News broke on March 30th that Unilever Ventures, the venture-capital and private-equity arm of Unilever PLC, has secured a minority stake in natural skin and hair care brand True Botanicals—and fans of the indie line are already expressing mixed reactions. While many are thrilled about what this could mean for niche natural brands, others are less hopeful.
Unilever is best known as the corporation which owns Lipton, Hellman’s, Vaseline, Dove, Axe, and Suave among 400 other brands that are clearly not uniform with the ethos of True Botanicals, a brand whose purpose is to deliver high-end safe and non-toxic skin and hair care products to the conscious consumer. This business venture would be part of a more than $3 million round of seed funding that includes several investors. Of note, Unilever bought pseudo-natural REN Skincare in 2015 and Seventh Generation last year. While the firm is not acquiring True Botanicals, many are not sure what their investment will mean for this small company.
Given that the website for Unilever states this statistic: “In 2016, our Sustainable Living brands grew 40% faster than the rest of the business,” it would seem clear that having a stake in fast-growing True Botanicals is part of a larger plan with financial gains as their primary goal. Although a tab on the menu indicates “Sustainable Living” has its own category, a mere glance at any one ingredients list from among Unilever’s brands proves that they’re far from upholding a truly green standard.
That is exactly what has green beauty fans concerned. Andrea Gardiner, a green beauty enthusiast and member of closed Facebook group the Green Beauty Insiders (a group which I co-moderate with author and Hello Dollface blogger Cindy Smith Bokma and Megan Sockel), said in a discussion on the topic:
“I am happy for their opportunity for growth, however I have not heard of many success stories for the green beauty movement when an investment like this occurs. Truth is the value of greener and organic products are moving into mainstream without the help of huge chemical laden corporations. It’s through the retention of smaller brands that the public maintain their trust in ‘green’…usually a move like this ends up watering down a brand and raises the eyebrows of many towards skepticism… I still do hope this ends up well though.”
Will the brand have to make concessions to accommodate funding from an outside source? Or will the improvements be, as promised in the article, mainly directed at other advances, such as enhancing website technology? Will True Botanicals become yet another brand that disappoints the natural consumer? (We only need think of Clorox obtaining Burt’s Bees to shudder just a little bit.)
One commenter was not concerned and instead vouched for the brand on account of the Made Safe certification which ensures that True Botanicals will lose the non-toxic seal should Unilever have any effect on product formulation.
True Botanicals responds
Because I have enjoyed several products from True Botanicals and know that they have a loyal following among green beauty advocates, I decided to reach out to the company directly to hear what the founder and CEO had to say. They let us know that they’re putting together a more official post for their Facebook Page either today or tomorrow, but here’s what they could give us so far.
If a product wasn’t safe for humans and the environment, it wasn’t worth making. ~ True Botanicals
We will never, ever compromise quality and safety for our bottom line. It’s just not in our brand DNA. ~ True Botanicals
Statements by Hillary Peterson & Christina Mace-Turner
“From our first conversation, it was clear that Unilever connected with our desire to evolve the beauty industry into a wellness industry. They respect our mission and Made Safe certification and made it very clear that they are committed to helping us reach our potential as a brand, while maintaining our rigorous safety standards. They are 100% respectful of our autonomy and are also interested in sharing their valuable knowledge, which is a perfect combination for us.”
Christina Mace-Turner, True Botanicals CEO, also commented in the press release:
“Our relationship with Unilever is really ideal. They are able to support us with insights we wouldn’t have access to otherwise, and we are able to be part of their larger effort to drive a world positive future for the personal care industry. Our mission is to eradicate the practice of selling toxic products to women, and working with a giant like Unilever to create an industry that is increasingly thoughtful and mindful of the best interests of humans and the environment is a fantastic opportunity for us.”
Now it’s your turn. What are your impressions of this venture? Let us know in the comments.
So just to clarify, they are just an investor and not a parent company of True Botanicals now? Honestly TB is very confusing in their branding. They have changed their brand name too many times and I find it hard to keep up with them. I don’t feel an energetic reaction to their company and this decision to team up with Unilever shows my suspicions were right about them. Unilever is such a shady and cut throat corporation. For instance, they were mad, Hampton Creek, owners of Just Mayo were making it big in the vegan mayo sector. So they sued HC and were claiming vegan mayo isn’t Mayo so they can’t use it in their name. They almost ran HC out of business with the lawsuit causing them huge financial losses (which was probably their intent). Courts ruled in favor of HC and that it can be called mayo even if it’s vegan. So what does Unilever do? A short while later they come out with a vegan mayo! I just hate their business practices and they can’t be trusted at all.
@ErikaS I feel so, so similarly. I have wanted to love True Botanicals since it was first introduced to me in the April 2016 subscription box from Beauty Heroes (which is my main “method” of trying out green beauty products) but I have not been able to develop any excitement about the company and its products, no matter how many amazing reviews I read.
While I feel there is certainly a *chance* TB will be able to keep their products clean and their company under their own control for years to come, I am hesitant to accept it as likely. Oh well. Maybe this arrangement will surprise us all with a happy ending.
Thank you, Sarita, for reporting on this major green beauty development. As a fan of True Botanicals, I hope this means TB will maintain their quality while reaching new consumers!
I think all of us in the green beauty community can agree that making the beauty industry as a whole safe and accountable through rigorous research, transparency, and open dialogue is non-negotiable. But there is a great deal of leeway in how brands choose to get there, and that’s what makes leading a business creative and fun. At Oil + Water, we like the idea of staying small and independent because it gives us so much control and quick adaptability. But other brands may choose different means to the same end and it’s up to them to decide what is best for their brand and customers. Unilever’s investment in TB has the potential to help legitimize green beauty in the eyes of a larger audience and to make it accessible to more people, which is a wonderful thing. But as with anything, the proof is not in the idea but in the execution, which should be careful and thoughtful and not only for the sake of business but also for the sake of better beauty, without compromise. We look forward to seeing how the TB story unfolds.
My problem with True Botanicals is that they’re very much a corporation masquerading as a “green soul company”. It sucked when they cut out Marie Veronique, or when their founder was writing pieces of skincare advice recommending their own products or using it as an opportunity to plug how superior they were. I just don’t like it, it isn’t genuine. Now UNILEVER invests in them, which is fine but don’t try to say you’re still all about “values” when you were never about that from day one.
Each of these comments are ridiculous – I think you should read about the CEO of Unilever and everything he is about and is pushing their business to be about. “Values” SRI, Doing well while doing good – these are concepts and the wave of the future for businesses – however, without strong strategic investment then they will not become the norm which is what we need for all of our products be it at the grocery store or health and beauty. I wouldn’t have such a general view on some of what a huge global business like Unilever is versus how they are evolving and thinking about what they are striving to do. I wish TB all the best to expand and drive home the brand and awareness of healthy and also effective products.