_________________________________________________________________________________ This case was solely prepared as a basis for class discussion and not as an endorsement, a source of primary data, or an illustration of effective or ineffective management. Although based on the actual experience and despite occasional reference to real companies, this case is purely fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons or entities is coincidental. Copyright 2020 © Fontys International Business School (FIBS), Venlo. This publication may not be digitized, photocopied, or otherwise reproduced, posted or transmitted, without the permission of FIBS.

1

L’ Essence

Shareholder Report 2019

“We Help People

Enjoy Life”

Be Ready for the Future

_________________________________________________________________________________ This case was solely prepared as a basis for class discussion and not as an endorsement, a source of primary data, or an illustration of effective or ineffective management. Although based on the actual experience and despite occasional reference to real companies, this case is purely fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons or entities is coincidental. Copyright 2020 © Fontys International Business School (FIBS), Venlo. This publication may not be digitized, photocopied, or otherwise reproduced, posted or transmitted, without the permission of FIBS.

2

Letter of the Managing Director

“2019 was an interesting year for L’Essence, despite fierce

competition and some set-backs in our supply chain, we

managed to consolidate our performance. With the new

management team we are looking forward to building a

strong future, together”

During 2019, we saw a steady development of our Skincare range,

where we consolidated last year’s performance.

In addition, our strategy for the development of the Hygiene

Products portfolio is starting to pay-off. it demonstrates our

innovativeness, as well as the overall strength of our ability to

offer customer value. We are positioned as one of the strongest

niche-players in the Cosmetics market and ready to make a leap

forward.

Our company faces three main challenges for the next three years:

Responsive Supply Chain

People Strategy

Building our Brand

Our newly appointed Operations Director announced the Responsive Supply Chain project. This project

will support the alignment of our increasing market needs with our production facilities.

Our strategy for growth needs to be supported by a strong people strategy, we aim to be the Dutch

employer in the cosmetics industry. After all, our people make a difference!

Our continuous success in Western-Europe strengthens our belief that we will also be successful in

other regions and we will therefore continue to develop our brands in Eastern-Europe as a strong

growth market. In addition, we will increase our efforts in online commercial operations.

With our joined effort and teamwork we will turn L’ Essence into a high performing company, our

promise to the future is that we will continue to “Help People Enjoy Life” every day.

Berend van Vliet

_________________________________________________________________________________ This case was solely prepared as a basis for class discussion and not as an endorsement, a source of primary data, or an illustration of effective or ineffective management. Although based on the actual experience and despite occasional reference to real companies, this case is purely fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons or entities is coincidental. Copyright 2020 © Fontys International Business School (FIBS), Venlo. This publication may not be digitized, photocopied, or otherwise reproduced, posted or transmitted, without the permission of FIBS.

3

Meet our Executive Committee

Berend van Vliet – Managing Director

Berend is Managing Director of L’Essence and he held several senior positions as

Managing Director for companies in the skincare business. Before Berend joined

L’Essence, he was member of the Executive Board of Beiersdorf and responsible for

Consumer Brands. Before that he was Global Head of Consumer Health at Sanofi.

Berend is passionate about innovation, creating meaningful value propositions and

making a difference in the life of people.

Harry Eilers – Finance Director

Harry joined L’Essence in 2013 as Head of Controlling. Before joining L’Essence he

held several positions in accounting and controlling with L’Oreal, his latest position

was that of Regional Business Controller Eastern-Europe. Having worked in France

and Poland he is well prepared to support further international growth of our

company. Harry is a family man and about finding the right work-life balance.

Stefan Lopez – Supply Chain Director

Stefan grew up in Rotterdam as son of a Mexican father and Dutch mother, he had a

fast-track international career in supply chain within the FMCG Industry. Before he

joined L’Essence, Stefan was Head of Supply Chain Skincare at Beiersdorf A.G. He has

a proven track-record in Lean Manufacturing and building responsive supply chains.

He is passionate about finding the most efficient way of doing things, result oriented

and pragmatic.

Ruud de Wit – HR Director

Ruud started his career with L’Essence in 1991 when he started as a recruiter. He

later transitioned to the role of HR Officer. He held several positions in Reward and

Learning and development before he became Manager of Learning & Development

in 2002. Ruud was appointed HR Manager of L’Essence Netherlands in 2009, a

position he held until he was appointed as HR Director as per 1.1.2019. Ruud gets

his inspiration from seeing people grow and building high performing teams.

_________________________________________________________________________________ This case was solely prepared as a basis for class discussion and not as an endorsement, a source of primary data, or an illustration of effective or ineffective management. Although based on the actual experience and despite occasional reference to real companies, this case is purely fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons or entities is coincidental. Copyright 2020 © Fontys International Business School (FIBS), Venlo. This publication may not be digitized, photocopied, or otherwise reproduced, posted or transmitted, without the permission of FIBS.

4

People Strategy

People are our most powerful resource to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage and to grow

our business. Whether this is in our supply chain, Research & Innovation, Sales & Marketing or in one

of our support functions.

Our People Strategy focusses on sustainably Attracting, Retaining and Developing Talent. We are an

equal opportunity employer and take pride in our commitment to diversity within our company.

Our HR Tools are developed to create a high-performing culture. We make sure to hire the best. In

alignment with our strategy of “Helping people to enjoy life” we also aim at creating purpose and a

sense of well-being for our employees. We do this by encouraging personal growth and development,

providing a good work-life balance and assuring that L’Essence is a fun and inspiring place to work.

“We aim at being a preferred employer on

the Euregional labour market.

Attract Retain Develop

Talent Acquisition

Above market

Reward

Inspiring place to

work

Rewarding

Excellence

Sustainable

Employability

Diversity &

Equality

Fun

Training & Development

Career Development

Talent Management

Performance Management

_________________________________________________________________________________ This case was solely prepared as a basis for class discussion and not as an endorsement, a source of primary data, or an illustration of effective or ineffective management. Although based on the actual experience and despite occasional reference to real companies, this case is purely fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons or entities is coincidental. Copyright 2020 © Fontys International Business School (FIBS), Venlo. This publication may not be digitized, photocopied, or otherwise reproduced, posted or transmitted, without the permission of FIBS.

5

Our Global Footprint

Production Facilities

L’Essence is a truly international

company, as is demonstrated by our

global production & supply chain

network. Our main production facility

is based in Venlo, The Netherlands. In

addition, we have several

partnerships with suppliers in Italy,

Poland, USA, Indonesia and Japan.

Commercial Offices

To support our selling strategy, we

have several local sales offices in our

main markets: The Netherlands,

United Kingdom, Germany, France,

and Belgium.

L’Essences logistic footprint with factories and central hub