For the 190th anniversary of the Blanchon Group, meeting with Guillaume Clément, Chairman and CEO

Batinfo: Could you introduce the Blanchon Group to us?

Guillaume Clement: The Blanchon Group was founded 190 years ago to provide reliable solutions for the protection, decoration, maintenance and renovation of buildings, homes and living spaces, with a particular focus on wood. used indoors (parquet, woodwork, furniture) and outdoors (terraces, cladding). The group develops, manufactures and markets a wide range of technical varnishes, finishing products and paints, always remaining on the lookout for new innovations. We are partners of users, wood and materials traders and paint wholesalers, floor covering manufacturers and DIY superstores.

Due to our long history in France, we remain committed to quality local production. We currently have 420 employees in the group, including 250 in France, and our 3 largest factories are located in the Rhône-Alpes region. We sell more than 10000 references to more than 8500 customers in 55 countries, with a strong presence in Europe. Our very powerful presence in France allows us to develop internationally with ambition and determination. International development remains a strategic issue for the company and we plan to generate 50% of our turnover from exports in the long term. In 2020 we had a turnover of 75 million euros, in 2021 we exceeded 100 million turnover and we set ourselves a target of 150 million turnover in 2025.

Batinfo: New green products, development in Europe, new graphic identity... is this 190th anniversary the start of a new era for the group?

"Protecting is in our nature" for 190 years...

The Blanchon Group has obviously encountered several challenges since its creation and in particular with the changes linked to the ecological awareness of the end of the 90th century. The discontinuation of solvents in the XNUMXs was, for example, a challenge for us who produce varnishes and paints. But that led us to develop our biosourced technology, to launch a CSR approach and today more than a hundred of our products benefit from the European Ecolabel.

For many years now, we have been committed to an eco-responsible approach to limit our environmental footprint as much as possible. In particular, we rely on eco-design by favoring aqueous phase formulations, renewable raw materials and products with low emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). We produce in efficient, clean and environmentally friendly factories, with no discharges into water, air or soil, ensuring a measured carbon footprint and drastically reducing or eliminating solvents. Consumers also have a role to play in this ecological approach and this is why we provide advice on the proper use of products, recommendations given to users to protect the environment and we encourage them to favor renovation rather than replacement. Valuing recyclable packaging, selective sorting and reprocessing of waste in a specialized sector are obviously key points in limiting our impact on the environment from the creation of our products to their end of life.

International development is also a challenge for a French company that favors local production. We are growing in England, Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and all over Europe. For now, 60% of our turnover comes from France and 40% from Europe, but we regularly create new teams to increase our presence abroad.

But the future is also littered with obstacles. As in many trades related to crafts or construction, attracting young talent is difficult. We have to find a solution to make our jobs attractive again. Faced with this challenge of recruiting and retaining the know-how of craftsmen who work with our products, creating an academy for professionals and then for individuals in a second step may be a solution to consider.

Batinfo: What are your ambitions for the future?

To ensure the sustainability of the Group, and to meet the environmental challenges of our planet, it is obvious: to offer ever more efficient, eco-responsible products and to consolidate the presence of our brands internationally. Our economic model, built on 3 complementary activities – the general public, building professionals and industrial flooring manufacturers – must continue to be exported all over the world. We have accelerated our establishments in Belgium and the Netherlands with the acquisitions of Ciranova and Rigo Verffabriek over the last 10 months. Europe is our common home and the Blanchon Group aims to become one of the essential leaders in the offer of sustainable solutions for protection products for wood materials in particular.