The organization is expanding its reach into the North American region and has started working with many companies in the United States.
Cosmetic Design USA (CDU) spoke with UEBT Executive Director Rick Cucci Lojenga (RKL), who has held the position since the organization’s founding in 2008. In this interview, Lojenga talks about how Cosmetic Design USA (CDU) is working with the beauty industry to protect biodiversity with the ultimate goal of reducing environmental impact and protecting farmworkers and communities. Promote.
CDU: What are UEBT’s objectives in the beauty and personal care industry? Do you intend to work only with suppliers or do you also want to work with brands?
RKL: UEBT is a non-profit organization that works with companies at all stages of the value chain, including brands, international processors, local processing companies, farms, cooperatives and other suppliers. At the brand level, we currently work with 15 international brands that are members of UEBT. UEBT membership means these brands undertake a series of initiatives focused on the ethical sourcing of natural ingredients. This includes responsible sourcing due diligence and supply chain prioritization of selected natural raw materials to positively impact people and biodiversity. This could be promoted, for example, through regional projects that focus on biodiversity, farmer incomes, agricultural practices, climate change resilience, etc. You can also choose to have these elements of your supply chain verified or certified against his UEBT standards.
CDU: What does UEBT mean to suppliers and what is your organization doing to spread the message about the benefits of working with UEBT?
RKL: Local suppliers are at the heart of UEBT’s work. They work with local farmers, cooperatives and wildlife collectors to reduce pressure on people and biodiversity, contribute to conservation and restoration of nature, and increase incomes for local producers. is being carried out. Currently, 70% of his UEBT membership is made up of local suppliers. They are an important part of our vibrant association of committed businesses and actively participate in UEBT.
Given the growing interest in ethical and responsible sourcing practices in the beauty and personal care market, many suppliers are working with us to assess and improve their practices against UEBT standards, and in some cases. Certification is in progress. Some companies also submit information about their field-level practices through our UEBT Supplier Due Diligence Platform. This platform is being developed by our company in collaboration with several brands and international processors as a solution to carry out due diligence in the supply chain of natural raw materials. There are few existing tools that focus on important field-based risks at the plant ingredient or production level, relevant to harvesters and producers and focusing on both social and environmental risks. .
One of the things we hear most from suppliers in the beauty and personal care space is that the supply chain needs to be a partnership. This means that buying companies such as brands and international processors need to move away from commercial relationships with suppliers. For further engagement.
CDU: And what does UEBT mean for consumers? What is your approach to educating consumers about your organization’s activities?
RKL: Direct consumer engagement is not really the focus of UEBT. Our aim is to help brands strengthen their sourcing systems and practices along their supply chain and help them communicate these to their customers in line with their unique value proposition. Each brand engages with their consumer base differently, and the role of ethical sourcing in their positioning varies from brand to brand.
UEBT offers certification programs as one of the tools companies can use to make claims to consumers about the sourcing of their raw materials. The US and EU regulatory environments place more emphasis on bulk billing, and generally these must be reliable, truthful, have a robust system behind them, and be backed up by an independent organization . UEBT provides certification labels for this purpose and follows good labeling and labeling practices.
We also encourage brands to talk about the UEBT vision in their consumer campaigns, such as highlighting their own initiatives and local projects during International Biodiversity Day and similar events.
CDU: UEBT is currently working with U.S. raw material suppliers, specifically Oh, Oh Organic. What does this development mean for your organization?
RKL: We have been working with many European brands for some time, but recently we have started working directly with US brands and suppliers. This is a really welcome development for us. We’re seeing American companies start thinking more about biodiversity, regenerative practices, fair wages, and fair prices. One of our projects at UEBT is a bi-annual research report called the Biodiversity Barometer. Each year, we interview a representative sample of consumers in the United States, along with several other countries. In the United States, consumer awareness of biodiversity is increasing year by year. When we started interviewing people in the United States in 2009, only 48% could define biodiversity with some degree of accuracy. Currently, that percentage is over 70%. We also see that year after year, consumers feel the need to protect biodiversity in the beauty sector. In fact, our last report found that U.S. consumers are more aware than ever before, with “ethical sourcing of ingredients” listed as one of their top three purchasing factors.
CDU: What are the main reasons why beauty brands and suppliers collaborate with UEBT?
RKL: For the beauty industry, now is the time to address biodiversity. As beauty and personal care companies aim to become increasingly nature-forward, biodiversity is a topic with not only risks but also strategic opportunities. Our just published UEBT Report on Beauty and Biodiversity in collaboration with the World Economic Forum shows that a focus on biodiversity is not only important to comply with new due diligence rules; , emphasizes that it is the most meaningful method for companies in this field. To make a difference. The report also shows that addressing biodiversity along the supply chain is inseparable from action to ensure equity and respect for human rights. See below for detailed findings and key action points. https://uebt.org/resource-pages/deep-dive-on-beauty-and-biodiversity
CDU: What are the organization’s future goals? What position would you like to have in the next 10 years?
RKL: For us, this is all about the impact on people and biodiversity. We hope to increase our impact by having more companies join his UEBT program, but we also expect companies to extend their on-the-ground efforts to more supply chains. . This means working to manage risks in our supply chains while seizing more opportunities to have a positive impact on people and nature. We also plan to help companies collaborate more often and join forces to address some of the challenges that may exist in the procurement space that cannot be addressed alone.
