14. Natura
Sao Paulo, Brazil
www.natura.com

Beauty Sales: $2.4 billion

Key Personnel: Alessandro Giuseppe Carlucci, chief executive officer; Antonio Luiz da Cunha Seabra, co-chair of the board of directors; Guilherme Peirao Leal, co-chair of the board of directors.

Products/Brands: More than 900 cosmetics, fragrance, personal hygiene items, including Chronos, Natura Ekos, Mamãe e Bebê, Natura Unica, Natura Diversa, Faces de Natura, Tododia.
New Products: 183 product launches in 2007, including Chronos Lip Contour Cream, Chronos Intense Hydration Mask, Mamãe e Bebê Passion Flower Oil, Diversa Kohl Eye Liner, Ekos Priprioca Body Oil Elixir, Ekos Breu Branco, Perfume do Brasil.

Comments: Although founded in 1969 and with operations in seven Latin American countries and France, some might say Natura’s been somewhat of a sleeper in the beauty industry, but with 2007 sales surpassing $2.4 billion, up 10.6% over 2006, that thought is certainly old hat. Add in the company’s timely dual causes that are key to its foundation—sustainability both through social consciousness and ethics and natural ingredients (many of which are locally sourced)—and you can see why it’s been rapidly propelled into the limelight.
  

Brazil’s eco-friendly Natura plans to enter the U.S. market in 2009. Jomo Thermomolding, also with headquarters in Brazil, provided the recycled packaging shown here.

In 1974, Natura adopted a direct sales approach similar to Avon, and there’s been no stopping it. Natura has doubled in size over the past four years, expanded into additional Latin American markets (most recently Venezuela and Colombia), invested in infrastructure and R&D—and gone public (in 2004). In 2007, the EBITDA was $391 million, 7.3% higher than the previous year, with a margin of 22.8%. Net income totaled $258 million, generating an initial return on net equity of 72%, one of the highest profitability levels on the Brazilian market. The number of consultants who make up Natura’s sales force grew by over 16%. Natura now has 5,900 employees and more than 718,000 consultants.
  
In 2007, Natura produced more than 225 million items sold to 50 million consumers in over 5,000 Brazilian cities. The company opened its first retail store in a tony boutique in the Saint Germain area of Paris, an effort to build the brand in a sophisticated market, testing retail rather than door-to-door. Next in the global expansion plan: the U.S.
  
Natura, often lauded as one of the most admired companies in Brazil, aims to grow at an accelerated pace in the Latin American countries and generate revenues of $500 million in the region by 2012, or about a 4.5% growth in its market share. To help reach these goals, the company has reformulated its corporate architecture and created three autonomous management groups with their own teams that will conduct business operations in Brazil, Latin America and the new markets. A team of senior executives will be dedicated full-time to preparing for Natura’s entry into the U. S. market in 2009.