‘Being a global leader means winning in your market by supporting the planet, whilst continuing to work with your team, your stakeholders and society’, said Juan Naya, CEO of ISDIN, at a new session of Matins Esade entitled ‘ISDIN: Love your skin’. At the session, the executive presented the group’s main results and discussed the keys that have catapulted the dermo-cosmetic company from leader of the Spanish market to global pacemaker in photoprotection and skincare. ‘Although the lockdowns during the pandemic and the use of face masks had a direct impact on sales of sun-care products in 2020 and 2021, we ended 2021 with a turnover of €340 million, up 13%, and we expect to reach €400 million this year due to the loosening of pandemic restrictions and international momentum’, explained the ISDIN CEO.

ISDIN, whose sales outside Spain already account for more than half of its production, aims to continue growing abroad, especially in the United States and China. According to Naya, annual sales of the company’s water-based sunscreen Fusion Water in China ‘outstrip sales in the rest of the world combined’. In recent years, ISDIN has basically grown organically, without acquisitions, and this strategy seems unlikely to change. ‘We like to think that the future is in our hands. In this sense, we have no plans to go public or open our capital to investors’, he said. ISDIN currently operates in more than 50 countries and has 14 subsidiaries.

The three pillars of ISDIN

The Spanish company, a joint venture between the Puig and Esteve groups, is committed to innovation as one of the main drivers of its success. ‘For ISDIN, innovation is more than a successful product. It is something new that, through technology and research, improves people’s lives’, explained Naya. In addition to innovation, the other pillars of the company, which recently earned B-Corp certification, are: caring for the planet and community work. ‘To minimize our environmental impact, we want to reduce our emissions by 20% and decrease the weight of our packaging by 10%, amongst other important projects’, he said.

With the aim of raising public awareness, the company has launched a new platform called ‘Love your skin’, which offers users games and deals, as well as information about skincare, such as the fact that, as Naya explained, ‘80% of skin ageing is caused by sun damage; the other 20% is caused by the passage of time, pollution, lack of sleep and other factors.’ In this regard, Naya believes that, together with doctors and pharmacists, the company still has work to do to raise awareness.

The challenge and opportunity of digitization

‘Digitization helps us be more agile and flexible. It also plays an important role in bringing us even closer to our customers, who want to find us on new channels. The online world also gives us tools to better connect with our stakeholders, such as doctors and pharmacists, who play a very important role in the personalized prescription of products’, the executive explained.

Founded in 1975 by Puig and Esteve, ISDIN specializes in solutions for the main skin conditions and needs and aims to continue growing in order to become an international leader in photoprotection and skincare.

Belen Moreu, president of Esade Alumni, and Manel Peiró, director of the Esade Business School Institute for Healthcare Management, also participated in the session. Matins Esade are a platform for business and institutional leaders to discuss their organizations’ goals, challenges, and track records.