Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
Your first question comes from Doug Lane - Jefferies & Co.
Doug Lane - Jefferies & Co.
Can you give us an update on the beauty business in Brazil where you are in going into that market in a bigger way?
Rick Goings
Yes, I went there in the first quarter and had met with all of the senior sales force members and we actually conducted a retreat there and I’m pleased with what we’re seeing. Firstly we are put in place – I like the marketing plans that we have in place. We’ve advance the kind of brochure that we’re selling from to replicate much more of what we’re doing in our Fuller business in Mexico and we’ve strengthened our management team. As a matter of fact, one of our issues is going to be supply this year so we have excess space in our big manufacturing facility in Rio and we expect to complete converting part of that into a cosmetics, fragrance and toiletry production facility. But the most important thing is showing is the sales size of the sales force is really to grow. This is going to be Doug a market for our competitor that does more than a billion dollars a year there and [Natura] does $750 million. It is a terrific marketplace and its growing so we’re going to grow there as we are now by not only taking share from others with a fresh opportunity and the kind of branding we are using in Mexico, but also just to take advantage of a growing CFT industry there.
Doug Lane - Jefferies & Co.
Okay also Rick I’ve seen a lot in the general press lately about a plastic ingredient called VPA and in fact it’s on the front page of the Globe today for instance. I wondered if you could give us an update on what is behind this added press on the ingredient and really what’s the danger and what’s the involvement with Tupperware?
Rick Goings
I’d be happy to talk about it. Firstly there’s – what’s behind the recent coverage is an action in Canada by the equivalent of their FDA up there. By the way the product is really a resin produced by a number of – from DuPont and others, they call it lexan, others call it polycarbonate and there is a byproduct of it is Bisphenol-A, and there has been a scientific debate for more than 15 years does Bisphenol-A cause some kind of leeching with food which particularly can impact estrogen and this would impact kids out there. And as I say, the reason I say it’s been a scientific debate is the last time there has been any real science on it was in Europe – the European community three years ago in Brussels and they basically came to no conclusion again. But basically we took action five years ago and we said, you know even though there isn’t any science on this that shows that there could be leeching but you just took a look at the body mass of a child and we said we’re going to exit doing any kind of polycarbonate products for kids because polycarbonates [inaudible]. Polycarbonates are what you see on the windshield of fighter planes, it’s what your glasses are made of, the glass frames. It’s a remarkable very expensive resin. So let me tell you where we are on it. We were one of the first in the entire industry to get out of it for baby products out there even though there wasn’t any science that said that. We only use materials that are approved by government regulatory agencies and so all government approvals are intact for polycarbonate. However I will tell you we are always looking for new and better materials and by the way in Europe we use a product called ultem as a resin and Europeans are willing to spend for ultem. It’s a little higher tech and more expensive but we’re also sensitive to consumers preference. We stay really close to the situation and we’re going to continue to monitor. But right now, what it is right now is it’s a battle that’s being fought in the press, there’s been no new research and I think they were on the Today Show this week, Matt Lauer summed it up at the end when he heard both sides of it, he said, ?I’m more confused than I was at the beginning. I don’t know what to believe.?
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