The direct-selling company, which is a subsidiary of Vorwerk and Co, will employ 800 people at the $30m state-of-the-art factory.
The 23-acre complex in Querétaro, Mexico, is now Jafra’s lead manufacturing plant as it is 50 percent larger than the company’s previous plant, and can produce up to 200 million units annually, according to the company.
Meet growing demand and allow for future growth
The construction of the factory forms part of Jafra’s expansion strategy, and allows it to increase production to deal with current demand as well as presenting an opportunity to expand at a later date.
“This world-class manufacturing facility enables us to meet the growing demand for our existing products and we have the added flexibility and capability of easily handling production of future product lines,” Jafra president and CEO Dr Friedrich Kroos said in a statement.
According to Jafra, the Querétaro plant will serve as a central location for supply chain activities and as a centralized activity for the global supply of products.
Meanwhile, the company’s R&D activities remained headquartered in California, where the formulation, research and testing of products take place with input from laboratories in the US and Europe.
Cosmetics companies set up operations in Mexico
Jafra is not the only cosmetics and personal care company to establish operations in Mexico, which is said to have a large and experienced workforce.
Last year, global cosmetics packaging supplier HCP Packaging announced its intention to open a factory in Mexico to expand its North American operations, with HCP Reynosa expected to be fully operational by spring 2010.
Referring to its decision to set up production facilities in Mexico, HCP said that as a result of rising transit costs and supply chain considerations, suppliers are increasingly drawn towards developing and expanding factories on a localized basis in close proximity to customers’ filling operations.