Reinold Geiger

Chairman & CEO, L'OCCITANE Group, Loccitane Loccitane Sa

Search every verified Reinold Geiger interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Reinold Geiger, Chairman and CEO of L’Occitane Group, has described the company’s origins as beginning in Provence, France, with the production of essential oils from local plants and flowers, later expanding into natural-ingredient cosmetics. He stated that formulating such products was more costly and difficult, and that the company attracted “purists and idealists” who wanted to improve the environment. Geiger said the company focuses on supporting women in need and people who are blind or visually impaired, particularly in underdeveloped countries, noting that “every minute in the underdeveloped countries you have one child who is losing his sight because he has no medication.” Geiger has discussed his approach to turning around the company, saying that when faced with the choice of reducing costs or increasing sales, he decided to focus on growing revenue. He described the early years as “real hard suffering” before the business took off. Geiger also noted that while larger competitors may have many brands, few individual brands generate over a billion euros in sales, and L’Occitane is now developing three smaller brands. He attributed the company’s ability to compete with larger players to its entrepreneurial culture, where employees work autonomously, and said that for a smaller company, “presentation nützt sowieso nichts” (presentations are useless) and one must keep the process in mind.