Business Ethics and Natural Products

 

We wonder if the average consumer is aware of an interesting trend in recent years...a number of iconic green and natural product companies have been bought out by large multinationals. For example, Clorox (they manufacture bleach and other chemical products) purchased the privately owned Burt’s Bees (handmade natural soap etc). Then there was the purchase of Body Shop by L'oreal, and other examples include the sale of Rachel's Organic and Tom's of Maine which was purchased by Colgate-Palmolive for $100 million. All of these started as small companies selling natural products.

The BIG question of course is whether these companies can keep their ethical principles after being absorbed into corporations not sharing the same set of values?

It seems the answer is NO!!! The Ethical Consumer magazine in the USA rates companies and their products on their ethical credentials. They have dropped Body Shop's rating from 11 (out of 20) to 2.5 since the sell-out. Tom's of Maine has fallen from 16 to just 5 because of Colgate-Palmolive's poor reputation.

These purchases are a big win these large multinationals because they are buying a ready-made package of values and history of trust.

Many consumers don't know who owns their favourite brands ethical brands, and others just don't care.

Should we be concerned? The profits that Colgate earns from Tom's of Maine, or that Clorox earns from Burt’s Bees, are being poured directly into companies with reputations for ecologically unsound products and practices. If this is of concern, then the answer is obviously yes.

Indochine Natural operates on clear ethical business principles and is a member of the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO). Our ethical business principles can be found HERE.