It allows to limit packaging and waste, is in line with the environmental regulations being developed, and is even becoming an “encouraged commercial practice”… Bulk has become more than trendy and will soon be almost mandatory. The cosmetics industry must adopt it more widely than it does today… which is not without some adaptations and difficulties to overcome. During the Regulatory Meeting organised by Cosmed on March 25, 2021, Lucia Pereira, Director of Legal Affairs at Réseau Vrac, explained how the bulk sales sector is being structured.
Réseau Vrac (Bulk Network), the French association of professionals in the bulk sector, was created five years ago with several objectives:
• To secure the practices of suppliers who accept that their products are sold in bulk, of retailers who want to distribute them and of consumers who decide to buy them
• To make bulk available for all products (today, bulk is mainly used for food products, cosmetics and detergents, whereas all consumer products can be sold in this way)
• To make bulk products available in all shopping locations, both physical stores and online
• To make bulk convenient
• To generate a positive environmental and social impact
Réseau Vrac is an association under the French law of 1901 which today brings together more than 1,800 professionals from the entire bulk value chain: manufacturers (including about a hundred cosmetics manufacturers), processors, equipment manufacturers (who make bulk sales equipment), service providers, distributors (mainly specialised “bulk” shops or organic shops, supermarket chains are not currently members of the network), project leaders, etc.
The association is present in 14 countries: Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, Iceland, Switzerland, Canada, China, the Netherlands, Portugal, Israel, Uruguay, Senegal, Monaco and the United States.
To adapt to …
