Reckitt Benckiser secures skin care contract manufacturing

The contract comes in the wake of last year's acquisition of the Boots Healthcare International, which includes Lutsine, E45 and Biactol-Clearasil. Sub-contracting of the manufacturing is due to be transferred from Boots' production facilities in Nottingham, England to Reckitt Benckiser's production facility in Chartres, south-west of Paris, shortly. The facility is based within the Cosmetic Valley, a region that currently represents around 70 per cent of the total production of cosmetics and fragrances in the country, involving over 100 companies and approximately 7,000 employees. Representatives of the Cosmetic Valley have been closely involved with securing the contract to manufacture the brands, providing connections to research partners as well as key local and national authorities involved in the association. Reckitt Benckiser will add the three brands to its existing portfolio of personal care brands, which currently features the Veet depilatory brand. Its other operations are concerned with the manufacture of household goods, including cleaning and laundery products. The company said that the incorporation of the three European-wide skin care brands would give its production site at Chartres a means of initiating a redeployment of its manufacturing resources, while also providing it with the possibility to grow in a developing manufacturing sector. It also said that the move would help to counterbalance a downturn in demand for its Air Freshener and Deodoriser activities, which have been impacting the company's bottom line of late.