📰 Le Fil | Ségolène Moyrand-Gros (EMBA13) - “Keeping the business in the family is part of our DNA”

Lire l'article original en français dans le magazine Le Fil #6© Véronique Vedrenne

Ségolène Moyrand-Gros (EMBA13)

President of Gattefossé

“Keeping the business in the family is part of our DNA”

Ségolène Moyrand-Gros heads Gattefossé, a family group which has been contributing to advancing science for well-being for the past 145 years.

What are the milestones in the history of Gattefossé?

Louis Gattefossé founded a company to distribute products to the perfumery industry in 1880. It gradually moved into manufacturing aromatic compounds during the 1900-1910s. My great-grandfather René-Maurice Gattefossé became interested in the therapeutic properties of essential oils after the first world war and started research activities. In 1935-1940, his son-in-law Émile Malher honed the expertise which is our core business today: the chemistry of lipids, resulting in the manufacture of lipid excipients. My grandfather Henri-Marcel Gattefossé chose to focus on cosmetics and pharmaceuticals; perfume and essential oils were abandoned in the 1970s. From 1976, my father Jacques Moyrand ramped up the commercial and global operations of  Gattefossé and set up all of our subsidiaries between 1980 and 2010.

You have been head of the Group since 2021. Where does it stand today?

The company serves two markets: pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, with sales split fairly evenly between the two for the past 40 years. For pharmaceuticals, we cover both human and veterinary products and we are present in all cosmetic market segments: skin care, sunscreen, hair care, make-up etc.  Gattefossé has three plants, with the largest located close to our head office in Lyon. We also have a production line in Singapore and recently built a manufacturing facility in Texas. Four of our twelve subsidiaries boast technical centers of excellence, i.e. laboratories which support our customers and develop applications. Our R&D is based in Lyon. Global sales account for 78% of our total business with 55% in EMEA, our historic zone. The other main zones are the Americas and Asia. The Asian market, which generates the highest annual growth rate, is quite diverse. India is a mature market in terms of pharmaceuticals, but currently less so in cosmetics, although it is starting to become more dynamic, whereas in China the two sectors are well balanced.

Who are your customers and competitors?

We have several hundred active customers. We supply regional, national and multinational cosmetic brands in the luxury sector. For pharmaceuticals, we work with all sorts of pharmaceutical laboratories as well as their subcontractors, Contract Development Manufacturers, who have recently been gaining ground. You are bound to have products containing Gattefossé ingredients in your bathroom. At the same time, the number of competitors is on the rise. Before Covid, there were not many challengers in our niche market, but today we are seeing an influx of newcomers, in particular from China. The big names in chemicals and cosmetics are buying out smaller specialist companies and providing them with significant development resources.

"You are bound to have products containing Gattefossé ingredients in your bathroom.”

Are there any products you are particularly proud of?

In pharmaceuticals, I am thinking of Labrasol® ALF which is used in oncology treatments. Like all our excipients, it brings added therapeutic value to the pharmaceutical formula by improving the bioavailability of the medical substance and helping it be better absorbed in the patient’s body. In cosmetics, we supply both excipients and active ingredients, specializing in plant extraction and chemistry, part of our traditional knowhow. Our two latest active ingredients -  Eyeglorius^TM and Noxifense^TM – come from the same source, sea buckthorn leaves from Canada, but their phytochemical composition and biological properties are totally different.

We enjoy an excellent reputation among our clients in the cosmetics sector thanks to our expertise in product textures and our high standards regarding the traceability of our responsibly bio-sourced active ingredients.

What types of expertise do you intend to develop in the coming years?

We will continue to focus on lipid chemistry and plant chemistry, our two main areas of expertise, while paying close attention to new technologies and applications in healthcare and beauty - sectors which are evolving fast. In pharmaceuticals, we would like to branch out into nutraceuticals1 as well as injectables which are increasingly used in oncology or to treat diabetes, for example.

Gattefossé formulators work in close collaboration with the company’s R&D center to analyze the behavior of cosmetic ingredients and pharmaceutical excipients and determine the benefits they bring to formulations. © Chloé Lapeyssonnie

What are your goals on the global stage?

We have an existing customer base in all our geographic markets. The goal will now be to increase our market penetration, which requires an in-depth study of marketing segmentation. We are currently focusing strongly on the US, where we opened a plant in Texas in 2024 which we hope will serve the local market.

Regarding this plant, do you think you had a visionary strategy given the increase in tariffs?

We have had a foothold in the US since we opened our subsidiary in 1982. So, we have more than 40 years’ experience in the market which offers great development potential and is also very dynamic in terms of pharmaceutical research. The decision to invest in a production facility dates back to 2019. I remember the board meetings at the time. We felt that the US was following a protectionist trend irrespective of whether Trump was reelected. So it was perfectly logical to set up there. US policy in recent months has proved that we made the right decision. However, the majority of raw materials we use in the US are imported, so the higher tariffs still have an impact on our costs.

What do you think is specific to family-owned businesses and what are the advantages?

Being an independent family-held business helps a company retain its long-term vision. At Gattefossé, we have some leeway with regard to our investments, innovations and the way we envisage the future. Our economic model is all the more robust because we are not constrained by short-term profit considerations. In fact, that is the very heart of our corporate project. Our shareholders regularly come and meet with the teams; this close contact gives our governance a very tangible and personal dimension. It also allows us to establish a relationship with our clients; we help them to find custom solutions. Lastly, we have a clear vision of our purpose which resonates with that of our corporate foundation: advancing science for well-being. Our shareholders want the company have a sustainable future so that it can be passed on to the next generations in good conditions. This goal makes it easier to align with our project than if we were a company obsessed by the share price.

Do you intend to remain a 100% family holding?

Yes, keeping the business in the family is part of our DNA.  I am part of a long-term movement; I consider myself to be a link in a chain; others will carry on after me.  

Can you tell us about the Gattefossé CSR policy, Gatt’up & Act?

The policy was officially launched in 2018 with the creation of a steering committee. Last year, we defined 25 SBTI-approved environmental, social and societal goals. We aim to develop manufacturing and cleaning processes which use less water and heat and also use 100% bio-based and traceable raw materials, systematically factoring in the lifecycle analysis for raw materials in cosmetics. Specialty chemicals is an industry which suffers from a poor image despite offering fantastic opportunities in terms of sustainable innovation. In social terms, as a mid-sized enterprise, our human resources are our most precious capital. The aim is to give our staff the opportunity for personal development in a stress-free working environment and provide tangible benefits like death and disability coverage and health insurance worldwide. In societal terms, we are committed to environmental philanthropy via reforestation projects and we support our employees who are involved with non-profits and charity action in and outside France. Gattefossé has long been working for the common good and is committed to acting in the public interest. For over 60 years, we have been organizing international pharmaceutical symposia attended by the top experts in cutting-edge subjects whose works are published to advance science.

Gattefossé has long excelled in plant chemistry. The company’s story started at the beginning of the last century with the distilling of essential oils in Provence, France. © Chloé Lapeyssonnie

Does Gattefossé use AI?

We are only just starting to explore its potential uses, but we are extremely interested. In pharmaceutical research, for example, we use models which analyze the performance of formulations containing our excipients in order to anticipate how they will react in vivo and optimize development with our customers, which saves considerable time and boosts efficiency. In cosmetics, we use predictive AI to obtain biological efficacy results in connection with the phytochemical composition of plant extracts. For business, an AI algorithm helps us decide on the best time to purchase raw materials. Further work will be required in manufacturing regarding automation and logistics. A lot remains to be done, but we don’t want to rush into anything; we want to use AI responsibly.

Your great-grandmother was president of the Group from 1950 to 1968. Is it a challenge for a woman to be at the helm of an industrial group?

Yes, even if it’s less the case in France than other countries. There are still too few female business leaders, especially in industry. Women do not yet seem to be sufficiently convinced of their potential to lead companies even though, in our uncertain and complex world, our ability to think systemically can make all the difference. My great-grandmother Blanche Gattefossé was the chairperson of the board, without any executive functions, but taking over after her husband died was a daring move and quite avant-garde for the time. Today, a rather insidious form of discrimination still exists. I have a daughter; I feel it is my duty to be an example for her.

What did you learn from your EMBA at emlyon business school?

I acquired knowledge and tools to help run a company as well as the support of a peer community. I found it interesting to review my initial management course through the lens of a professional together with other future leaders with varying profiles. Exchanging points of view with them was extremely useful, especially as I often suggested working on Gattefossé case studies. My EMBA lent me a degree of credibility in technical terms which allowed me to join the board and carve out a place for myself. I also chose the course because of the personal development cycle which helped me think about my career path and question my motivation at a time when I was not sure I wanted to stay in the family business. As the EMBA course went on, it became increasingly clear that Gattefossé was where I belonged.

1. The food supplements sector