Skincare. Haircare. Bodycare….. These are the topics that are popularly spoken and talked about nowadays. With the rise in many cosmetic industries and sectors, there have been many businesses, companies, influencers, ambassadors, and brands that promote their cosmetic lines and advertise them as “sustainable, high, and premium quality, find visible results after just one use, one-of-a-kind….etcetera”. Several taglines and advertisements that cosmetic brands use to promote their products win people and customers by a mile. Sometimes, even blindly.
Some scarce brands and companies truly are “all green” and “eco-friendly”. This is proven by how their products universally help all people to varying extents. Solving many skincare issues with the products manufactured and marketed by one brand makes the latter more famous, recognized, and popular in the market. Fighting skin concerns alongside the deteriorating ecosystem and biodiversity of the Earth, there are genuine brands that manufacture environmentally conscious, sustainability-driven, dermatology-certified products that help the people as well as the planet.
Natural products manufactured in the cosmetic industry that genuinely do their job in whatever issues and concerns need to be addressed are also making sure that they incorporate ethical and sustainable initiatives in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). This would help the brand get its identity and recognition, which would further make its evolution in formulating products that continue to stay in demand even after many years.
There are many cosmetic brands, business startups, and entrepreneurs that are formulating skincare, haircare, and body care products with green manufacturing. Aiming to decrease the negative impacts imposed on the environment by such industries, the “3Rs” (Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle) are what keep the operations and supply chain management in check with the CSR policies of the company and brand.
Therefore in this article, we will be covering the fascinating and inspiring journey of how Burt’s Bees was founded by Co-founders – Burt Shavitz and Roxanne Quimby, in manufacturing and marketing one of the most widely known products such as the “Burt’s Bees Lipbalm” and more, in the US cosmetic industry. Known for their organic ingredients sourced from farmed bees, Burt’s journey in beekeeping led him to train Roxanne in the art, and from where Burt’s Bees – a small business success transformed into a full-blow manufacturing factory. Interesting insights into Burt’s Bees’ latest ventures in driving towards a full-circle economy for their 2025 plan will also be shared.
The Journey of Burt’s Bees with Co-Founders – Burt Shavitz and Roxanne Quimby:
The co-founders of Burt’s Bees are Burt Shavitz and Roxanne Quimby. Burt Shavitz was a small-town beekeeper in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, USA. Once a Photojournalist and later a beekeeper, Burt wanted to get away from the unceasing hustle and bustle of city life and moved to Maine, to reside with his pet dog in the peaceful life of the wild countryside.
He soon met Roxanne Quimby in 1983 – an Artist from San Francisco, who was on her self-finding journey in Maine when she saw Burt on one of his usual rounds. The duo soon became fast friends and Roxanne started her beekeeping apprenticeship under Burt. In 1984 – the following year, Roxanne found out about Burt’s stash of beeswax and decided with her friend and mentor to make organic candles, package them, and sell them at Craft Fairs. This was a huge success as the customers were Burt’s usual buyers. An old chap who sold honey for a living and kept the leftovers in storage, Burt coined the name “Burt’s Bees”, to identify and keep away bee thieves.
In the late 1991, Burt and Roxanne took the candle-making up a notch and started making lipbalms. This is the Burt’s Bees iconic and famous lipbalm that is still in huge demand to date. The manufacturing factory started first at Roxanne’s kitchen. Then as the business and demand grew, the factory was moved to an old school house, and from there to a old bowling alley. At this point, the business was in such demand that they had to expand and relocated completely out of Maine to Durham, North Carolina. Here, the duo focused more on the personal care cosmetic line while the candle-making took a back seat.
Burt’s Bees upgraded to a more eco-friendly packaging solution that slowly worked towards reducing the plastic problem. Driving towards sustainability initiatives in being environmentally conscious, Burt’s Bees made their packaging from 70% recycled and previously used plastic. The brand stays far away from using any new materials for their packaging and use only more than 50% of the recycled materials to reduce the usual estimates of over 8,000,000 metric tons of plastic waste productions. As an innovation in the beauty industry, everything sold at Burt’s Bees have the “recyclable” symbol on their products as well as packagings. The “Recyclable Curbside” and “Terracycle”, are the innovative solutions for disposing the packaging materials so that they are recycled again and not included in landfills.
Sourcing the natural products from nature, animal friendly, ethical sourcing initiatives, sustainable and recyclable packaging, and CarbonNeutral Certified, Burt’s Bees have had 15 billion Wildflower Seeds planted in support of pollinator forage and the American farmers in the year 2020. For next year’s 2025 goals, the brand is pursuing ventures in a full-circle economy for greener futures in achieving Net Zero Plastic by 33% and 50% by 2030. Having a lot of impact and progress made continuously, Burt’s Bees is here to stay for a long time.