Ever since its inception in 1972, from the merger between France's two leading eyeglass companies Essel (created the Varilux® progressive lens) and Silor (created the Orma+® plastic ophthalmic lens), Essilor has held its grip at the top of the corrective lens market and become a world leader in optical products.
After 30 years in the business, Essilor has extended its facilities across 40 countries with 18 manufacturing plants, 140 prescription laboratories and over 20,000 employees. Each year, Essilor manufactures 150 million lenses or one glass lens in two and one organic lens in three sold around the world. And, if Essilor's daily lens production was stacked, the column created would be four times higher than the Eiffel Tower.
Although international expansion is a key objective, the Essilor culture also states that in order to be international, the company must first be local. This means that Essilor must tailor its objectives and strategies to the needs of each country in which it is present.
According to Jean-Christophe Paris, Marketing Director of Essilor Canada, and Chrysteen Healey, National Professional Relations Director, the Canadian market is a unique place of choice in the Essilor world. "The canadian market is very reactive about technological innovations, and very curious," says Jean-Christophe Paris. "This allows us to be very innovative in our approach and get a consumer response very quickly."
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