2006

The Body Shop was a revolutionary success story born in Brighton, England in 1976, founded by the visionary activist Anita Roddick. She was a pioneer in the movement against animal testing in cosmetics, a core value that became synonymous with the brand. The focus was on products made with ethically sourced, naturally-based ingredients. Roddick introduced refillable packaging when she ran out of bottles, this evolved into a core part of the company's environmentally friendly business model. For decades, The Body Shop represented the harmony of profit and principles.

At the height of its success, Roddick sold the company to the cosmetics giant L'Oréal in 2006. She got £652 million but stunned and ultimately alienated her most loyal customers. L'Oréal had a “more complex stance on animal testing.” For many ethical consumers, this was a betrayal of the brand's founding principles.

The Body Shop struggled under successive corporate owners who failed to recapture its distinct identity in an increasingly crowded ethical beauty market. Under L'Oréal, the brand shifted production to the Philippines and focused on discounts. It was later acquired by Natura & Co for a hefty £880 million, only to be sold again six years later to the private equity firm Aurelius for a massive loss at £207 million.

The Body Shop's ethical and cruelty-free claims were no longer unique, they're now pretty much a industry standard. This loss of differentiation makes it harder for the brand to attract shoppers against competitors who offer similar claims plus more value.

While the brand is still active globally through its franchises, its corporate-owned retail footprint, particularly in the UK and key European markets, has been dramatically reduced.