L’Occitane unveils nature-positive biodiversity strategy with sourcing and plastic packaging reforms

06 Sep 2021 --- The L’Occitane group is pledging to source all plant-based ingredients from biodiversity-positive sources and reduce plastic used for its packaging by 10 percent by 2025. 

The move is part of its new guiding principles for its biodiversity strategy, the high point of its visit to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Congress in Marseille, France. 

“Biodiversity has always been a source of inspiration and innovation for us, and through collaboration and sharing our experiences, we will make it an even more integral part of our activities and decision-making,” says Adrien Geiger, group sustainability officer and international director of L’Occitane en Provence.

Biodiversity positive
As the fight against biodiversity loss reaches a turning point, the strategy moves the group’s actions up a gear and gives it the resources to act in line with its vision for a “nature-positive” world, the company supports.

L’Occitane intends to develop “a program of actions” that impacts the whole value chain, both within its own commercial ecosystem and beyond.

The L’Occitane group is pledging to source all plant-based ingredients from biodiversity-positive sources.The strategy takes a systemic approach, building on the experience the group has gained from the many initiatives its brands have already implemented. 

It reinforces an existing long-term commitment by giving the company a clear framework of behavior covering the five key areas of biodiversity loss: land-/sea-use change, resource exploitation, pollution, invasive alien species and climate change.

This approach is inspired by the recommendations of the Science Based Targets Network (SBTN), which brings together more than 45 NGOs, business associations and specialist companies. 

The aim is to promote a fair future that respects nature and limits greenhouse gas emissions based on scientific objectives.

A five-step initiative
The company strategy includes first understanding its impact. In 2016, a biodiversity diagnosis revealed that the main impact of the L’Occitane en Provence brand’s activities on biodiversity relate to the sourcing of natural raw materials and packaging. By 2022, it will broaden the scope of its assessment.

Moreover, the company will “restore and regenerate.” Regenerative agricultural practices are made possible by promoting family farming and fair trade. 

The company will also reduce plastic used for its packaging by 10 percent by 2025. (Image Credit: L'Occitane)Examples include the cultivation of shea butter in Burkina Faso and lavender, verbena and almond in the south of France. 

Systemic change
By 2025, the Group pledges to farm 100 percent of its key raw ingredients in line with sustainable agriculture principles based on agroecological, organic, sustainable, fair trade certifications.

In addition, transformation at the systemic level requires collective action, the company notes. To share best practices and advocate at the industry level, the group is engaged in coalitions such as One Planet Business for Biodiversity (OP2B).

This nature-positive ambition is combined with climate and human development goals. The L’Occitane Group is establishing its carbon roadmap to achieve net-zero emissions by 2030 and it has set the objective of being B Corp certified by 2023.

In other sustainability moves, L’Occitane recently completed the restructuring of its US lease portfolio, creating a sustainable store platform for the long term. 

The optimized footprint includes 133 L’Occitane en Provence boutiques, providing the company with a brick-and-mortar presence to best serve customers across multiple channels.

“This is an important step for the continued success of the L’Occitane en Provence brand in the US,” says Yann Tanini, managing director of L’Occitane North America. “With our boutique footprint now right-sized, we are in a strong position to continue delivering the L’Occitane beauty experience and one-of-a-kind products.” 

PersonalCareInsights recently reported on the trending topic of “Green Beauty” with a roundtable of industry experts stating that consumers are increasingly looking for more environmental sustainability and traceability.

By Kristiana Lalou