Puig Strengthens European Travel Retail with Shiseido Talent Acquisition

Puig makes a new move in its management organization. The Barcelona-based fashion, perfume and fragrance company has made a strategic addition to boost its travel retail division on the European continent. Vincent Baland, with two decades of experience in the Japanese company Shiseido, has been appointed general manager of the channel in the region. With extensive international experience, Baland adds his appointment to the recent promotion of Jose Manuel Albesa to the position of deputy CEO.

Trained in finance and business management at France’s Sciences Po and HEC Paris, the executive took the first steps of his career within the French group LVMH, assuming various responsibilities within the sales team of Christian Dior’s perfume division.

In 2003, Baland joined the Japanese giant Shiseido as sales manager for travel retail in Latin America, a position he held for four years before moving on to become sales manager for major accounts in Europe. From Paris, the executive went on to lead Shiseido’s distribution in countries such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Switzerland and Portugal, in addition to assuming the strategic coordination of partners such as Watson, Sephora and Douglas.

After an experience of almost four years as general manager of the Japanese company in the Swiss market, Baland broadened his horizon of responsibilities by assuming the management of the Asia-Pacific region and travel retail, between 2013 and 2016, from Singapore. His link with the Latin American market was maintained for the following three years, during which he led the travel retail division in the region’s local markets, with a special focus on the development of business lines such as skincare, makeup and fragrances.

Puig has recruited Shiseido’s vice president of travel retail in Europe, Middle East, Africa and the Americas

Finally, from the beginning of 2020 until September, Baland has served as vice president of travel retail for the Emea region and the Americas from Paris. In his last position, the executive worked especially on the deployment of the Japanese company’s fragrances in the airport and duty free channel. Under his supervision, the division developed the business of brands such as Tory Burch, Issey Miyake, Narciso Rodriguez, Zadig&Voltaire and the cosmetic phenomenon among the Z generation, Drunk Elephant.

In the first half of the year, Puig achieved a turnover of €2.29 billion, with a growth of 5.9%. On a like-for-like basis, fragrances and fashion and skin care each advanced by 8.6%, while makeup was up 2%.

By business line, fragrances and fashion contributed €299.3 million, up 1.7%; skin care recorded €21 million, up 14.1%; and make-up totaled €12.1 million, well above the €0.1 million recorded the previous year.

The company also recorded an adjusted net profit of €247 million, an increase of 3.9%, while adjusted ebitda reached €445 million, up 8.6%, and total operating income came to €332.3 million, 6.2% more than in the same period of 2024. The group’s net debt reached €1.42 billion.