What does Natura think today, the "green" brand that was born sustainable when there was still no talk of the subject

Neutral carbon, triple impact, network work, fair trade, all slogans that we now listen to the side of companies that seek to join the tendency to grow taking care of the environment, people and their businesses.The Global Natura company has a lot to count, because it has been in the right time at the right time.

In the '83, when no one was still talking about sustainability, the Brazilian firm Natura launched its first spare parts for cosmetic products.That goal inclined to make more playing decisions, such as neutral carbon in 2007.But those challenges were already far away.Now they want to reach zero net emission by 2030 and there are always more.Much more.

"13 years ago we are a neutral carbon firm and that we adopt this premise of the triple impact: environmental, social and economic," said Diego de Leone, vice president for Hispanic America, to profile and added: "The world was in the direction in the direction inthat Natura was and that contributed to those things to be varied and that people find consistency in this brand ".But he also emphasized that "in no way the road is fulfilled".

What means that a company is neutral carbon and why they all look in that direction

"We were a pioneer company, but if it is still a differential, we fail in the premises," he warned, because finally, part of the company's search "is that we all join and be part so that the impact is not small".

Among the company's greatest attributes, the vice for business in Hispanic America revalued "the network", such as the solid of this chain.

"The company was built based on the relationships between the people who generated - over the years - the business we have today," he said, while stressed that the network formed by entrepreneurs, collaborators, sales force and suppliers is thethat materializes everything that the brand is today.“We like to see it as a kind of well -being platform, where the brand is a more component.Today products move, but in the future a significant amount of goods and services will be moved, ”he analyzed in a profindThe products most chosen by the followers of the brand and why today for the company it must deepen the omnichannel.

Profile: When did you join the company?

Diego de Leone: I assumed this role of vice for business in Hispanic America in early 2020, 40 days before the pandemic began.Visualized the stage of great closeness with the Páisses;In fact, the first 30 days, I traveled throughout Latin America (Colombia, Mexico, Peru and the last trip was Brazil).I returned to Argentina and then I didn't travel again for the rest of the year.What I imagined would be 2020 was not, but at 2021 we have already arrived more prepared.Being a relationship company, he had to continue building them in a different way.In a way that we do not consider that it could be so effective, and that it would allow us to win in productivity, although obviously some closeness was lost.

-And how does the pandemic analyze?There was talk of many people wanting to join these networks to have benefits in a time of sharp fall in employment...

En qué piensa hoy Natura, la marca

- Yeah.For us, consultants and consultants are independent collaborators, who sell the product they consider, stop selling or selling again as they consider, so we call it a network of relationships.When the pandemic began there was a lot of uncertainty.We plan each variable with that uncertainty, that's why it was a very difficult time.Being related to 230 thousand people and their families, we are talking about a core of 800 thousand to 1 million people with whom we have direct contact.

In the pandemic the company was transformed, in some way, in an opportunity for people looking for an income at this stage, a place of belonging, a place of development.All that represented the brand in this period, which for 2020 and perhaps not with such force in 2021, the number of people who sought the brand was increasing.We grew up in the network, in fact it was the greatest growth in many years.And luckily, we were also thinking about the evolution of our business model.

Omnichannel: consumers use 7 channels to investigate products and 6 to buy

- Does that mean they were more prepared to change the sales structure?

- In Argentina (and applies to the entire region) we have a sales force that are called supervisors that are from the company and that are distributed by city, by region, by areas.They accompany the development of the professional and personal business of entrepreneurs.When a new consultant wants to join, according to the area where he lives a supervisor is assigned.

This brand was born and developed as a company sales company.But for several years, our consumers are very digitized, even before pandemic.With which, although we had a physical sales proposal, several years ago we had been preparing to participate in this conversation, so we had been working in digitalization and ominichannel throughout the last decade, and with more force in the last 5years.

- And then the pandemic arrived...

- Pandemia accelerated everything and began to use these tools more and we put them at the disposal of our sellers.Thus, once they got used to it, they were able to break many barriers, even the geographical.

- Did they change priorities in quarantine?

- The direct sale has arrival inside the interior in the countries in which we operate.In the first months of the pandemic, when we saw that the need came from the hand of escontial products, we quickly transform our productive matríz and leave for a while to do perfumes, makeup and concentrate on essential products like gel alcohol.Even just a month or a month we had a new product for sale.

- How do you handle distribution?

- The established distribution network is through a third party, but it is a super close relationship, with specifically developed suppliers.We have a distributive chain that delivers products in more than 200 thousand homes every two weeks.Today, with the development of online we reach many more customers, but with this same distribution chain.The logistics chain is one of our strengths in this kind of direct sales companies.

Natura, nature

- Biodiversity, triple impact, environment care.It was always a brand associated with the subject.How do you link the issue of doing business taking care of the environment?

- Natura has a way of understanding the world that calls it well to be fine.And it is, from being well with myself where I seek to be well with everyone and with everything around me and that includes nature, planet and environmental impact.We were sustainable before the sustainable word existed.And then we achieved in 2007 being a neutral carbon, but we continue working very firm in this whole issue.There is consistency between what the brand is and what it sells.

- How to keep moving forward on that path?

- We want to accompany all of us who want to advance in this direction, encouraging and sophitiscusing ourselves.We are putting in practice the integrated sales results of sales to economic, social and environmental ebidta, quantifying the impact of absolutely everything we do on all three fronts.

- Is the commitment to life 2030 located here?

Yes of course.We assume the "commitment to life 2030" that has three pillars.We announce it to the market in 2020.The first is to face the climatic crisis and protect the Amazon, we want to get to deforestation around 2025.In Cop 26 deforestation zero to 2030 was signed.

The other pillar is to defend human rights and promote inclusion;and adopt circularity and regeneration by 2030 that will have a strong impact on the way we are going to develop the products in the future.We seek to be 0 net emission for 2030.We are neutral carbon and we measure all the process.What we cannot mitigate compensate for carbon bonds.In fact we did it in Argentina this year with an important purchase of carbon bonds.But we go to the idea of zero emissions, so that everything we do internally cannot generate impact.

- Is this decision part of the brand's culture?

- Yeah, claro.It is not that there is a sector that deals with this environmental issue and others look at the business.This is part of the brand's culture.My remuneration is linked to achieve these impacts and is so relevant from the environmental point of view, as social and economic.There are a thousand variables associated with this, it makes it exciting and makes people want to be part of the brand.

What does the business in Argentina mean?

The business in the country is among the three most important businesses of the brand.In fact, the company has a great presence in Latin America and shy in the rest of the world.As Brazil's markets first and Mexico in second place, and then Argentina that has been having imported growth of the consultants' network.

We have a motivated team of almost 800 people working in the country.In this country, in addition to the 400 or 500 people who work for the brand is the regional team, which serves all Latin American countries and also formed pass from that team.

Latin America grew at an approximate rate in the last quarter that we publish (the second of the year) of 25% in relation to the same quarter of the previous year.Latin America, where we included Brazil, grew 68% and Argentina was among the countries that led that growth.

What occur in Argentina and how does the rhythm come?

- We are already 50% or a little more than we sell is produced locally.Obviously we import the assets of the Amazon, which is the heart of our business, but everything we can integrate vertically into the Argentinelo we do.And we are in developments with the glass chain, for example, integrating productive chains.

- How do 2021 close and what projections have for next year?

2021 is going to be a year definitely of growth, against 2020 and also against 2019.Even in market share in all countries in the region.We have a lot of expectation for 2022.The brand is 27 years ago in Argentina, went through many fluctuations and we are strongly accelerating local production, innovating in all digital tools and focusing on training our network.We are putting a lot of emphasis on developing these people to make better use of all digital tools.

"We entered 2020 with 50 thousand people on our network who had their digital space and today we are already in more than 100,000.In Latin America there are 1.3 million people who today have virtual stores.This is a huge force, because through their networks, each of them is exposed.

A few years ago we see how companies hug the idea of adding the triple impact on their decisions more aware.And consumers are largely responsible, because with their decisions and changes in consumption patterns they impose these new business models that cry for a greater "tune" between resources, people and care of the environment.This Brazilian firm linked to cosmetics and well -being, has demonstrated that beauty does not have to be considered frivolous.Because behind good being well, there is much more than fashion.