Avon Philippines, the local unit of global direct selling beauty and personal care company Avon, has no plans of expanding its manufacturing operation in the country, but hopes to recruit more sales representatives instead.

This is according to Avon Philippines General Manager Raz Diratian, who said in a virtual briefing on Wednesday that the company is not looking at any "expansion at this moment as the company has not yet reached its full capacity."

"In our current location, we still have plenty of capacity," Diratian said. "There is no plan to increase capacity because it is not needed."

At present, Avon Philippines is the number one beauty and personal care direct selling company in the country. The 135-year old global firm expanded in the Philippines 42 years ago.  

More than a decade ago, Avon also started manufacturing its own products here through Avon Products Manufacturing, Inc., which had its first manufacturing plant in Libis, Metro Manila and stayed there for 18 years.

The plant, which manufactures cosmetic, fragrance and toiletry (CFT) products, later on relocated to Calamba, Laguna.

Avon Philippines currently exports some of its products to its counterparts in Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

Diratian said that even with the pandemic, Philippines remained to be the largest market for Avon within the Asia Pacific region.

“That's obviously unchanged. More importantly, the Philippines is one of the biggest markets in the world for Avon and that's why I’m happy because we received a lot of support and we were able to accelerate transformation very, very fast,” he said.  

As for the company’s sales performance during the COVID-19 lockdown period, Avon Philippines Director for Channel Management Christine Eugenio didn’t provide specific figures but said that “this pandemic really affected nearly all industries”.

“At the end of the year, there will be very few industries that will grow versus last year,” Eugenio said.  

Diratian also said that since “Avon Philippines is in the middle of transformation,” sales is currently not a priority but to “protect its representatives” and to have more flexibility in the company’s business model.

During the pandemic, Nanette Roxas, the director for sales and commercial excellence of the company, said Avon Philippines ramped up its recruitment efforts, implemented easier and digital sign-ups for representatives, and offered them digital training, discounts, incentives, and recognition.

All 190 stores of Avon Philippines across the country are now operational, while its Avon On App is now available for online ordering with free delivery to representatives.  

When asked if customers can directly order through the app, Diratian said that only representatives can access it for now as maintaining a good relationship with the so-called ‘Avon Ladies’ is still the company’s top priority.

There are currently 5 million Avon representatives globally, most of which are from the Philippines.