Door-to-door delivery

In contrast to markets in Western Europe and the US, growth of direct sales in Poland has significantly accelerated over the past few years. Now, Oriflame and Avon, the two companies which dominate the market in Poland, are stepping up their efforts to control it. Both companies have been enlarging their sales chains and pumping investment into new facilities and lines of products.

"After several years of steady growth we are experiencing rapid acceleration," says Alexander af Jochnick, Oriflame's global director for development. "We have had 18-percent growth since 2004 and our sales in Poland in 2005 reached R40 million. We believe we can reach at least this much in 2006."

Currently 50 percent of all of Oriflame's products sold in Europe are produced in Poland. In the near future, the company plans to launch production of 200 new products here. Oriflame's factory in Warsaw recently became one of the firm's largest in the world, with production reaching 140 million units annually.

Avon, the world's biggest direct-sales firm has been meeting Oriflame move for move. The company continues to increase employment, and cooperated with 220,000 consultants in 2005. It has also recently launched a center for financial services to cater for its consultants here.