Mariana Morales Ramirez
Gustavo Alarcón Hernández
ana sofia castineyra estrada
Universidad Anáhuac Puebla
Miguel Hernández Lechuga
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Natura is engaged to its proposal to promote a global community of leaders committed to new forms of business that balance profit and purpose.
Its strategy is related to climate, to the valuation of socio-biodiversity, and the promotion of the bio-economy of the forest and regenerative solutions. It has also evolved in increasingly natural formulations and in making its packaging viable. Natura's challenges also involve the energy matrix and the transportation of products.
Sustainability - Natura is a company that was born looking for innovation in sustainability, even before this term was created.
There are 50 years of history with recognized cutting-edge practices in favor of this topic. Driven by its commitment to sustainability, it developed a unique way of making products that unite the prospecting of ingredients from biodiversity, access to the traditional knowledge of communities, and advanced science to arrive at natural formulas, with technology and powerful active ingredients for beauty care and with a positive impact on the environment and its network of relationships.
Business Innovation - Through direct sales, electronic commerce, and retail, it reached the homes of thousands of consumers in Brazil, Latin America, the United States, and France. It put the Natura Beauty Consultants at the center of their decisions, Ana Isabel Ramirez Rangel, executive director, explained.
Digital Innovation - Through a large and fast-moving social network, it connects 1.8 million consultants with more than 100 million customers. Today it has platforms developed especially for Natura Beauty Consultants such as the My Business APP or the interactive magazine and others such as an online site for consumers, which has been of great help to expand this business, Rangel added.
Innovation in Operations and Logistics - Natura has one of the most modern logistics structures in Brazil and the world, according to its website naturaconsmeticos.mx. These innovations have allowed it to achieve a high level of productivity and service for its consultants and consumers.
Since its creation, the company is known for its attention to caring for the environment. For this reason, in 1984 it became the first company in the world to have rechargeable products, something that continues to this day and has served as an example for many other brands in the sector. Despite the fact that Natura produces and markets beauty and personal care products, it stopped animal testing of its products 20 years ago.
"At Natura we want to give way to a new economic model that allows us not only to make profits but also to ensure the return of resources to society and our environment," Rangel said in a company statement.
"The logo, in part, is also due to the fact that our founder, Luiz Seabra, gave a rose to his clients. This flower has prevailed over time, even when new personnel join out work team, they are given one as a gift," Rangel noted.
In the short term, there was an increase in the self-sufficiency of raw materials within the region. It also committed suppliers to adopt Natura's beliefs and values and to accept sustainability policies, protect the biodiversity of the ecosystem with legal environmental practices.
In the long term, there was an improvement in the supply chain, the implementation of environmental protection activities, reinforced and maintained outsourcing programs, a Quality Program, logistics, innovation, cost, contractual terms and service.
It guaranteed the safety of the products and services it developed and marketed. In accordance with product safety policy, it tests and ensures the safe use of all its products.
Natura used the most advanced evaluation techniques in the world, according to its website naturaconsmeticos.mx; including computer models, research, and permanent review of the information published in the world's scientific literature.
When it developed an innovation, it often involved all interested parties (for example, universities, research institutes, test laboratories, companies, external bodies, the sales force, consumers, etc.). This allowed everyone to weigh in and co-create solutions together.
Due to the fact that Natura implemented strategies such as seeking greater differentiation and innovation in the categories, expanding the power of the new direct sales, integrating the online and offline consulting models and improving the consumer's purchasing experience, the growth of the company was driven by sales in the digital channel and its commitment to sustainability. According to official figures, the group's sales in the digital channel increased by 166%; while, independently, Natura registered 253% increases in its digital sales in 2020.
In 2022, Natura celebrated its first round of investment for sustainability bonds, with which it reached an injection of one billion dollars, the largest private transaction registered in the Brazilian market. The brand is strongly committed to its environmentally friendly initiative and plans to reduce its impact on the environment by at least 20% before 2025.
The acceleration of its social selling strategy also contributed to the productivity and income of its network. It closed 2020 with 518 stores.
According to Rangel, the company has contributed to the preservation of more than 275,000 hectares of Amazonia, a 30% increase in the volume of water and rivers in the region, and the conservation of more than 340 species of animals that were threatened and have returned to their habitat.
Regarding sustainable production, Natura seeks to use packaging with recycled material. For this, it has its own factories in Brazil and outsourced production in Colombia, Argentina and Mexico.
Natura is also certified as a B Corporation which uses the power of the market to provide concrete solutions to social and environmental problems.
This type of company operates under high social, environmental and transparency standards and by its statutes makes legally binding corporate decisions considering not only the financial interests of its shareholders but also other long-term interests such as those of employees, suppliers, and clients, the community they belong to and the environment, Rangel explained.
Natura firmly believes that the development of a fair, violence-free, and balanced society starts from the roots. That is why the "Creer para Ver" (Believe to See) Program has the goal of improving education in the countries where Natura is located. In this program, all the income collected from the purchase of "Believe to See" articles (a section of the magazine) go directly to a fund that is invested in classrooms, material and everything necessary to improve the quality of education. Therefore, it is extremely important to acquire at least one product in each cycle of believing to see. In this way, it makes sure that the foundations for the growth of society are more solid every day. That is to say, believing to see is a program where everything that is sold in that.
Rangel said that thanks to Natura, her life changed. The business allowed her to visit many places in the world, give her children a privileged education and provided her with an income that allowed her to be an independent woman.
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Ana Isabel Ramirez Rangel, TN3
Natura is the largest Brazilian multinational company in the cosmetics sector, with a presence in Latin America, Malaysia, the United States and Europe.
Since 1969, it has been creating products and services that promote a harmonious relationship of the individual with himself, others and Natura.