Introduction: In this guest piece, Rituals Global Travel Retail Director Melvin Broekaart reflects on the company’s B Corp certification and the principles of caring for community, people and planet.
Each new year brings a sense of optimism. A renewal of hope, goals and inspiration; an opportunity to write a new chapter and achieve more than the previous year. For Rituals, the new year certainly started with a bang as the company was awarded B Corp certification just days into 2022.
The certification marks a new chapter in Rituals’ transformation towards a more purpose-driven business model and we are truly honoured to join a global movement of responsible organisations that want to accelerate progress on the shared challenges we face.
Rituals’ mission has always been to care for the community – people and planet – around us so to achieve B Corp status is the ultimate recognition for the brand’s work over recent years under its ‘Clean, ‘Conscious and Caring’ pillars.
Clean stands for trusted quality products that are carefully formulated with ingredients of natural origin. Conscious is about making sustainable choices for our packaging and in our business and Caring means supporting and developing programmes that contribute to soulful societies.
The road to achieving B Corp certification began in 2019 and it was not an easy one – if it were then more companies would do it. Acquiring B Corp status is an extensive and complex process, as the certification goes far beyond product-or service-level. Those few companies who do become certified adhere to the highest standards of sustainability and are held publicly accountable.
Certification measures a company’s entire social and environmental performance, including the impact on employees, community, environment, suppliers, and customers. Everything from CO2 emissions to charitable donations and maternity leave is taken into account.
We have come a long way since the first pre-screening assessment in 2019 and it was truly a collective company effort to get to where we are today. Our new B Corp status is just the beginning, as we continuously work hard every day to make positive sustainable changes.
B Corp certification and travel retail
There are only around 4,000 B Corps globally – a handful of which are beauty brands and an even smaller number of which operate in travel retail. We are proud to join this exclusive club and the certification is timely as travellers are actively seeking brands with proven sustainability credentials.
Younger demographics, the future travel retail shoppers, are increasingly making decisions based on the environmental impact of the products they buy; they are highly conscious of the fragile state of the planet and want to make a difference before it is too late.
Rituals is unique in that our products blend affordability, luxury and sustainability. Managing the paradox of creating affordable luxury products while being conscious of the planet too, has always been part of our journey. It takes a lot of hard work and brainpower to think of sustainable solutions without losing our brand identity and luxury quality.
Our Ritual of Namasté line is a great example of how luxury and sustainability can be well executed. The range is made from natural or naturally derived ingredients and products are packaged in luxury marble refillable jars. We’ve expanded the refill concept to other product lines and it is working extremely well.
In a way, the B Corp assessment acted as a catalyst to streamline our efforts and to take on that challenge. The certification is the ultimate proof that affordable luxury and sustainability can go hand in hand.
We’re delighted to celebrate our B Corp certification with our travel retail partners — all of whom have welcomed the news with open arms — as we work towards building a more sustainable travel retail offer together. Consumers are only going to become more discerning and demanding in choosing which brands to align with and which retail channels to use, so it’s vital for the long-term viability of travel retail that we continue to push the sustainability agenda forward.
Positive strides are already being made with the introduction of sustainable retail initiatives such as Heinemann’s ‘Future Friendly: Great for you. Better for planet’ concept. Rituals is eager to be at the forefront of similar projects which help consumers make more informed and sustainable choices in-store.
What’s next?
Now that we have achieved B Corp certification, it is not the time to take our foot off the gas. Rituals is first and foremost a wellbeing brand meaning it is even more important that we take our responsibilities seriously and constantly improve our ways of working.
Being part of the prestigious B Corp family is a journey that never stops. Recertification is every three years so we cannot stand still, especially since the retail environment is ever-changing and sustainable consumption will only increase in importance.
To help us continue to move forward, we have set ourselves several short-term goals:
- By 2023, all our formulas will be made of at least 90% natural origin ingredients
- By 2025, all products will be refillable, recyclable and/or made from recycled materials
- By 2025, the average product assessment score on the Clean & Conscious tool, our product evaluation tool, will increase from 63+ to 80+
- By 2025, we will have zero waste packaging. We are designing all our packs to be recyclable, reusable or containing recycled materials.
B Corp means cooperation for positive change so we hope to inspire other companies in travel retail to follow in our footsteps and build a strong B Corp community of like-minded businesses that all want to be a force for good.
Note: The Moodie Davitt Report publishes a regular e-newsletter, Wellbeing Curated, in association with Rituals. It offers a curated selection of stories focused on the key wellbeing category in travel retail and beyond.
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