In 2008, 48-year old Jacques Challes, a graduate of ESCP–EAP Paris arrived as Managing Director of L’Oreal India. He had already been with the company for 26 years. During his tenure in India, the company tripled its revenue to around $200 million and has also increased market share, which in the urban market is 10 percent. The company has also started an R&D center in Mumbai, only the third one in Asia after Japan and China and the sixth one globally after France, U.S.A. and Brazil. Its sales in India are growing at 20 percent.
“Four years ago, L’Oreal India was relying only on the consumer division. Today, the consumer division itself has expanded and we also now focus on professional [salon] and luxury segments. We have scaled up our capacity in the manufacturing facility in Pune to 200 million units and a new R&D center is coming up in Mumbai, “ Challes told a media outlet; he says more in this video interview.
He went on to declare his enthusiasm for emerging countries “Though my new role as Chief Innovation Officer based in Paris, is a worldwide role, the future for L’Oreal lies in markets like India, Brazil and China. So ideas and innovation will come out of these countries and this will be instrumental for the whole company.”
To learn about how your company can find grand success in India’s consumer market, the World Trade Center of Northern California had organized a special Webinar on Friday, July 20 at 9:00 A.M. Pacific. Click here to request the Webinar recording.
Last updated: December 26th, 2025
