The bodyshop (0)

Tartu Kivilinna Gümnaasium
Liis Viljak
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Bodyshop Company

The Body Shop International plc is a global manufacturer and retailer of naturally inspired, ethically produced beauty and cosmetics products . Founded in the UK in 1976 by Dame Anita Roddick, we now have over 2,100 stores in 55 countries, with a range of over 1,200 products, all animal cruelty free, and many with fairly traded natural ingredients.
We were the first international cosmetics brand to be awarded the Humane Cosmetics Standard for our Against Animal Testing policy . And we have our own fair trade programme called Community Trade, making us the only cosmetics company with such an extensive commitment to trading fairly. Community Trade now works with 31 suppliers in 24 countries, providing over 15,000 people across the globe with essential income to build their futures.
The Body Shop is a leader in the trend towards greater corporate transparency , and we have been a force for positive social and environmental change through our lobbying and campaigning programmes around our five core Values : Support Community Trade, Defend Human Rights , Against Animal Testing, Activate Self- Esteem , and Protect Our Planet .
We also have our own charity , The Body Shop Foundation. Launched in 1990 (registered charity no. 802757) we give financial support to pioneering, frontline organisations that otherwise have little hope of conventional funding. The Foundation's focus is to assist those working to achieve progress in the areas of human and civil rights, environmental and animal protection.
We are part of the L'Oréal family. CLICK HERE to find out more about our parent company.
History
The very first The Body Shop® store opened on 26th March 1976 in Brighton, on the south coast of England . By 1978 the first overseas franchise is a kiosk in Brussels and by 1982 new shops open at a rate of two per month .
In 1985, in its first year as a public company, The Body Shop sponsored posters for Greenpeace . A year later , it created an Environmental Projects Department of its own, while the first major campaign for The Body Shop is "Save the Whales " with Greenpeace, in 1986.
The first Community Trade product for The Body Shop was a footsie roller, produced in 1986 by a supplier in southern India. This trade in footsie rollers has evolved into the current trade with Teddy Exports in India, one of our key Community Trade suppliers.
By 1990, just one year after launching in the USA, there were 2,500 applications for a franchise, with demand for The Body Shop® products ever- growing , driven by expansion which saw the company trading in 39 countries within just fourteen years after the opening of the very first shop!
In 1990 The Body Shop Foundation was established , a charity which funds human rights and environmental protection groups.
The Big Issue paper for homeless people, which began as a The Body Shop Foundation project, was launched in 1991. By 1998 its success saw The Body Shop Foundation part-funding the launch of the The Big Issue stateside, in Los Angeles .
The New Academy of Business was established in 1995, as an initiative by Anita Roddick. This innovative management degree addressing social, environmental and moral issues is run at The University of Bath, in England.
In 1993 the Company launched an international high- profile campaign to raise awareness of the plight of the Ogoni people and their leader Ken Saro-Wiwa, persecuted for protesting against Shell and the Nigerian dictatorship over exploitation in their homeland.
The Body Shop At Home™, the direct -selling arm, was launched in the UK in 1994, Canada in 1995, Australia in 1997, and USA in 2001. It has now rolled out in 48 states in the USA and is set to grow even bigger.
The Body Shop continues to increase its environmental practices. In 2001, The Body Shop UK region and service centre head offices in Watersmead switched to Ecotricity providing them with energy from renewable sources. In addition , a number of The Body Shop® stores have now converted to green electricity while the rest of the stores are set to follow suit.
Campaign successes include the Against Animal Testing campaign. The campaign led to a UK- wide ban on animal testing on cosmetic products and ingredients in November 1998 and led to the largest ever petition (four million signatures) being delivered to the European Commission in 1996.
In 1997, The Body Shop was the first international cosmetics company to sign up to the Humane Cosmetics Standard supported by leading international animal protection groups.
In 1995 and 1997 The Body Shop Values Reports were recognised as trailblazing by United Nations Environmental Programme and SustainAbility and ranked highest in their review of International Corporate Environmental Reports.
In 1997, The Body Shop celebrated its 21st birthday with the launch of a new flagship store design, winning the prestigious Retail Week Store Design of the Year Award.
To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1998, The Body Shop launched a joint worldwide campaign with Amnesty International to highlight the plight of human rights defenders around the world, encouraging customers to 'Make their Mark' for human rights. This successful campaign saw three million people sign up.
In 1999, The Body Shop created four new business units in the UK, Europe , the Americas and Asia , shifting its operational and management structure out to the regions .
2001 saw the first The Body Shop® customer reward scheme launched in the US. It became so popular it's now in key markets globally, known as Love Your Body™ customer scheme with customers rewarded by 10% off their purchases, free gifts and a birthday present, as well as other members -only benefits.
The Body Shop branches into South Africa in June 2001, via New Clicks Holdings as The Body Shop direct franchisee in South Africa. New Clicks has a strong commitment to corporate social responsibility through its New Clicks Foundation.
During 2002, The Body Shop ran a global campaign with Greenpeace International on promoting renewable energy, which culminated in the presentation of over six million customer signatures at the World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. We further our commitment to environmental sustainability through investment in renewable energy, funding of energy efficiency projects in the developing world, and incorporating post- consumer recyclate into our packaging.
During 2003 The Body Shop launched a global campaign to help Stop Violence In The Home. This builds on almost a decade of campaigning on the issue in a number of our markets, including Canada, the USA, and West Malaysia. The campaign aims to highlight the issue, raise money to support the work of groups helping victims of violence, and ensure that customers and employees are provided with information on sources of advice and help.
Anita Roddick is appointed as a Dame of the British Empire as part of the Queen 's Birthday Honours on Saturday 14th June 2003.
During 2003 The Body Shop launches in Estonia and Turkey .
In 2004 The Body Shop is the first global retailer to join the Board of the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil, working with NGOs and plantations to protect tropical rainforests and improve the human rights of workers and indigenous people.
In 2005 The Body Shop joins The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and is commended by Greenpeace and the Breastcancer Fund for our responsible chemicals policy.
During 2005 The Body Shop is awarded for achieving higher standards of animal welfare in the cosmetic category at the first annual awards of the Royal Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in the UK. An independent panel of judges chose The Body Shop as winners because of our Against Animal Testing Policy.
The Body Shop comes to Jordan and Russia in 2005 with a total of 2,045 stores around the globe.
In 2006 The Body Shop turns 30 (March 27th)!
In 2006 The Body Shop wins PETA's Proggy (progress) awards for our commitment to avoid animal testing.
The Body Shop becomes part of the L'Oréal Group and de- lists from the London Stock Exchange on July 12 2006. It retains its unique identity and values and continues to be based in the United Kingdom. It operates independently within the L'Oréal Group and is led by the current management team of The Body Shop reporting directly to the CEO of L'Oréal, Jean-Paul Agon.

Passion

All our products are made with a love of life, respect for the world we live in, a spirit of individuality, and commitment to trading fairly. In a word, passion.
We believe that every woman has the right to feel fabulous, so we put our all into finding the highest quality natural ingredients, ethically and responsibly grown and bought, and turning them into innovative products, honestly marketed, and priced so that everyone can afford them.
Our business runs on passion, and our five Values; Protect the Planet, Support Community Trade, Against Animal Testing, Defend Human Rights, Activate Self Esteem, govern all that we do, from reducing our carbon footprint to ordering our envelopes. To us, there is no other way to work. After all, when you believe in what you do, you do it better.
2005 is a landmark year for The Body Shop International as after three years of hard work in strengthening business processes and profitability, we are now focusing on expanding the brand across the world with a £100 million investment plan. These expansion plans have been supported by a repositioning of the brand to the masstige consumer sector (between mass and prestige in the cosmetics market ).
This has required a new brand identity, product innovation, a new shop design, the development of a multi- channel service (The Body Shop At Home and e-commerce) and compelling values campaigns to ensure we better meet our customers’ needs now and in the future. This repositioning has been underpinned by our commitment to the wellbeing of our fellow humans and the preservation of the planet which is outlined in this 2005 Values Report .
There has been much successful progress on our Values this year. Our new branding incorporates "Passion Panels", which tell customers the stories behind our ingredients and our products. Our campaign to 'Stop Violence in the Home' is now making a real difference in 26 markets, and we've collected significant funds globally to support Tsunami disaster victims and promote HIV/AIDS awareness and research. We've focused our efforts on increasing internal communication of our values, through training and engagement within the business, and have improved our programmes to support Community Trade and to secure higher labour standards in our supply chain.
2004 also saw a return to sustainability reporting, with the completion of our first reporting cycle since 1997. Our Individual Stakeholder Accounts mapped out issues and challenges relating to investors, suppliers, employees, franchisees, customers and the environment.
This 2005 Values Report marks a new frontier in our reporting. This report is about the future, not the past. It focuses on the challenges facing us as a values-based company. We understand that values are never static, being constantly challenged by new legislation , market developments, social change, even advances in science and technology . This report is not a comprehensive mapping or overview of our Values activities, but an account of the key risks and opportunities facing us over the coming years, and the action we are taking to address them.

Listening to stakeholders

Our engagement with stakeholders provides us with valuable ideas for improvements and on-the- ground knowledge of emerging issues. We listen to Non Governmental Organisations, business networks, franchisees, employees, communities, suppliers and investors to understand where we can help make a difference. For this report, we have invited five stakeholders to comment on the role of The Body Shop, on business in general and on some of the global community's greatest challenges, such as HIV/AIDS, tropical deforestation , domestic violence, animal testing and economic development of the poorest communities.

Earning trust

It is important to us to provide credible responses to these challenges and other emerging issues. Walking the talk , running our business with integrity and delivering against our promises are key to maintaining the trust of all our stakeholders. This report incorporates an independent assurance statement , and has been developed in parallel with an extensive assurance programme. The programme was designed not only to verify data accuracy and the truthfulness of this report, but also to assess the effectiveness of our internal processes in supporting our values in everything we do.
It is our hope that you will find that this report gives an honest and balanced account of the complexities and challenges we face and the extensive work we do to ensure that we can provide the best products, while continuing to support the communities in which we operate and uphold our promise to be a responsible corporate citizen.
How we operate
Our business consists of a combination of company- owned and franchised markets, and a developing multi-channel service with our direct selling organization – The Body Shop At Home and online retail in the US. We employ directly 6788 people, with approximately 14,000 additional employees working within our franchise network and as consultants in The Body Shop At Home and online retail in the US.
We source the majority of products and accessories from suppliers, who we screen under our Ethical Trade programme, and from our Community Trade suppliers. Our sole manufacturing operation is Soapworks, a 100-strong factory in Glasgow .

What we sell

Famous for creating a niche market sector for naturally-inspired products, The Body Shop has introduced a generation of consumers to the benefits of a wide range of best sellers , from Vitamin E Moisture Cream to the Kinetin* range and the Body Butter range.
It is estimated that The Body Shop sells a product every 0.5 seconds. Annually, we generate over 69 million customer transactions through stores worldwide and our current range offers more than 900 products and 200 accessories.

Stop violence in home

Domestic violence is one of the most common human rights abuses, affecting millions of women and children around the world. The Body Shop has been tackling the issue of domestic violence for over a decade. Our first campaign was launched in Canada, and is now running in 26 countries.
But why has The Body Shop been working on this issue and how does it relate to the toiletries and cosmetics business?
At The Body Shop, women represent the vast majority of both employees and customers – our two most important stakeholder groups. It has therefore been natural for us to direct our attention and support to women’s rights through our various campaigns. In 1997, the ‘Love Your Body’ campaign, featuring a round, redheaded doll named Ruby, celebrated the diversity of women. The ‘Love Your Body’ slogan has remained with us, along with a commitment to honesty. We do not promise eternal youth in our advertising , or prey on women’s insecurities, but focus instead on products which provide wellbeing and comfort.
We believe that domestic violence is strongly related to self-esteem. Domestic violence undermines a woman’s self esteem, making it very difficult for her to take a stand against abusers or leave an abusive relationship . In many ways our ‘Stop Violence in the Home’ campaign is an evolution of our former campaigns.
Throughout the world, domestic violence is often hidden from society and treated as a taboo. As a global retailer with a presence in thousands of cities and towns across the world and a high percentage of female customers and employees, we have the opportunity to reach millions of people and encourage them to speak out and act against domestic violence.
Although many campaigns against domestic violence rely solely on shocking facts, statistics and stark images to make an impact, we wanted to take a different approach . While we understand the power of shock tactics, it is not appropriate for all occasions. Instead we have created a campaign which promotes positive messages, and speaks of empowerment, rather than victimisation.
Based on customer feedback on campaign material in our stores, we now use more engaging language and imagery . All The ‘Stop Violence in the Home’ campaign materials feature the campaign branding which consists of a daisy , framed by the outline of a house, against a blue sky flecked with white cloud, symbolising calm and peace within the home.
The emphasis of the campaign is on creating a better future for victims of domestic violence by raising awareness of the issue and generating funds for helping to tackle it. The campaign shows that simple actions like recycling of mobile phones or the purchase of campaign-branded key rings , badges and t-shirts can raise funds that make a real difference to local support services .
In-store response from customers and employees has been extremely positive and the funds we have raised, the media coverage we have generated and the external feedback we have received have exceeded our expectations .
Sustainable rain forests – in the palm of your hand ?
Palm oil, or palm oil-based ingredients are an important but not easily identified part of many toiletry products. Soaps, lotions and cosmetic products, for example, may all contain some element of palm oil. The palm oil producers have recently come under attack due to severe issues around deforestation, biodiversity and, not least , the rights of indigenous populations, poor labour conditions and health implications for women working in the plantation industry.
So, shouldn’t The Body Shop simply stop using an ingredient which seemingly has such bad consequences for people and nature or use suppliers following best practice?
The Body Shop is by no means a major player in the palm oil industry in terms of volume . However, palm oil-based ingredients are added as ingredients to many of our products. We do not believe that sourcing from niche provider of organic or fair-trade palm oil would help the hundreds of thousands of people in Southeast Asia, South America and West Africa whose livelihoods depend on palm oil. Likewise, we would not be helping these communities by switching to a different type of oil. We believe in positive engagement, and in pushing for change to improve conditions in the industry. Our challenge is that if companies simply stop buying palm oil, thousands would be left jobless and homeless.

Positive engagement to improve conditions

Rather than sourcing through a niche supplier, The Body Shop will continue to source palm oil from mainstream suppliers, while working to improve conditions for those in the industry. In 2003, we joined forces with growers, processors, consumer goods manufacturers and NGOs to address the problems facing the industry by entering the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), and in 2004, The Body Shop formally joined the Executive Board of the RSPO. As part of the Roundtable, The Body Shop has signed the organisation ’s Statement of Intent and published a Position on Sustainable Palm Oil.
The RSPO is currently focusing on the development of an internationally accepted set of criteria and certification for sustainable palm oil. When the criteria are launched in November 2005, we will support palm oil plantations and distributors who are in compliance, by gradually switching our supply of palm oil to a mainstream, but sustainable source, certified under the RSPO criteria. We believe that creating a market for mainstream sustainable palm oil will provide a real incentive for the industry to move quickly.

Inspired by nature

The Body Shop sells products inspired by nature. Fruits , vegetable extracts and natural oils feature prominently in our products and in the product names.
Why then, do we also add synthetic chemicals - aren ’t natural ingredients always the best option?
The inspiration for most of our products comes from traditional beauty practices used around the world, for example using cocoa butter to moisturise or cucumber as an astringent. We continue to expand on this legacy, for example by reflecting the change of the seasons in our new seasonal ranges by using cranberry and chocolate for Christmas and pastel shades for spring .
Our products are based on naturally sourced ingredients wherever possible, but may contain synthetic chemicals where they are necessary for the quality, safety or functional requirements of the product, and where no suitable natural alternatives exist . Unlike the women in the Amazon region, most people would not expect to moisturise with pure cocoa butter or olive oil, and providing these ingredients in a fresh form and ensuring consistent reliable quality is not a practical retail proposition . Products must be formulated with the functionality that sophisticated consumers demand. Furthermore, responsible use of synthetic chemicals is the best and safest means of ensuring that products remain fresh during packaging, distribution and storage , through to purchase and use by our customers.

Our approach to the use of chemicals in consumer products

In some parts of the world, notably Western Europe, customers are concerned with some types of synthetic chemicals in consumer products. Some chemicals are suspected of causing allergies or building up in the environment with unknown long- term effects.
The Body Shop has very stringent criteria when it comes to chemicals, and we are committed to follow best practice and be transparent about our approach to their use. In 2003 and 2004, Friends of the Earth’s chemicals league table rated us first among cosmetics retailers in the UK. Following feedback from Friends of the Earth, we also published a set of principles, which will guide our efforts to be responsive to stakeholders’ concerns:
The Body Shop will manage the use of chemicals in a responsible manner by:
applying the precautionary principle to the use of chemicals
continuously reviewing and updating our criteria and guidelines for the development of new products implementing action plans for the timely and realistic phase-out of relevant chemicals from our formulations
conducting regular reviews of our use of chemicals against published lists of hazardous substances engaging with stakeholders to help inform our strategy and action plans
communicating our position to our product suppliers
conducting open and transparent communication with customers
producing annual updates on our position and progress via The Body Shop website .
If the weight of scientific evidence deems a chemical to be of immediate concern , we will ban its use in new products. Apart from those substances already banned by EU or UK authorities for use in cosmetics, The Body Shop has already banned a number of substances from use in our products and packaging, for example, PVC, Alkylphenols and organic tin compounds.

Phasing out chemicals of concern

In 2003, The Body Shop responded to concerns over phthalates and artificial musks in products by announcing a phase-out strategy. While these chemicals are added only to a fraction of our products, we want to ensure that we act responsibily and with a focus on the precautionary principle
Our phase-out strategy dictates that phthalates and artificial musks are excluded from all new products, thus ensuring that the number of products containing these substances will decrease until these substances are eliminated from our range. In addition, for those products with a longer life-cycle, we will continue to seek alternatives and reformulate products to decrease the amount of phthalates and artificial musks we use. We believe that this strategy has been effective. While customers have not noted a difference in the range and quality of our products, we have managed to significantly reduce the number of products containing phthalates and artificial musks.
We have now set fixed timescales for elimination of these ingredients. By the end of 2006, phthalates will have been removed from all of our formulations. Likewise, artificial musks will be out of 95% of our formulations by this date . However, due to the complexity of replacing them in some of our most popular products, our deadline for phasing our artificial musks from all formulations is therefore 2010.