I’ve always admired the packaging produced by The Estée Lauder Companies, but when our readers voted the Group 2013 Beauty Company of the Year: Excellence in Packaging, I got the opportunity to really delve into its history as well as its products. I was both fascinated and intrigued with what I found, from reading Mrs. Estée Lauder’s autobiography to hearing from Henry Renella, senior vice president, global package development, about how he and his team handle the packaging for the more than 25 prestige brands under the Lauder umbrella. Not only does the team hold to the overall quality, attractiveness and innovative details that the 67-year-old beauty company stands for, they face the added challenges of maintaining each brand’s individual DNA. From the start, Mrs. Lauder was committed to always meeting the highest standards, and that ethic clearly continues today.

In 2013, the The Estée Lauder Companies broke the $10 billion mark for global sales. A third of this revenue came from Asia.

Learning how to adapt to Chinese consumer preferences is critical to capturing sales from the world’s No. 1 luxury spenders, according to Renee Hartman, a co-founder of China Luxury Advisors, who writes about the many criteria—including how Lauder has navigated them—in an exclusive report for Beauty Packaging.

Another area in which The Estée Lauder Companies has made great strides is in the area of environmentally responsible packaging. Henry Renella describes several of the Group’s leading programs and, on page 41, Dave Rapaport, vice president Earth & Community Care, Aveda, provides further details.

The Estée Lauder Companies has kicked off 2014 with continued optimism—and announcements of a number of new launches that are already grabbing packaging attention.

Prestige beauty is poised to remain hot.

Karen Grant, vice president and global beauty industry analyst for The NPD Group—and a member of Beauty Packaging’s Board of Advisors—says the outlook for the year ahead is positive and, in her exclusive annual Predictions Report (p. 66), she points to dynamic industry changes that may be just around the corner.

Publisher Jay Gorga and I hope 2014 is a great year for all of you! As always, we look forward to bringing you all the best in packaging.

Jamie Matusow
[email protected]