The Body Shop Case Study: A leader in cosmetics prepares to become a leader in regeneration

The Body Shop, a global leader in body care products, partnered with Terra Genesis to develop their foundational strategy for regenerative ingredient sourcing.

Background - Actualizing Sustainability Goals

The Body Shop was founded on a belief that businesses can be a force for good. This founding conviction has guided the company to focus on sustainability and fairly traded ingredient sourcing through their Community Fair Trade program. In 2020 The Body Shop’s parent company, Natura &Co , unveiled its Commitment to Life sustainability goals focused on addressing the climate crisis and shifting towards circularity and regeneration. In these commitments, regenerative agriculture is identified as a key component.?

In 2021, The Body Shop set out to identify how they would integrate regenerative agriculture into their sourcing strategy. They had two primary aims: to develop a holistic and credible definition for regenerative materials, and to concretely explore how to develop and source regenerative materials.??

Realizing the absence of a universal industry definition or standard for regenerative agriculture, The Body Shop sought out Terra Genesis to support them in developing a credible and evidenced-backed approach to regenerative agriculture, as well as guidance on how to make credible claims and communicate to consumers about regenerative agriculture.?

A corporate commitment to implement or source from regenerative agriculture is often made before companies have identified how they will define and qualify regenerative agriculture. Given that there are numerous and widely differing uses of the term, brands who identify regenerative agriculture as a key strategy also need to define what they mean by regenerative and how they will qualify it. Terra Genesis sees its role as guiding brands through the process of developing credible approaches to regenerative agriculture that are sourced from both the brand’s essence and the farmers and ecosystems within their supply system.

“The work we did with Terra Genesis helped us define our regenerative journey”

- The Body Shop.?

Regenerative ingredient sourcing aims to address the interconnected global challenges of climate change, social justice, and biodiversity loss. None of these challenges will be successfully resolved unless all are addressed. The Body Shop is committed to making ingredient-sourcing a regenerating force for? producer communities, in customers’ lives, and for the planet.

The Work - Beyond Fair Trade and Sustainability

Prior to designing the Body Shop’s strategic approach, we first worked with their team to expand their foundational understanding of the science, industry landscape, and current approaches to regenerative agriculture. The Body Shop also needed to evaluate the relevance of existing regenerative agriculture standards and certifications for their supply system. We developed an in-depth matrix comparing existing standards for regenerative agriculture and assessing their applicability to The Body Shop’s ingredient portfolio. This tool enabled them to assess the different approaches being used in the industry and compare the associated benefits, drawbacks, and relevance each had for their specific ingredient portfolio.?

The strategy work proper began with identifying The Body Shop’s internal goals for regenerative agriculture and aligning these goals with existing sustainability aims. We also worked with their team to draft a brand-relevant working definition for regenerative agriculture that highlights the desired ecosocial outcomes of their initiatives that would be used to measure their progress. Outcomes that The Body Shop identified as key to their definition of regenerative products include: reforestation, soil restoration, increased biodiversity, improved water cycles, and community revitalization. The team directly aligned their definition with Natura & Co’s goals, while also expressing a unique brand angle.?

The Body Shop’s working definition will guide their team as they develop:

• metrics that align with outcomes identified in the definition
• clear goals and targets for regenerative ingredient sourcing
• new sourcing approaches and funding mechanisms
• internal clarity for strategic planning and focus areas
• a plan for educating consumers and communicating the brand’s perspective on regenerative sourcing to industry peers and consumers that distinguishes the company as a leader in this field?
• data collection processes and systems that support claims

The Body Shop then developed guiding principles for sourcing regenerative ingredients that guide the methods they used to develop regenerative supply. One of the guiding principles we found most inspiring was “Regeneration is achieved at the local level—consider the people, their place, and their story in that place in developing ingredient-specific goals.” In light of these principles, Terra Genesis conducted an in-depth assessment of ingredient crops and their current suppliers to evaluate their potential as regenerative ingredients.

The ingredient assessment exemplifies how a brand’s definition and principles for regenerative agriculture can be used to evaluate supply partners and identify strategic opportunities to develop regenerative ingredients. Similarly, the strong foundation of a brand-specific definition of regenerative also supported The Body Shop in developing their own system for identifying measurable indicators and qualifying regenerative ingredients, or aligning with other outcome-based frameworks.?

Finally, The Body Shop needed to explore how they would share their journey in developing regenerative ingredient sourcing. Brands worldwide are currently grappling with how to measure, verify, and market regenerative ingredients to customers in a way that is authentic, engaging, and credible. Terra Genesis offered The Body Shop considerations and guidance on how to authentically approach impact claims and introduce and unpack regenerative agriculture with consumers in accessible and engaging ways.?

An Evolved Position on Regenerative Sourcing

The Body Shop is now in a strong position to design a comprehensive approach to supporting priority ingredient producer communities as they transition towards regenerative production. They have the tools and context necessary for evaluating external partners, platforms, and technologies that they may wish to employ in their collective efforts to support and strengthen their approach over time.

Through our work together, The Body Shop achieved their two primary aims. First, they created a clear, credible, and measurable definition and approach to regenerative ingredient sourcing that enabled them to take action on their corporate goal for regenerative agriculture. Second, they established the internal tools and skills they needed to develop and source regenerative materials. In their words, “The work we did with Terra Genesis helped us define our regenerative journey”.