Earlier this week I learned that Burt’s Bees is being gobbled up by Clorox Company. That got me thinking about how the trends in the organics business simply reflect the same trends in other business markets (baby bells, cable, biotech, and so on)- that is, the trend to consolidate then diversify.
In the 1980s, Tom Peters wrote a book called Thriving on Chaos, the general gist being that all business markets are subject to growth, diversification, and consolidation, usually followed by a spin-off - rinse, repeat. That is, a new business will arise to fill a particular niche (as specialists they can beat out the big generalists), but then they start to surpass their own expectations and management ability and become consolidated by one of the big generalists. This type of turnover happens in the natural world as well as evidenced by the rise and fall of species throughout the course of evolution.
We just saw this type of thing happen here at work: one of our suppliers, a small biotech run by scientists, just got gobbled up by Roche. It may end up being a good thing in the long run - at the same time that Roche has an army of patent lawyers, they also have an army of people who know how to run a large multi-billion dollar company, whereas the creators of the small biotech firm were most talented at science and secondarily learned how to run a small multimillion dollar company. Actually, Roche is such a giant that they were able to handle two such acquisitions within the space of a year.
We have been seeing the same thing happen in the organics cosmetics realm, only at a slower pace - (in no particular order) Aveda by Estee Lauder, The Body Shop by L’Oreal, Tom’s of Maine by P&G, Avalon Natural Products by Hain Celestial Group (also owns the Jason Natural brand), Jurlique by JH Products (apparently a big European company) and now Burt’s Bees by Clorox.
On the food side, Hersheys owns Dagoba, Cadbury-Schweppes owns Green and Blacks, Unilever owns Ben and Jerrys, Weetabix owns Barbara’s Bakery, General Mills owns Cascadian Farms and Muir Glen … but see Dr. Howard’s site for some additional (possibly shocking) info and a really cool movie.
Now, many holistically minded parents are understandably upset about the Burt’s Bees situation. They view it either as a sell-out (on the part of Burt’s Bees) or an evil thing (on the part of Clorox). I’m sure that the scenario is one in which a small organic company runs really well for a certain amount in sales but then just cannot handle expansion beyond a certain size. Economies of scale then takeover (remember, North America can be a logistical nightmare for small companies), along with takeover by a giant - and that makes me also think of the Stride-Rite purchase of Robeez. I’m sure that there will continue to be the small (organic) companies in the background that, for whatever reason, never expand beyond their initially narrow intentions.
In the meantime, (independent) organic cosmetic alternatives to Burt’s Bees include:
Lavera (usually rates highly by the German testing company OKO-TEST);
Dr. Hauschka;
Weleda;
Aubrey Organics;
Ecco Bella;
Giovanni Cosmetics (but not some of their styling products - read the label);
California Baby;
Kiss My Face (again, read labels - some products have parabens);
Dr. Bronner (check out their page about ingredients; and be sure to look at soap and lotion comparisons).
These are only the first names that come to mind and I’m sure there are some that I’m missing.
The only way to keep up with these mergers and acquisitions is to be diligent with your favorite brand - or make your own.
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