São Paulo, Brazil
www.natura.net

Beauty Sales: $2.4 billion

Key Personnel: Antônio Luiz da Cunha Seabra, founder and board member; Pedro Luiz Barreiros Passos, chairman and co-founder; Roberto Oliveira de Lima, chief executive officer; José Roberto Lettiere, executive vice president and finance, and executive director, investor relations; Keyvan Macedo, sustainability manager.

Major Products/Brands: Cosmetics, fragrances, hair care, skin care, body care, sold through a direct selling model including, Amó, Ekos, Tododia, Aquarela, Una, Mamãe e Bebê, Natura, Chronos, Kaiak, Kriska; Aesop.

New Products: Ekos-Maracujá Three-Phase Shower Oil, Chronos Day protective face cream SPF30, Ekos-Intense Exfoliating Foot Care, Kaiak Intenso for Men, Amó Sussurro for women.

Comments: Brazil has slid into an economic slump, but Natura—which was founded on the principles of creating and selling services that promote well-being and being well, as well as sustainable development—attributes upgrades in these operational areas for sales totals that were lower than expected in its home quarters.

Overall, corporate sales in 2014 topped out at $2.8 billion, up from $2.7 billion the year before. While Natura said that sales “were well below expectations” in Brazil, with 1.9% growth, “the overall target market regained vigor, growing some 10%.” Even though figures did not meet expectations, sales remained strongest in Brazil, followed by Argentina, Chile and Peru; and Mexico and Colombia.

Products are sold through more than 1.3 million Natura consultants in Brazil and more than 400,000 in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, France, Mexico and Peru. Natura has allocated billions to upgrade for the future, with new facilities for technological, production and logistics advancements, while also strengthening and enhancing its digital technology platform in order to expand its Latin American operations. More than 98% of Natura orders are now placed online.

Aesop, an Australian premium cosmetics company, which Natura acquired at the beginning of 2013, operates in 14 countries and ended 2014 with 98 stores (18 of which opened in 2014).

Natura launched a new sustainability vision during the year, designed to take them to 2050. The plan “is intended to transform Natura into a company that generates positive impacts in every dimension of its activities,” improving both the environment and society. By 2050, Natura aims to incorporate packaging with a reduction in weight of at least 50% in comparison to regular/similar packaging; or composed of 50% potentially marketable recycled materials and/or renewable non-cellulosic materials that do not increase mass.

One example of sustainable packaging in 2014 points to the refills for the Natura Ekos Frescores line of fragrances, made from 100% recycled post-consumer PET containers, and thus generating 72% fewer greenhouse gas emissions. Natura says that this launch makes them the first major cosmetics brand to use this type of material in the perfume category. After working with local glass recyclers, at the beginning of 2015, the company included 20% recycled post-consumer premium category glass in the packs of some perfume brands.

News of Note

At the end of 2014, Natura obtained “Benefit Corporation” status, or B Corp. This sustainability certification is granted by B Lab, a non-profit based in the U.S., created to encourage high environmental standards. There are more than 1170 B Corp businesses, but Natura is the largest, and first publicly traded company to obtain the certification.

In 2014, Natura was listed on the New York Stock Exchange’s Dow Jones Sustainability Index.