Pharma-Recharge, a refillable beauty initiative in French pharmacies
Launched in June 2023, the pharma-recharge initiative is led by 5 brands which are mainly distributed in pharmacies. WIth Garancia (Unilever Prestige), Bioderma (NAOS), Pierre Fabre, La Rosée and Mustela (Laboratoires Expanscience), the initiative intends to release a refillable beauty format accessible to all in the french extensive pharmacy network in France. The consortium was first launched in October 2022, with a single objective of boosting refillable beauty solution in the market, and the machine was released less than a year later.
Initially released as a trial test in one pharmacy - Carré Opéra - in the center of Paris. The consortium is working with experts from (RE)SET, a consultancy dedicated to environmental transition.
In concrete terms, they have developed a piece of furniture for product display and bulk delivery for 15 products! The design is from Mobil Wood, a company specialising in eco-designed furniture made from French wood. The refillable structure uses the Jean Bouteille technology, a company with a pioneering impact in the introduction of bulk and re-use solutions, for the fountains. The consortium also selected a common glass bottle for the trial, compatible with most of the products.
“ The offer is conducted on existing products in the market, and Jean Bouteille was selected for efficiency, speed, and low maintenance.” explained to us Anne-Claire Morin, Marketing Director at Garancia.
The user journey is simple:
- consumers follow the steps in the order module,
- attach the bottle proposed for this trial to the fountain of the product of their choice,
- a predefined dose is poured automatically,
- they have to pick up their bottle at the end.
The experiment complies with pharmacy health standards and the quality requirements for dermo-cosmetic products (stop dripping, no contact with the formula, traceability, etc.).
