Lush Cosmetics and the Amazon

Founded in 1995 in the UK, Lush has grown to be one of the world’s largest cosmetics companies with over 900 stores globally. Years ago, the company mapped the supply chains of its raw and processed materials to identify ‘sourcing hotspots.’ When layering data on biodiversity, carbon, and migration maps, the company realized that its sourcing communities overlapped with the regions most in need of conservation. Since then, as a buying strategy, the company created ‘sourcing hubs’ in key locations, setting up demonstration farms, forming trade relationships directly with communities, and supporting local processing infrastructure development. As intended, the process created new economic livelihoods as alternatives to poaching and forest degradation, while supporting the transition from conventional agriculture to agroecology. Join us to meet Ruth Andrade, Lush Head of Environment, and Livia Froes, Lush South America Sourcing Hubs Coordinator. They will share a decade of experiences developing these programs, talk about collaboration with philanthropy, and discuss plans to verify carbon and biodiversity impacts embedded into raw materials as part of an insetting strategy.

Recorded April 11, 2022

References:

Lush Buying

Article: A supply chain that works for life

Lush’s Buying Stories on YouTube

Murumuru

Tonka beans

Cupuaçu

Lush South American Hub Ingredients (for sharing)

Regenerosity

Conexsus – helping community enterprises to access markets

Pur Project – carbon insetting and supply chain regeneration