It is in China that Beiersdorf has chosen to install its new factory dedicated to its headline brand, Nivea. This represents an investment of €18 million for the German cosmetics group, which is expecting a drop in sales in 2009.

The site will produce close to 15,000 tonnes of Nivea, Nivea Visage and Nivea for Men goods each year that are destined for the Chinese and Asian markets. Production capability at the factory could even reach 25,000 tonnes each year, the easiest way to respond to local demand for the brand which sees its next growth opportunities in China and the entire Eastern continent.

“China is a key market for our development and we see this new factory as an important step in the development of Nivea in China, and as a base for the realization of our objectives for growth in the region,” explained Peter Kleinschmidt, member of the executive board at Beiersdorf. “This new and powerful infrastructure will allow us to systematically expand our position in the important Chinese market and over Asia in its entirety”.

Adhering “ to the highest environmental standards” and built in the neighbourhood of the national airport in Shanghai, this new factory is opening just 30km away from the location of the former Beiersdorf factory, which will soon close its doors owing to a low performance. The joint-venture Nivea Shanghai, with five hundred and fifty employees celebrating fifteen years of business, is launching this new site a few weeks after the arrival of James Wai to the head of Asian activity of the group; a zone highly strategic for the group which anticipates losses between now and the end of the year.

By Jonathan Fulwell (Source: Matthieu Guinebault)