INTERVIEW Tim Probert – Editor, Personal Care Global


Ségolène Moyrand-Gros is president of Gattefossé, a provider of personal care ingredients and pharmaceutical excipients based in Saint-Priest near Lyon in south-east France. Ségolène, 41, who is the great-great granddaughter of company founder Louis Gattefossé, talks to editor Tim Probert about the unique challenges of running a family firm and its wider objectives


TIM PROBERT (TP): You took over as president of Gattefossé last year. How have you found it so far?


SÉGOLÈNE MOYRAND-GROS (SMG): It is very different from what I used to do in the past. Different in a way that it is not operational. It is a position where you have to have a bird’s-eye view on pretty much everything. So you learn to look at the company in a global way and so the reflections go far beyond the actual scope of business because my role is really to make sure that Gattefossé is succeeding in the long run. My responsibility is to make


sure that we have the power and the strength to move forward for the next 20 years, maybe 40 years. It’s a job where perspective is very important. I was not doing this before,


because I was in charge of both communication and corporate development with corporate social responsibility. Even if those topics are of strategic interest, it has nothing to do with what I’m dealing with today. It is intense, you know, it is rich


in content. It deals with matters that are, for instance, how to keep relationships with our customers intact in a world of COVID-19 and the impossibility to make face-to- face contact sometimes. And for Gattefossé, because our business model is based on the intimacy that we create with our customers and our partners, it’s an issue that we have to address. Another example would be


how to keep innovating in a world where the constraints in terms of regulation and the environment are important and becoming more and more stringent. It’s also a matter of understanding


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how to attract also the young generation in our companies, because they expect something more, something different from companies than before. All of this makes it very


interesting and challenging, but I’m a determined type of person. I have strong hopes for Gattefossé because I see its potential. I’m quite excited.


TP: What are your strong hopes for Gattefossé? SMG: I feel that we are fortunate to operate in industries where there is growth, where those industries keep innovating, like pharmaceuticals and personal care. They have potential in the sense that people need to get better, need to feel better. The health industries in general are something of interest right now, and for the future. I have the chance to be part


of a company that has a very strong history, a strong presence in the market, a strong reputation with unique, significant know- how like lipid chemistry, plant extraction, plant chemistry. This is something that matters to develop sustainable ingredients that fit with the desire of consumers. We are all already in this trend,


part of this dynamic. I also feel fortunate because I’m surrounded by great, talented people. That makes also my life easier, because I can count on them and on their competences.


TP: Some readers may not know your great-great grandfather was Louis Gattefossé, who created the business in 1880. Do you feel pressure to continue that family legacy?


INTERVIEW


Keeping it in the family


SMG: Yes, it is challenging to be part of this journey. For me, this is a journey and I’m not ending it. I’m just a part of the chain, you know, a link between two generations. I honestly very much believe in the family model. Why? Because in your DNA you have something that is strong enough to fascinate you, to make possible the impossible. In France it’s becoming more


and more difficult to pass on the company to the next generation. It costs a lot of money. Even in our industry, it’s becoming more difficult to keep our independence. Also, you can’t force people


to come on board. You have to make them fall in love with your company, and with their company. This is why to me it matters that the shareholders feel that they are part of this adventure. This is part of how I face this challenge, you know, to make it a collective effort, like this responsibility is not just on me, I don’t feel the pressure alone.


I think it’s good pressure


because when you want to make it work. It’s been 142 years, I want to continue this. I’m already thinking how to pass on to the sixth generation - which is growing! - at the end of my role here.


TP: This is very different from most companies. But I suppose you’ve got an intrinsic long-term view built in. Perhaps in another company it could be all about the next quarter or the next year’s financial results? SMG: Sure. This is what also gives me hope, it’s because we have this ability to foresee, to anticipate and to have time to build something strong enough. We have time. This is a luxury.


TP: Gattefossé has recently broken ground on a new manufacturing facility in Lufkin, Texas. What is the rationale for the plant? Which markets will it serve? SMG: Texas is huge for us. It’s a


September 2022 PERSONAL CARE


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