Who we are
VERESCENCE, THE WORLD’S LEADING GLASS MANUFACTURER FOR THE BEAUTY INDUSTRY
As the world leader in glass bottle manufacturing for the Perfumery and Cosmetics Industry, we have been supplying the biggest brands with glass for over 120 years due to our extensive know-how and expertise. At the cutting edge of technology, we offer worldwide industry coverage thanks to our numerous plants in France, Spain, the USA, and South Korea. Passionate for our business, we are continually pushing the limits of our know-how to provide high-quality, innovative and eco-friendly product solutions for a host of international brands.
Our activities
Fragrance and Beauty represent our core expertise. In addition, we can add insulators.
Perfume and Beauty
We develop bottles and jars that meet the requirements of the biggest names in the beauty world thanks to our expertise in the glass and finishing trades. We also offer a wide range of stock bottles and many personalization techniques (colors, shapes and decoration).
Insulators
We design and manufacture glass electric insulators for high-voltage overhead electric power lines. More than 100 million insulators manufactured by Verescence La Granja Insulators are installed in more than 100 countries.
Where we are
EXCEPTIONAL WORLDWIDE PRESENCE
France, Spain, USA and South Korea... Our company’s strategic industrial and commercial presence spans the world with 7 plants spread around the globe (Europe, North America and Asia), keeping us in close contact with our customers. The geographical and cultural diversity of our locations and our teams is a major asset that contributes to our success.
Discover our factory
Decoration site
Decoration site
Glass factory
Headquarters and Sales Office
Glass and Decoration Plant
Sales Office
Glass factory
Decoration site
Sales Office
Sales Office
Glass and Decoration Plant
Key figures
|
No.1 manufacturer of Perfumery and Cosmetics glass |
500 M€ turnover in 2023 |
2500 employees, half of which work outside of France |
|
4 sites glass manufacturing sites: |
5 decoration sites: |
5 sales offices worldwide |
|
300 models developed each year |
600 millions bottles produced per year |
160000 tons of glass drawn |
Our vision
To become the global reference in the sustainable beauty industry
Our values
VALUES THAT UNITE US
These values, the foundation of our history and recent transformation, are now more than ever embodied in our new identity. They obtain renewed significance for our company and our customers.
PASSIONWe all share the same passion for our expertise and our products. With our passion comes the pride of contributing to the success of our customers. Our passion unites us in the Verescence adventure. It gives us the desire and energy to build a brilliant future for our company. |
 |
EXCELLENCETo have the ambition for excellence is to spend each day striving to be better than the last. For our employees, excellence goes hand in hand with their involvement, as well as constantly improving working conditions and talent development. Our customers are our priority, and excellence translates to better customer service and increased value. |
 |
RESPECTRespect is one of the foundations of Verescence. Respect for one another, and the respect for our rich cultural and geographical diversity. Respect for diversity, as well as equality. Respect for all stakeholders including our customers, employees, and partners. Respect for the environment, outlined in our ambitious CSR* policy. * Corporate Social Responsability |
 |
COURAGEOur courage, determination, and creativity are all forces which consolidate our leadership, and allow us to boldly reinvent ourselves. Innovation drives the development of our company and our products. We strive to constantly amaze our customers. |
 |
Our ambition: excellence
EXCELLENCE AT THE HEART OF OUR APPROACHOur customers are our priority. To satisfy our customers and earn their trust, we strive each day for excellence in quality and service. Excellence is how we build customer loyalty, day in and day out, as we dare to reinvent ourselves and highlight the differences that make us unique. Driven by our audacity, expertise and passion, together we will strengthen our position as the world’s leading glass manufacturer for the beauty industry. Excellence at every step will build an ever stronger relationship of trust with our customers and broaden our horizons. This new momentum, soon to take place on a global scale, is already at work within each of us. |
 |
Our Story
- 1896
- 1939
- 1968
- 1972
- 1989
- 1996
- 2007
- 2008
- 2010
- 2012
- 2016
- 2019
- 2021
Establishment of the first glass manufacturing site in Mers-les-Bains (Picardie, France)
Our story begins at the end of the 19th century, in the heart of the Glass Valley in France. Henri Desjonquères builds the first glass manufacturing site of the group in Mers-les-Bains (Picardie, France), primarily aimed at the luxury fragrance market. The glass bottles then were hand-blown.
Automation of production lines
The glass manufacturing site in Mers-les-Bains automates the production of glass bottles with IS machines and therefore increases its production capacity.
Acquisition of a first decoration site in Ecouché (Normandie, France)
The Henri Desjonquères company diversifies its activities and acquires the Verreries de l’Orne site with Dior, a factory dedicated to the decoration of glass bottles.
Acquisition of the Henri Desjonquères company by Saint-Gobain
Saint-Gobain acquires Henri Desjonquères’ company and creates Saint-Gobain Desjonquères.
Two others factories join the group: La Granja (Spain) AND Santa Marina (Brazil)
Acquisition of a second decoration site in Abbeville (Picardie, France)
In order to meet market needs, Saint-Gobain Desjonquères acquires the Verreries de la Somme site, a second factory dedicated to the decoration of glass bottles.
Creation of two factories in the USA
In an international spirit and in order to cope with the dynamism of its customers, Saint-Gobain Desjonquères becomes the first glassmaker to establish factories across the Atlantic with the construction of two sites in Georgia, USA: Covington (glass manufacturing site) and Sparta (decoration site).
Saint-Gobain Desjonquères becomes SGD
Following the acquisition of the glass bottle manufacturing business of Saint-Gobain by two investment funds Sagard and Cognetas, Saint-Gobain Desjonquères creates its own identity with a new brand: SGD.
Launch of Infinite Glass, the world’s first eco-friendly glass for the beauty market
| SGD launches Infinite Glass, the first recycled glass for the world of Perfumery and Cosmetics, composed of 100% post-consumer recycled glass. This 100% recycled and 100% recyclable glass is made exclusively out of clear recycled household glass and the manufacturing process reduces the use of raw materials, minimizes CO2 emissions, and saves energy. |  |
launch of METAL’in, the first inside metalic coating compatible with juice
 |
Developed in our own research lab in France, this patented technology is revolutionizing the art of fragrance bottles decoration. Now, we can illuminate the inside of fragrance bottles thanks to a metallic coating that is also compatible with fragrance, lending the bottle a mirror effect. |
Transfer of SGD to Oaktree Capital Management
|
The US investment funds Oaktree Capital Management enters the Group’s ownership and brings 140 million euros of new financial resources necessary for the financial restructuring. This significant investment effort allows to carry out the industrial and operational transformation plan. |
 |
launch of COLOR’in, the first inside color coating compatible with juice
 |
Two years after the launch of METAL’in, we developed the COLOR’in technology. Now we also sublimate the heart of fragrance bottles with a myriad of colors. Compatible with juice, no pouch is needed with this inside color coating technology. |
Launch of our corporate project Performance 2015
2012 marks the start of our corporate project Performance 2015 to ensure our customers receive superior services and the highest possible quality of glass. We have invested in upgrading our plants worldwide with the acquisition of more powerful machines, while improving workplace safety for our employees each day.
SGD becomes Verescence
2016 marks the start of a new adventure, another milestone in our company’s history. With our sole focus now on the Perfumery & Cosmetics business, we strive to strengthen our status as the world’s leading glass manufacturer for the beauty industry.This gives us the ideal opportunity to put a name on what we are today – a multinational company rich in expertise and diversity, in full transformation. Our ambition is to achieve Excellence for our customers all around the world. Our new name Verescence is rich in meaning and signifies our transformation. It combines the French word for glass (“verre”) with the suffix “-escent”, which literally means “beginning to be” or “becoming” – i.e. transformation. The transformation of sand into glass. The transformation of our company. The transformation of ideas into innovations.
Launch of our corporate project Excellence 2018
In 2016, we launched the Excellence 2018 plan with a single focus: to strengthen our position as the world’s leading glass manufacturer for the beauty industry. A step forward into a new era of even greater quality for our customers, flawless customer service, a supply chain that guarantees the fastest delivery times, not to mention increasingly innovative solutions for eco friendly glass and decoration techniques. We believe in excellence and will make every effort to achieve our goals together, on a daily basis.
Stirling Square Capital Partners becomes the new shareholder of Verescence
|
Stirling Square Capital Partners, a leading pan-European private equity firm, becomes the new sole shareholder of the group. It invests in mid-market companies across Western Europe with enterprise values between €50m and €500m. The arrival of Stirling Square Capital Partners will enable us to accelerate our international expansion and our new strategic plan Verescence 2022 - Forming the future. |
 |
Launch of THE strategic plan Verescence 2022 - Forming the future
The corporate project Verescence 2022 - Forming the future aims to make our group the global reference in the sustainable beauty industry and includes a massive investment plan of 122 million euros.
Acquisition of the glass manufacturer Pacificglas (Verescence Pacific) in South Korea
With this acquisition, Verescence strengthens its international footprint and becomes a leading player in the beauty market in Asia. Founded in 1973, Pacificglas was a subsidiary of Amorepacific Group, the largest cosmetics producer in South Korea.
Opening of a sales office in São Paulo, Brazil
This new Verescence sales office joins a network of global offices, including Paris (HQ), New York, Barcelona and Janghang (South Korea).
OUR EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Meet our executive committee
We are a company of enthusiasts. Our personalities and team spirit give us collective strength. We are united in the Verescence adventure, guided by a highly driven management team intent on building our company’s rightful place in the future
CEO
Chief Financial Officer
General Manager France
General Manager North America
General Manager Spain
General Manager Verescence Pacific
Director Engineering and Technology
Chief Information Officer
INPD Director
Global Sales & Marketing Director
Director of Purchasing
CSR, QEHS & Continuous improvement Director
Thomas Riou
CEO
Thomas Riou joined Verescence in 2012 as General Manager of the Perfumery-Cosmetics division. He was appointed CEO of Verescence in 2016. Before joining Verescence, Thomas served most of his career in the Saint-Gobain group.
Thomas holds an MBA from the ISG International Business School in Paris.
*Member of the Verescence board
Dimitri Dumestre
Chief Financial Officer
Dimitri Dumestre joined Verescence in 2010 as a Corporate Controller, later becoming Director of Corporate Finance. In 2015, he was promoted to Chief Financial Officer. Previously, he was Group Controlling Director at Groupe Casino from 2008 to 2010. Prior to that, he held various roles at Valeo from 1998 to 2008, where he worked as a Financial Controller in Spain and Mexico. He began his career as an Auditor for Arthur Andersen.
Dimitri is a graduate of ESCP Business School in Paris and holds a Certificate in Accounting and Financial Studies.
*Member of the Verescence board
Hélène Marchand
General Manager France
Hélène Marchand joined Verescence in 2004. She held several leadership positions including Commercial and Marketing Director of the Perfumery and Pharmacy activities (2005-2012), Director of the transformation plan for the Perfumery activity, and General Manager of the Isolators activity (2012-2016), before being promoted to General Manager France in 2016. She began her career at AT Kearney, where she was primarily responsible for international industrial companies.
Hélène is a graduate of ESCP (École Supérieure de Commerce de Paris).
*Member of the Verescence Board
Mario Lopez
General Manager North America
Mario Lopez joined Verescence in 2007. He was plant Manager (2007-2010) and General Manager Spain (2010-2019). In 2019, he became General Manager of Verescence North America. Prior to that, he was Production Manager at Saint Gobain (1998-2007).
Mario holds an M.S. in industrial engineering and an Advanced Management Program at IE Business School in Madrid.
Bruno Portellano
General Manager Spain
Bruno Portellano joined Verescence in 2019. Previously, he held the position of Director of Operations in Spain, Portugal, and Morocco for Faurecia Clean Mobility.
Bruno is an Engineer and built his career in the automotive industry, in France, Spain, Morocco, India, and Mexico.
Hyungsoo Hong
General Manager Verescence Pacific
François Boizard
Director Engineering and Technology
Jean-Michel Gorand
Chief Information Officer
Jean-Michel Gorand joined Verescence in 2010 as Chief Information Officer. Before that, he served as IT Director Worldwide at Linpac Allibert from 2008 to 2010. Prior to that, he held several leadership roles at GSK from 2003 to 2008, including IT Domain Manager Sales & Marketing, Europe IT PMO Director, and Europe IT Medical & Regulatory Service Director. He began his career at BNP Paribas.
Jean-Michel holds a Master's degree in Economics from the University of Caen Normandy, and furthered his studies at CIDES, focusing on Information Technology.
Samuel Joachim
INPD Director
Samuel Joachim joined Verescence in 1994 as a Project Manager and later became Quality Manager at the Mers-les-Bains site. He then moved to Germany, working in the Pharmaceutical sector at Saint-Gobain Kipfenberg as Quality Director. In 2002, at Pechiney, he served as Quality Director for the five plants of the Techpack America entity in New York. Graduating from the Executive MBA ESSEC-Mannheim program in 2008, he joined the Italian Group Bormioli Rocco, overseeing quality in development and finishing. In 2013, he returned to Verescence to take on the role of Director of Innovation and New Product Development.
Jean-Luc Leblond
Global Sales & Marketing Director
Hervé Schricke
Director of Purchasing
Loading