Update: Natura &Co. ranks at #6 on our latest report Top 20 Global Beauty Companies 2021.

Natura &Co is #17 on this year's list of Top Global Beauty Companies.

Below is a look at the company's 2020 highlights, recent acquisitions, best-selling brands, and latest innovations.

Beauty Sales

$3.6 billion (Natura, The Body Shop, Aesop, Avon)

Key Personnel

• Roberto Marques, group chief executive officer
• Antonio Luiz da Cunha Seabra, Guilherme Peirã Leal and Pedro Luiz Barreiros Passos, co-chairmen
• Angela Cretu, chief executive officer, Avon
• João Paulo Ferreira, chief executive officer, Natura &Co Latin America
• David Boynton, chief executive officer, The Body Shop
• Michael O’Keeffe, chief executive officer, Aesop
• Roseli Mello, global head of R&D at Natura &Co.

Major Products

Fragrances, cosmetics and personal care sold under the Aesop, Natura, The Body Shop and Avon brands.

New Products

• Natura-ChronosCH, Natura Tododia line (relaunch)
• Chronos Acqua Biohidratante moisturizer, Lumina haircare
• Ekos Alma fragrance, The Body Shop Shea Butter Range

Comments

Eco-committed Natura &Co’s proposed acquisition of Avon Products, Inc. to its portfolio was announced in 2019—and finalized in 2020. In December 2019, they announced that they had received all regulatory approvals required to complete the deal that the Brazilian cosmetics giant says creates the fourth largest beauty company in the world. Avon joined the group that includes Natura, The Body Shop and Aesop. (Post acquisition, Natura controls 76% of Avon, while the remaining 24% belongs to the shareholders of the U.S. company.)

In 2019, net sales rose 7.8%, to reach $3.6 billion for the Natura, The Body Shop and Aesop brands.

According to Natura, the group combined with Avon will reach more than 200 million consumers worldwide through multiple channels—which will result in future annual sales of $10 billion, 6.3 million representatives and consultants, 3,200 stores and a footprint in more than 100 countries.

In 2019, Natura launched its Natura Innovation Challenge—Zero Waste Packaging.

2020 Highlights

Natura &Co closed its acquisition of Avon in early January and appointed a new senior leadership team to drive the company’s next phase of growth.

In March, Natura &Co posted a strong fourth quarter of 2019, with revenue growth in all three of its brands, Natura, The Body Shop and Aesop.

The quarter also saw a number of advances in sustainability for Natura &Co: Natura became the first beauty company in Brazil to obtain the Green Patent from the National Institute of Intellectual Property, for the use of residue assets from Brazil’s biodiversity as production inputs, while The Body Shop won Ethical Corporation’s Plastics Innovation award for its Community Fair Trade program.

Natura’s digital platform now has over 900,000 users in Brazil and online sales grew double-digits.

The Body Shop continued its transformation plan, with full-year sales up 6.3%.

Aesop delivered “an exceptional performance,” with revenue up 25.78% in Brazilian Reals and 13.4% at constant currency. Aesop opened seven new signature stores in the period, bringing the total to 247.

Hit hard by Covid-19, in May, Natura & Co posted a first-quarter net loss of $140 million—during its first quarter with Avon—but digital social selling and e-commerce sales grew exponentially; net revenue increased by 1.9%.

Group e-commerce sales grew by nearly 250%. During the quarter, e-commerce grew 150% at Natura and Avon combined, 300% at the Body Shop and over 500% at Aesop.

Natura &Co also focused its efforts on ensuring supply of essential products such as soap and hand sanitizer, whose production rose 30%, and the group made donations of over 10 million units.

Looking Ahead

Natura &Co says its “rapid pivot to online and digital platforms” led to 225% growth in e-commerce sales, allowing the Group to outperform the global Cosmetics, Fragrance and Toiletries market in the second quarter.

Consolidated sales stood at R$7.0 billion, down only 12.7% despite the unprecedented global impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

During the quarter, the company launched the Commitment to Life, a sustainability plan through 2030, amplifying Natura &Co’s initiatives to help solve some global challenges, including the climate crisis and protecting the Amazon, the defense of human rights, ensuring equality and inclusion and embracing circularity and regeneration.

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