TRIBUTE TO ANITA RODDICk
OUR fOUNDER
anita founded the body shop, an ‘extraordinary’ company, with
her own singular vision, that business could be a force for good,
and that profits could be made without compromising principles.
anita’s belief that we could make innovative products without
testing them on animals, without destroying the planet, and
without exploiting the people that made them, helped
the body shop to pioneer what is now called ‘ethical shopping.’
Well ahead of her time, anita expected customers to want more
than what they were being offered, and ran the body shop by
promoting health and wellbeing, rather than reinforcing unrealistic
models of female beauty. We are now seeing many commentaries
on the fundamental relationships between economic activity and human wellbeing that reflect
anita’s original analysis of the role of consumer products.
traveling the world for natural ingredients and traditional recipes, anita saw the opportunity to
use trade to benefit marginalised communities normally bypassed or exploited by conventional
business to business supplier relationships. We call this system ‘Community trade’ and in
many instances it demonstrates the interdependence of our Values.
the experience of COppalJ in brazil is a perfect example of anita in action and the
interdependency of our Values. she asked them to supply the body shop with organic
babassu oil, a tropical nut oil used in many of our products. COppalJ maintains a traditional
livelihood from the babassu palm, helping to preserve the natural environment. the income
they receive has enabled them to invest in the health and education of the whole community,
which in turn has helped to build their self esteem. Of most importance, over time, it has given
them the confidence to fight for their land rights.
as the company develops the strategy to grow into its next 30 years i am confident that anita
roddick’s vision will remain ever present to guide us. in her book body and soul, anita wrote
that ‘there is no power on earth apart from business capable of making the changes we
desperately need for the continued survival of the planet.’
anita believed that selling the body shop to l’Oréal was the best way to guarantee our Values
into the future. she said, “i have not worked all these years to be satisfied to have pioneered
a new way of doing business that nobody else ever tries. i want to make things happen, to
spread human values wider in business if i possibly can. and this sale gives us the chance
to do so.”
her legacy to us is to carry on with ‘business as unusual.’
Jan buckingham – international Values director
4