Avon plans to open office in north Bengal

To tap the north Bengal region, US- based beauty care products company Avon on Thursday said it plans to open offices in the area besides focusing on promoting women entrepreneurship.

The company, which operates in the country through the direct selling model, has 12 centres, including two here and will soon open an office at Siliguri in north Bengal, Avon Beauty Products India Managing Director Ujjwal Sankar Mukhopadhyay said here.

"We have 12 offices in India of which two are in the eastern region. We are planning one in Siliguri as we see great potential in North Bengal. Especially, Darjeeling Kalimpong, Siliguri, Jalpaiguri is developing and doing good," Mukhopadhyay told PTI.

The company which at present sells around 1,500 products in India through direct selling agents also sees great potential in women entrepreneurship in West Bengal and looks to promote it, he said.

Avon expects the number of its direct selling agents to increase from about 1,00,000 representatives to 1,20,000 this year.

"In the last three years, the company has been expanding at compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 40 per cent and we would like to maintain this healthy growth rate in the coming years," Mukhopadhyay said.

When asked if the company plans another manufacturing unit in the country in addition to the Dehradun facility, he replied in the negative.

The Dehradun factory produces 85 per cent of the products sold in India, while the rest is imported from various locations across the globe.