Roots to branches
Why Natura &Co collaborates with communities for the greater good

Marcelo Behar
Company: Natura &Co (Avon, Natura, The Body Shop and Aesop)
Title: Vice President, Sustainability and Group Affairs
Industry: Personal care and cosmetics
Founded: 1886 (Avon), 1969 (Natura), 1976 (The Body Shop) and 1987 (Aesop)
Family generation: First
Net Sales: BRL 36.922m for Natura &Co in 2020
4 big takeaways
Work with nature
If you work in a sector that uses naturally replenished sources, to respect nature you may need to fit your business around their natural lifecycles. Not being able to sell certain products at certain times might not be ideal commercially. But it's good for nature – and your customers will appreciate having something special to look forward to.
Offer alternatives
If the ingredients for a product aren't currently available, look to offer your customers alternatives. We live in a big world with lots of biodiversity (if we protect it). Your customers will welcome you recommending other products that do a similar job without harming the planet.
Work with your suppliers
Value the experience of the people who work every day with the materials you need. Collaborate respectfully, discuss approaches and look for ways to operate more sustainably. They might recommend an approach you'd never have considered. Equally, your unique perspective could reveal new ways of doing things.
Lead the way
Be proud of your company's commitment to sustainability. Openly communicate your efforts and your belief that sustainability is the right and only way to go. And don't just share your message locally. If you have the size, reach and resources, take your message worldwide. Only with a massive planet-wide effort will we bring our world back from the brink.
There's a lot of beauty in the world. The biggest challenge now is working out how to adopt practices that will regenerate the world's living systems.