Burt’s Bees is looking to increase its leadership position in natural personal care in 2007 by launching 16 new items in six different categories. The brand also is celebrating its launch into Target stores, a deal that solidifies it as an important, necessary range for consumers seeking a natural alternative.
According to Michael Indursky, Burt’s Bees chief marketing and strategic officer, natural care products in the mass arena provide retailers a source of incremental growth, since many consumers of these items are shopping elsewhere for them. He cited SPINS data, which tracked 17 percent growth in natural personal care sales for the 12-month period ended March. In the mass market, personal care sales only grew 3 percent in food, drug and mass stores, he said. Natural personal care sales total almost $1.6 billion, with sales growing at a rate of 15 percent each year over the past five years, Indursky said. Women are taking note of natural products, he explained, noting that 30 percent of women have used natural personal care products in the last year and 45 percent of them have expanded their natural personal care use into a new category in the last year.
In turn, Burt’s Bees sales have grown more than 20 percent annually. “We are getting more trial and awareness,” Indursky said.
Burt’s Bees, which is sold in specialty and boutique-type stores as well as mass stores, generated more than $100 million in sales last year. Information Resources Inc. has the brand generating $63.6 million of that figure in food, drug and mass stores for the 52-week period ended Nov. 5, an increase of 80 percent over the prior year. Burt’s Bees is not sold in Wal-Mart.
Indursky, who once worked at L’Oréal, said it’s just a matter of time before bigger U.S. beauty companies jump on the natural personal care wagon.
“These are really smart companies that have their finger on the pulse of the industry and they are going to try to address it [by] doing acquisitions like L’Oréal [which recently purchased Sanoflore],” Indursky said.
But unlike some companies that call themselves natural, Burt’s Bees items are free of petrolatum-based mineral oils, glycols, sodium laurel/laureth sulfates and parabens.
Related Articles
You May Also Like
Their newest products begin shipping Jan. 15, and in March, a new collection, Mama Bee, will target moms. New hair care items include Very Volumizing Pomegranate & Soy shampoo and conditioner, and Hair Repair Shea Butter & Grapefruit Deep Conditioner. For the body, there’s Thoroughly Therapeutic Honey & Grapeseed Oil Hand Creme, Thoroughly Therapeutic Honey & Bilberry Foot Creme, Radiance Body Lotion with Royal Jelly and Linden Flower & Aloe After Sun Soother. Most notable is a Chemical Free Sunscreen with Hemp Oil SPF 15, one that uses microfine titanium dioxide minerals for UVA and UVB protection. There are also personal washes and lip products, and items for moms, such as Nourishing Body Oil with Vitamin E, Soothing Leg & Foot Creme and Belly Butter. The new items expect to generate as much as $20 million in sales next year.
A print and online campaign will support the launch, said Alison Lane, senior manager of marketing services for Burt’s Bees. Lane would not comment on an ad budget, but industry sources estimate Burt’s Bees could be earmarking as much as $10 million for the effort.