Brazil should be second operation of Nivea in 2011
Valor Econômico
In the year the Nivea brand completes 100 years - and is about to start, as of May, a major celebration - the company in Brazil will be a highlight. The subsidiary is getting ready to become the second largest operation of the company in the world this year, only behind the headquarters in Germany. The Beirsdorf AG group, owner of Nivea, earned € 6.2 billion last year. The calculations of the Brazilian operation were disclosed to Valor yesterday by the company President in the country, Nicolas Fischer, who did not disclose the earnings in Brazil.
In the last meeting of results, at the end of 2010, among the subsidiaries and the control of the company in Hamburg, Fischer returned to Brazil with major goal. "The plan is to once again double the company in the country in the next five years, as we already did in the 2006-2010 period", says Fischer. To do that, it will have to register growth in sales of 15% on average from 2011 to 2015 - the same average level seen from 2006 to 2010.
The Executive says there is no risk the strong expansion will cause bottlenecks. "Our plant in Brazil is in operation for eight years and it was created already foreseeing the growth", he says. There is a plant of Nivea in Brazil that produces sunscreens and deodorants, among other items, and the country is also supplied by units in Mexico and Chile. Concerning new plants in the country, there is no decision taken in that regard.
Next week there will be a meeting in Buenos Aires among the person responsible for emerging markets of the group, in the office for 17 days, the Turkish Ümit Subasi, and executives of Central and Latin America to address commercial and marketing strategies. "The decision on a new unit in Brazil won't happen now. At the moment, we are at the limit", says Fischer. "Another plant is something that needs to be thought in regional terms and a product-by-product analysis has to be made to see what and where is worth being produced".
This year, the Brazilian operation should grow more rapidly than the global average of Nivea. The country should then overcome the results of France and Italy, which occupy the second and third positions, respectively. With that it will rise to the second place in sales with the products of the brand. "I've decided to calculate it now. The way we grow, I had the feeling we had gone a few steps up and we would step up a few more", says the Executive.
Including in the calculation other businesses of the Beiersdorf AG group (besides the Nivea brand, there is Eucerin, La Prairie, Labello, among others) the Brazilian subsidiary ranks sixth in the world. In 2010, Nivea grew 13% in Brazil. In real terms, considering inflation, the rate is also a two-digit rate. "Our inflation is low. So far in 2011, we have not changed the prices", says Fischer. The 13% rate is well above the rest of the world. In the so-called consumer area, which includes the Nivea products, the expansion of the group achieved meager 1.6% in 2010. With the good performance in Brazil, there is a compensation effect, said the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Thomas-B Quaas some months ago. In the search for balance, Brazil needs to keep the pace.