Bernard Fraisse: A passionate visionary
Bernard Fraisse grew up in Pailharès, a tiny village perched in the mountains of the Ardèche. He is very close to his roots and thirty years after it was founded his group, which has a global reach, is still solidly implanted in its home territory.
A taste for action
In 1981, at just 25 years of age, Bernard Fraisse founded his company to distribute chemical products in bulk: Rhône Chimie Industrie (RCI). Then in 1985 he embarked on manufacturing industrial detergents with his first manufacturing company: Fabrication Chimique Ardéchoise (FCA), which in 1988 established a dedicated site for manufacturing aerosols. During the 1990s, the FCA experienced dramatic growth, setting up and taking over new industrial-homecare and cosmetic sites, thus forming a group which had become the number one independent aerosol packaging company in France.
Rapid diversification
The 2000s saw the creation of a holding company in 2004, which enabled the group to adopt a structure suitable for its international expansion, and Fareva's entry into the pharmaceutical technology and pharmaceutical chemistry sectors with the take-over of sites from major players in these sectors. In parallel, Fareva strengthened its position in the cosmetics field. From creations to acquisitions, buoyed by the enthusiasm of its founder and his teams, Fareva swiftly took on a European dimension.
Taking on the world !
From 2009, the company’s growth accelerated sharply with a significant boost to its European presence in Russia, the United Kingdom, Italy and Turkey, its move into the world of make up and also its expansion onto the American continent in the United States and Brazil..
One of the world leaders in industrial sub-contracting
Fareva exceeded the symbolic billion Euro turnover figure in 2012. The group expanded again with the take-over of two large pharmaceutical sites in France along with the acquisition of a cosmetics factory in Mexico. In 2017, the take-over of BCM, the manufacturing division of WBA, the world's number one health and wellbeing company, and the signing of a global long-term agreement, took Fareva into an entirely new dimension.
An industrial epic
Starting from scratch, armed only with his enthusiasm, driven by a passion for doing and building, Bernard Fraisse has successfully surrounded himself with key people and mobilised energy and talent. He has built up a group, Fareva, which is now one of the world's leading sub-contractors in the cosmetics, pharmaceutical, make-up, industrial & homecare industries, with a turnover of over 1.6 billion Euros in 2018. The group has close to 12,000 employees.
Bernard Fraisse: a man of action
Bernard Fraisse demonstrates a passion for action and business acumen: he can sense economic change, he is always on the look out for opportunities and knows when to grab them. His enthusiasm is undiminished. A keen sailor, he is as eager as ever in 2018 to be at the helm of the Fareva ship, and to foster warm human relations with simplicity and a human touch.
Bernard Fraisse is a manufacturer who has a long-term vision which enables Fareva to remain an independent group competing with the best companies at a global level. A unique man whose uncommon destiny and spectacular rise to the top inspires people.
And inspiring people is precisely what Fareva ("faire rêver" in French) means in the local dialect of the Ardèche!