Coty is a beauty product manufacturer with over 75 brands in its family. Find out the most important things you need to know about Coty today in our review.
What Is Coty?
Coty is a beauty product manufacturer that sells its products in 130 countries around the world.
In 2016, the company earned $9 billion in revenue. A total of 77 brands are under the company’s family – including names you’ve heard of like Calvin Klein, Chloe, Clairol, Covergirl, Marc Jacobs, and Rimmel.
Coty, Inc. is based in New York City. The company was originally founded in Paris by Francois Coty back in 1904.
Coty Products
Coty’s lineup of products includes beauty products across a wide range of industries, including a specialization in cosmetics and fragrances. Some of the company’s best known brands and product lineups include:
- Chloe (Fragrances)
- Calvin Klein (Fragrances and Cosmetics)
- Adidas (Fragrance and Beauty)
- Playboy (Fragrance)
- Rimmel London (Make-Up)
- Sally Hansen (Beauty)
In total, the company has 77 brands across multiple segments of the beauty industry.
History Of Coty
In 1904, Francois Coty founded Coty, Inc. with the goal of revolutionizing the fragrance industry. By 1912, Coty had opened subsidiaries in London and New York City.
Coty, from its early stages, marketed itself as a premium, luxury brand. In the early half of the 20th century, Coty continued to grow its business around the world while maintaining its reputation for upscale fragrance and cosmetic products.
In the post-World War II years, however, Coty’s market share stagnated and profits fell.
By 1963, the company was sold to pharmaceutical giant Pfizer & Co. for $26 million USD, later becoming a division of the pharmaceutical company’s consumer products group.
In 1965, Coty made a decision that would change the company: they released a fragrance called Imprevu, their first new perfume in 25 years. Sales exploded. By the end of 1968, this was the leading Coty fragrance.
Despite the growing perfume sales, Pfizer was unhappy with the company’s performance. In 1992, Coty was sold again, this time to Benckiser Consumer Products, the US division of a large German company.
Throughout the 1990s, Coty enjoyed strong sales throughout Europe. 55% of the company’s sales volume came from Western Europe, while 30% of it came from North America.
In 2005, Coty purchased most of Unilever’s fragrance business, Unilever Cosmetics International (UCI). However, several major brands were left out of this deal, and Unilever instead sold them to Elizabeth Arden.
Coty continued to acquire numerous brands and companies over the 2000s and 2010s. In 2015, for example, they paid $12.5 billion to Procter & Gamble for many of their beauty brands, transforming Coty overnight into one of the world’s largest cosmetics companies.
In 2016, Coty was in the headlines again after completing its merger with P&G Specialty Beauty Business, formally transforming Coty into one of the world’s biggest beauty companies.
Today, Coty holds the number one position in fragrances, the number two position in salon hair products, and the number three position in color cosmetics in terms of worldwide sales.
Where is Coty at Today?
Coty later made headlines in 2017 for partnering with online peer-to-peer social selling platform Younique. The partnership means that Coty will acquire 60% of Younique, while Younique’s founders will own the remaining 40%.
Younique was founded in 2012 in the United States by brother and sister team Derek Maxfield and Melanie Huscroft. The company sells makeup and skincare products through its eCommerce platform.
In 2016, the company earned approximately $400 million in net revenue.
You can read more about the acquisition in the press release here.
Whether you use Calvin Klein fragrances or Sally Hansen nail polish, you probably use Coty products regularly – whether you knew it or not.
