The Body Shop Narrative Essay

The Body Shop was founded in 1976 in Brighton (UK) by Anita Roddick.it now has now more than It changed the image of “Glamour and Beauty”. It brought about use of natural “exotic” products to cleanse and polish the skin & hair. Started new movements by refusing animal testing and being environmentally friendly “The business of business should not just be about money it should be about responsibility. It should be about public good, not private greed.”
Anita Roddick. Core Values – “Simply stated, beauty means vitality, imagination, energy – personality traits that have more to do with an individual’s character than his or her age or some idealized arrangement of physical features.
The BODY SHOP has undertaken and incorporated several initiatives in its business model that work to fulfil these values. Their partners in this are:

CRUELTY FREE INTERNATIONAL
With the help of The Body Shop Cruelty Free International is telling the world to go cruelty free. Its pledge rolled out at The Body Shop stores in 65 countries across the world during 2012! It is the largest and most ambitious campaign to date to seek a global ban on the use of animals to tests cosmetics. Across the world, The Body Shop customers have signed the pledge in-store to support Cruelty Free International’s push for a global ban on animal testing for cosmetic products and ingredients. On the 22nd of July, 2013, after more than 20 years of campaigning by its founding organisations- the BUAV and The Body Shop, the European Union has finally banned animal tested cosmetics. This historic event sets the stage for other countries to follow suit and provides Cruelty Free International with an outstanding opportunity to achieve their goal – a worldwide ban on animal testing for cosmetics.
Against Animal Testing Timeline
1993: The Body Shop, the first beauty company to take action on animal testing for cosmetics, supported the campaign by enlisting the support of its consumers across Europe. 1996: Dame Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop, joined members of The European Coalition to End Animal Experiments (ECEAE) and MEPs in presenting a petition containing 4 million signatures to the European Commission. 2003: the European Union (EU) agreed a ban on animal testing for cosmetics, to come into effect in two stages. 2009: The first stage of the EU ban was implemented on 11th March 2009 however, three types of animal tests were exempt from this ban to allow enough time for alternative testing methods to be validated meaning the testing of cosmetic products and ingredients on animals to continue 2012: the BUAV established Cruelty Free International, the first global organisation dedicated to ending cosmetics animal testing worldwide.
The Body Shop together with Cruelty Free International launched a new international campaign which has so far resulted in customers from 55 countries signing a global pledge supporting an end to animal testing for cosmetics forever. 2013: On 11th March the EU ban will be fully implemented and these 3 remaining tests will be banned ensuring no company can carry out new animal tests for cosmetics purposes outside of the EU for products to be sold in the EU from that date.
STAYING ALIVE FOUNDATION – ( A grassroot youth–awareness project) Mission Statement : The foundation’s mission is to encourage, energize, and empower young people who are involved in HIV/AIDS awareness, education and prevention campaigns. Coming off of last year’s Spray to Change campaign, MTV and The Body Shop joined forces once again to raise awareness of HIV and AIDS, and to raise money for the Staying Alive Foundation.
This year’s campaign, Move Your Lips, aimed to increase awareness by encouraging people to talk about HIV & AIDS and share information with each other. A special edition, co-branded lip butter was produced and all profits from the global sale went to the Staying Alive Foundation. The product was sold in a remarkable 2000 stores in 60 countries and raised $1.3M to support grassroots HIV and AIDS education projects developed by young people around the world. The campaign kicked off with a Move Your Lips promo spot that aired on MTV channels across the globe with a reach of 1.4 billion people.
From the Asia Pacific region to New York, local press launches with celebs garnered press hits in countless media outlets. The campaign included a microsite, www.moveyourlips.com, that provided an interactive platform from a game to downloads in 10 different languages. During the first 4 weeks of the campaign, the site garnered 150,000 page views and 50,000 unique views, amplifying the overall campaign message.
ETHICAL TRADING INITIATIVE
In 1998, a group of UK companies, NGOs and trade union organisations, with the backing of the Secretary of State for International Development, launched a radical approach to protecting workers’ rights in global supply chains. Their aim was to build an alliance of organisations that would work together to define how major companies should implement their codes of labour practice in a credible way – and most importantly, in a way that has maximum impact on workers. The companies that joined ETI in 1998 were ASDA, Premier Brands, The Body Shop, Littlewoods and Sainsbury’s.
From that handful of pioneers, the membership now comprises over 70 companies, collectively reaching nearly ten million workers across the globe. In 1998, The Body Shop International became a founding member of the Ethical Trading initiative. The ETI is a partnership of likeminded companies, voluntary organizations and trade unions, all dedicated to improving the working lives of people around the world. In 2005, The Body Shop International adopted the ETI’s base code as its own Supplier Code of Conduct. Recently, they’ve been busy extending the programme and making it work harder for everyone involved.
Employment is Freely Chosen- We regularly audit our suppliers because we want to know that the people making our products are doing so out of choice, with the freedom to decide where and when they work. Working conditions are safe and hygienic – Our audits are designed to ensure that everyone who makes our products is safe at work and has a healthy working environment Child labour shall not be used- We raise awareness of this issue with our suppliers to ensure that no child labor is used to make our products.
Living wages are paid- We assess all our final product suppliers to find out if all the workers in the supply chain earn at least the minimum wage and are paid for any over time No harsh or inhumane treatment is allowed – We run training programmes for managers and workers. This helps both parties find solutions to issues, and encourages the fair and equal treatment of workers Regular employment is provided- We train workers so they know their labour rights and the terms and conditions of their employment
The Body Shop Foundation
The Body Shop Foundation is The Body Shop International’s charitable trust which supports innovative projects across the world working for social & environmental change. We are funded by an annual donation from the company and through various fundraising initiatives.
Approximately 65% of the grants that we fund come from nominations from the staff, consultants or franchisees attached to the company – from all over the world. The remaining projects we fund are researched by our own trustees and grants department. To date, we’ve funded over 2,500 global projects to the tune of £20 million. We’ve supported a wide variety of projects since we began in 1989, but have always stayed true to our main three areas, namely: Animal Protection
Human Rights
Environmental Protection
Although we’d simply love to be able to help absolutely everybody, we follow a simple set of procedures to enable us to stay focused to our strategic vision and keep to our funding remit. The Body Shop Foundation will only fund organizations which provide support or services to people of all faiths and none. As the majority of our applications come from projects nominated by staff, we do not ask for public applications or nominations. Nor do we: sponsor individuals fund sporting activities or the arts  sponsor or support fundraising events, receptions or conferences
TEDDY EXPORTS – (Community Fair Trade partner)
Teddy Exports’ first client was The Body Shop. The Body Shop is still the company’s biggest client, though they now also provide screen-printed cloth bags, textiles, wooden toys and furniture to about nine other companies. Though the Body Shop’s original order was only for rolling wooden massagers, demand for Teddy Exports’ goods has grown steadily since its inception. Pleased with the results of the massagers, the Body Shop began requesting more and more products, requiring Teddy Exports to outsource local tailors and printers. However, it soon became clear that it would be more cost effective to vertically integrate and hire such tradesmen for use within the company.
Fair Trade plays an important role in the philosophy of Teddy Exports. Amanda herself describes her belief as “Trade, not aid!” Rather than making farmers dependent on charity and subsidies, Fair Trade is about paying them a reasonable and naturally, fair price for their work, so they are able to live a secure life and improve their community’s living standard. Practical business moves with great respect to morality and humanity is what has made Teddy Exports successful.
The Teddy Trust- Through its charitable foundation, The Teddy Trust, Teddy Exports provides workers and the local community with secure working conditions and access to basic healthcare and education. The Teddy Trust runs two Healthy Highway Centres where truck drivers are given information on STDs and HIV/AIDs and receive free condoms. In partnership with local NGOs, the Trust also supports a project for Women in Prostitution (WIP) to create awareness of STDs. The Teddy Trust School – Over 700 pupils attend The Teddy Trust School, including 50 children with learning disabilities who have a special day care centre just for them. It’s the only school in Tamil Nadu to integrate children with special needs into mainstream education
UNICEF
In 2006, as part of the ongoing Stop Violence in the Home, The Body Shop creates a partnership with UNICEF and the United Nations Secretary-General’s Study on Violence Against Children, to conduct a study into the effects of domestic violence on children. The report Behind Closed Doors: The Impact of Domestic Violence on Children is the result of a new partnership between UNICEF, The Body Shop International, and the United Nations Secretary-General’s Study on Violence against Children, the first global report to document the nature and extent of violence against children.
Local versions of this press release will be issued in several countries where UNICEF and the Body Shop have a presence, and will reflect local statistics and events to mark the global launch of the report. To date more than $3.7 million has been raised by The Body Shop global campaign. Initially launched across the world in 2003, Stop Violence in the Home has been rolled out across the globe to help victims of domestic violence and is now running in more than 35 countries.