Burt's Bees Defines Natural
Posted: July 3, 2007
According to Burt's Bees, consumers are confused about what constitutes a “natural” personal care products even as interest grows. It has, therefore, organized a working group, convened by the Natural Products Association, to define the term for the beauty industry. Michael Indursky, chief marketing officer of the company, will chair the working group. Other participants include Aubrey Organics.
Burt's Bees stated that it is addressing the issue by formulating a definition of what is and isn’t natural and launching an educational effort that it hopes, by working directly with competitors and the industry at large, will clear up confusion while holding “natural” to the highest possible standard. The effort based on the study is called Setting The Natural Standard.
The company based its conclusion on a study by TSC, a division of Yankelovich Partners Inc.
Study findings:
- 78% of American women think natural personal care is currently regulated or don’t know if it is, while 97% think it should be.
- 83% of American women think there should be one meaning for a personal care product labeled “natural” and 86% agree that there should be a symbol to certify a natural personal care product
- Two thirds of American women think a personal care product labeled “natural” should contain at least 95% natural ingredients
- 68% of American women think it’s important for the ingredients in personal care products to be “natural”