Focusing on the Triple Bottom Line: Natura

Brazil has a rich natural heritage, one-third of the world's remaining tropical forests, as is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world. Natura’s Ekos Challenge aims to create a model to allow the sustainable use of natural resources, generating good business opportunity and social development for traditional communities and for Natura and its partners.

Enhancing responsible social and environmental management

Since the 1990s, Natura has been enhancing the responsible social and environmental management of its business, based on the establishment of quality relationships with its stakeholders and of corporate strategies that increasingly place sustainable development at the center of business thinking. Natura has sought to establish processes and systems that ensure the inclusion of its corporate social responsibility principles in its strategic planning and daily business routines. These principles are 1) an ethical and transparent relationship with its stakeholders and 2) the definition of targets that are compatible with sustainable development.

These ethical principles have started to permeate the company's initiatives in all areas and results include:

• The option for the sustainable use of raw materials from Brazilian biodiversity as a technological platform;
• The adoption of a social and environmental supplier evaluation process;
• The development of packages that have less of an environmental impact.

The Corporate Responsibility Matrix

To focus its attention on the critical issues of this strategy, Natura created a management support tool called the Corporate Responsibility Matrix that helps managers plan and visualize specific actions aimed at each type of stakeholder. It intends to show the investments made in the most critical aspects of this management:

• The monitoring of the quality of Natura’s relationship with its stakeholders regarding ethics, transparency and the efficiency of the dialogue channel, including themes that are not directly related to the business (“fundamentals” line);
• The promotion of sustainable development – whether local, in a specific region, or promoting diversity, education, quality of life and culture (“social and economic” line);
• Protection of the environment (“environmental” line).

Natura Sales Representatives

30 years ago Natura opted to use a direct selling system supported by a network of independent resellers, the Natura Sales Representatives. Sales representatives must be at least 18 years of age and have a clean credit record. In 2004, Natura increased the number of independent Sales Representatives by 15.6%, totaling 407,000 in Brazil and 26,000 abroad.

Because these entrepreneurs are vital for its operations, Natura seeks to strengthen its relationship and offer comprehensive personal and professional development opportunities. This community generated an estimated income of R$ 1 billion (US$ 425 million) in 2004.

Natura chose the direct sales option because it is in line with Natura’s belief about the value of relationships. As the main link between Natura and the final customer and society (community), the Sales Representatives disseminate the company’s beliefs throughout Brazil and Latin America, making the quality of their relationships with their clients a cornerstone of the products themselves. The sales activities represent an opportunity for Sales Representatives to improve their income and professional development.

The Brazil Nut

The Brazil Nut, as a food, is consumed as a white mild rich in calories and appropriate for infant nutrition. It is a source of selenium, an important anti-oxidant. As a medicine, the water from the Brazil Nut’s bur is used to treat hepatitis. In cosmetics, its emollient properties and the richness of the nutrients in Brazil Nut oil have led Natura to develop special products for dry skin and hair.

The Brazil Nut also has an important socio-economic function. As sustenance for many families, the oil is exported as edible oil and the nut is used as an appetizer. Cookies are bought by the local government and used for school lunches, due to their high nutritional value. In addition, the unprocessed oil is sold to cosmetics companies.

Relationship with communities supplying biodiversity products

During 2004, a multifunctional team worked on the development of a model that can, based on a pilot experience with the community of 30 families in Iratapuru, in the State of Amapá, be used in other communities. The community supplies copaíba, breu branco and Brazil nuts. The NGO Amigos da Terra followed up the experience and created a business management plan together with the community. One significant achievement was the Forest Stewardship Council's certification of the three community-produced raw materials.

Lessons learned

From its experiences in creating sustainable communities, Natura has learned to:

• Integrate logistical complexity into business plans;
• Limit the introduction of new active ingredients in its products;
• Limit labor and high-volume production;
• Be vigilant about community dependence on one active ingredient by helping communities widen their base and doing product line extensions from the same ingredient and getting community input for idea creation;
• Mobilize a third party in developing local capability;
• Be prepared for unpredictability;
• Prepare investments for training;
• Be prepared to face high risk and low manageability;
• Get and appreciate external political support & advice;
• Be determined and invest in negotiating;
• Trust and make sure the company is seen as trustful.

For Natura, the success of its programs depends on:

• Excellent relations with local communities;
• The company’s ability to seize the opportunity to organize and carry out programs that contribute to improving livelihoods in local communities;
• The company’s capacity to put its corporate beliefs into action.

Further information

• Download the complete case study ( 183 kb / 570 kb)
• This case study is part of Raising the Bar: Creating Value with the United Nations Global Compact. Designed to help companies understand the Global Compact framework and its principles, Raising the Bar is the only publication that provides a catalog of available tools and implementation guidelines that companies can use to implement the Compact’s principles.
• Natura website

Author Brazil BCSD Publication Date 12 Oct 2005 Document Type Case studies Issue/Topic Business Role/CSR Development Ecosystems Regional Network Region Latin America Country Brazil Company Natura Cosméticos S.A. Source BCSD Brazil Include In RSS Business & Development News WBCSD News & Updates		570 kb   183 kb