This is not without raising questions about decorations, shapes, the weight of packs as well as the link between glass, plastic and metal. Our customers need contacts who are able to quickly deal with these complexities. Our group is the only player in the world to integrate all operations, regardless of the material. This plural expertise will soon make us the only ones capable of providing a complete life cycle analysis (LCA) of a product. The work is extremely complex. Thanks to our solution, our customer will know whether it is in their interest to develop their project or not.
The consumption of beauty products and perfumes is less dynamic in Asia, particularly in China. What impact does this have on your orders?
Concerning perfumes, even if the market is a little less dynamic, China, which was an announced Eldorado, remains an important source of growth for global perfume. This product is just beginning to become more democratic there. Concerning the drop in consumption of care, on the other hand, there is indeed an impact on the market. But for us, the main subject is that of the massive destocking carried out by our customers since the end of 2023.
Financiers have asked supply chain teams to manage their stocks after the complicated supplies linked to the post-Covid crisis. Result: orders are down. On the glass side, we are taking advantage of a happy coincidence by shutting down the oven, which will become electric. The effects are being felt more on the plastic-metal side. The question now is when this destocking will be completed, and when customers will restart orders to match their real demand, which, in perfume, remains good to date. Following the sale of our factory in Brazil, we expect a decline in turnover this year (the group generated 576 million euros in 2023).
In addition to international tensions and uncertainties, a political crisis has been added in France for several months. In this uncertainty, decision-makers tend to turn a blind eye, hesitate to invest… how are you managing this period?
Our shareholders are asking us to prepare responses to the different scenarios. That’s what I’m doing. There’s no point in complaining. The most important thing is the decisions that will be taken on the competitiveness of French industry. What I’m saying is: be careful not to be disconnected from our competitors on cost drivers. The shareholder family is now making a major bet to invest 45 to 50 million euros in its French activities. For the moment, no investment has been postponed, but the government must make decisions that do not create a gap between the cost of our workforce and that of our competitors.
Source: www.usinenouvelle.com
