About Reinold Geiger
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.
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Reinold Geiger's recent appearances.
Browse all interviews →
Transcript (2 segments)
H
Host0:14
Since 1976, L'Occitane has been built on the values of authenticity, respect, and solidarity across the world. This company supports programs that promote the health of children, teens, and adults who are blind and visually impaired. The L'Occitane Foundation provides financial support for all seven of HKI's children's programs locations in California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, New Mexico, Ohio, and Texas. The foundation support has provided free vision screenings to over 5,000 children since 2010. L'Occitane's values remain strong under CEO Reinold Geiger's leadership. They shine as one of the very few companies in the world that considers making its products accessible to everyone a priority. At his direction, L'Occitane introduced braille labeling on its packages in 1997 so that its products were accessible to the visually impaired but also to encourage people to be sensitive about blindness. The corporation and foundation also work together annually on the United to Save Sight campaign. L'Occitane sells a fundraising product in its stores worldwide and 100% of the proceeds are donated to charities fighting blindness. The gift bag that you'll each receive at the end of this evening was generously donated by L'Occitane and will also be sold in their stores and on their website, and the proceeds given to Helen Keller International. L'Occitane also created beautiful centerpieces with herbs, creating a little piece of Provence right here in the middle of downtown. The Helen Keller Visionary Award was created to recognize individuals and institutional friends whose generosity and innovation are advancing our mission. It's my great pleasure to introduce to you now Reinold Geiger, CEO of L'Occitane and President of the L'Occitane Foundation, to accept the Helen Keller Visionary Award.
R
Reinold Geiger3:53
Good evening. Of course it is a great pleasure to be here. I was told I have to prepare a speech, but actually Mid Street could say everything, and I'm sure that you all listen much more to her than to me. I mean it is true. L'Occitane was created 35 years ago. In the beginning, it started in France in Provence, cutting the local flowers and plants to make first essential oils which were sold on the market, and then little by little cosmetic products all based on natural ingredients. 35 years ago, nobody really cared whether the cosmetics products are natural or not. So to formulate this type of products, it's more costly, more difficult, so somehow to do it you need to be a purist and idealist. This is the type of persons which work with our company begin with, and all naturally they were attracted and wanted to improve the world, help the environment. In the very beginning we started making actions and this did never stop. In the meantime, the company grew. Today we have a big product range, we have over 1,700 stores worldwide, and we needed to organize all those activities, and this is why we created about 6 years ago the foundation. We have two directions we do mainly: one is to help women in need, in developed countries but very much in underdeveloped countries, and visually impaired people again in countries like United States but also much more in underdeveloped countries. And with all the comments which were made, there was one thing which struck you very much: every minute in the underdeveloped countries you have one child who is losing his sight because he has no medication. He is perfectly healthy but he has a virus or something and he has no education. Therefore as a company we are fighting and supporting organizations to prevent blindness, and Helen Keller International is a very fascinating key player in this, and we are very happy and proud to support your organization. Now a small booklet, I saw in there a picture of mine. I was surprised. I would have understood if there's a picture of Mid Street. So I read a little bit what is written there and at the end it says that I am a passionate skier and the Yoda. And it is true. I actually grew up in the mountains and I absolutely love skiing. I thought, but I only when I ski, I thought the best way to say thank you is... I can call pigs, that's what you learn in New Jersey.
