Weleda

Last updated

Weleda AG
ISIN CH0004960180
IndustryCosmetics
Founded1921
Headquarters,
Key people
Dr Aldo Ammendola (CRDO), Michael Brenner (CFO), Alois Mayer (COO), Nataliya Yarmolenko (CCO), Paul Mackay (President of the BOD)
Products
Revenue424,059,000 EUR (2020)
22,317,000 euro (2020)  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Total assets 284,824,000 euro (2020)  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Number of employees
2,512 (2020)
Website www.weleda.com

Weleda is a multinational company that produces both beauty products and naturopathic medicines. Both branches design their products based on anthroposophic principles, an alternative medicine. [1]

Contents

The company takes its name from the German form of the name of the 1st-century Bructeri völva Veleda. As well as being known to use green energy, Weleda uses natural ingredients grown using biodynamic methods and none of their ingredients or products are tested on animals. [2]

Weleda Group is member of the Union for Ethical Biotrade (UEBT). [3] [4] [5]

History

1920–24: Founding and early history

In 1920, Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian philosopher, and Ita Wegman, a Dutch gynecologist founded "Futurum AG", in Arlesheim, Switzerland, and "Der Kommende Tag AG" (an incorporated company with the mission of encouraging economic and spiritual values) in Stuttgart, Germany. Their operating profits were meant to contribute to the financing of various anthroposophic undertakings such as constructing the Goetheanum and establishing the Free Waldorf School in Stuttgart. [6] In 1920, Der Kommende Tag AG acquired the former "Colonial-Werke Paul Rumpus" in Schwäbisch Gmünd. Today, this is the location of the Weleda headquarters. [7] In 1921, the two companies wanted to merge for financial reasons. In 1922, the Futurum AG was renamed Internationale Laboratorien AG (ILAG) and new shares were issued. At a general meeting, Rudolf Steiner asked the shareholders to give their shares in Der Kommende Tag to ILAG in order to secure the assets of both companies, which were in financial difficulties. The companies were merged under a new name: Internationale Laboratorien und Klinisch-Therapeutisches Institut Arlesheim A.G. The facilities in Germany became branches of the Swiss parent company. Following a suggestion by Rudolf Steiner, the name Weleda was registered as a trademark: on September 20, 1924, in Germany and on September 25, 1924, in Switzerland. It was also proposed to rename ILAG, the parent company accordingly. On 10 December 1928, the company officially registered under the new name Weleda AG, and it is still known as such today. [8] [9] The name Weleda derives from the Germanic prophet and healer „Veleda“. [10] The Weleda company logo was designed by Rudolf Steiner. The logo is based on the Rod of Asclepius, a staff entwined with a snake, which is a symbol of the medical and pharmaceutical professions.

The establishment of Weleda coincided with Lebensreform, "life reform", a social movement in Germany that advocated alternative medicine and health food. [11]

From 1925: Internationalisation

During the 1920s, Weleda expanded its product range. Some of the newly developed cosmetics are still part of the range today: toiletry milk (later iris milk), massage oil, rosemary bath, skin cream, soap, shaving soap, skin food, sun protection cream, hair washing powder, pine bath essence, and arnica essence. Weleda's total turnover doubled between 1925 and 1928 and Weleda expanded internationally. A number of subsidiaries are founded in the 1920s: The British Weleda Co. Ltd. (1924), Handelsonderneming Weleda (Netherlands, 1926), The American Arlesheim Laboratories (1926), Veleda-Ges.m.b.H. (Czechoslovakia, 1926). [12]

From 1933: Nazi Germany

During the 1930s, parts of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) viewed anthroposophy as a movement that was contrary to National Socialism. As a consequence, Rudolf Steiner's books were banned from Bavarian public libraries. [13] In 1935, the Anthroposophical Society was proscribed. Several times, Weleda was threatened with a ban on production, which it could avoid with considerable effort. In 1943, Weleda delivered a one-off consignment of frostbite protection cream to the German armed forces, the Wehrmacht. Since Weleda did not have the petroleum jelly needed to produce the frostbite protection cream that had been ordered, it was provided with this ingredient from the Wehrmacht's own stock. The frostbite protection cream was delivered to Staff Surgeon Sigmund Rascher of the German air force. Rascher performed hypothermia experiments on prisoners at Dachau concentration camp. [14] In the 1990s, Weleda distanced itself from these actions and apologized to the survivors’ association Aktion Kinder des Holocaust (AKdH). Weleda facilitated a comprehensive scholarly investigation of the events concerned, carried out by the history department of the University of Basel. Weleda overcame the period of National Socialist rule and the Second World War relatively unscathed, as the German branches belonged to a company with its headquarters in neutral Switzerland. [15]

From 1945: Later developments

Experience Centre Weleda Schwaebisch Gmuend Visitor Centre with shop Experience Centre Weleda Schwaebisch Gmuend Visitor Centre with shop.jpg
Experience Centre Weleda Schwaebisch Gmuend Visitor Centre with shop

During Europe's economic boom in the 1950s and 1960s, Weleda expanded its product range: therapeutic tea (1950), sea buckthorn elixir (1955), facial toner (1959), shaving cream (1960), lavender bath milk (1961), foot balm (1962), and chestnut shampoo (1966). From the 1950s onwards, Weleda continued to pursue an international course. Foreign subsidiaries were established in Italy (1953), New Zealand (1955), Sweden (1956), Brazil (1959), and Argentina (1965). The global demand for natural cosmetics increased continually during the 1990s and thereafter. By 1992, Weleda was represented in 30 countries with a range of over 10,000 products. Weleda established further international subsidiaries, such as Weleda Chile (1992), Weleda Peru (1993), Weleda Japan (1999), Weleda Slovakia (2000), and Weleda Finland (2004). [16] At the end of 2018, Weleda opened City Spas in the Dutch cities of The Hague, Rotterdam and Oegstgeest. [17] At the beginning of 2020, another City Spa opened in Hamburg. In 2021, two more City Spas opened in Amsterdam and Stuttgart. [18] [19]

2021: 100 years Weleda

In 2021, the company turned 100 and marked this event with a partnership with the British charity treesisters to support reforestation projects worldwide. Weleda aims to plant one million trees with this project sponsoring global reforestation projects and initiatives run by women or supporting women. [20] The project started with a Christmas gift sale in 2020 that funded 47,255 trees. [21] Until today 78,355 trees have been planted. [22]

Anthroposophic philosophy and biodynamics

Experience Centre Weleda Schwaebisch Gmuend skin food flower pot Experience Centre Weleda Schwaebisch Gmuend skin food flower pot.jpg
Experience Centre Weleda Schwaebisch Gmuend skin food flower pot

Weleda bases its products on Holistic medicine and Anthroposophic medicine. [23] Anthroposophic medicine is a medicine inspired by the philosophy called Anthroposophy.

Weleda's botanical ingredients are grown using a farming method known as biodynamics. Biodynamic farming was developed by one of Weleda's founders, Rudolf Steiner in 1924. Biodynamics treats the whole farm as one living ecosystem with soil fertility, plant growth und livestock care as ecologically interrelated tasks. [24]

Products

Products sold by Weleda in Brazil, 2021 Weleda products displayed in Drogasil Ilheus-Bahia-Brazil 2021.jpg
Products sold by Weleda in Brazil, 2021

Weleda is world's leading manufacturer of holistic, natural, organic cosmetics and pharmaceuticals for anthroposophic therapy. [25] The product catalogue includes a complete line of skin care products, like Weleda Skin Food, items for baby and mother care, as well as homeopathic preparations. [26] Following the philosophy of so-called lead plants, the company develops products that do not only focus on the raw materials, as all ingredients and the entire formula contribute to the overall effect. Lead plants include arnica, birch, calendula, iris, lavender and wild rose. [27] [28]

Weleda is known as the historical and main producer of fermented white mistletoe extract (Viscum album), marketed under the name of Iscador. This treatment stems from a 1917 Steiner vision: «According to Rudolf Steiner, it is only through the appropriate blend of mistletoe summer and winter extracts that the mistletoe can deploy its "real healing power" on cancer». [29] Sold as an anti-tumor, and widely used in the 1980s to cure different cancers in Switzerland and Germany (centers of Anthroposophic doctrine), its ineffectiveness has since been established and its use is not recommended by the Swiss Cancer Congress and the Swiss cancer league. [30] [31]

Sustainability

Sustainable agriculture

Weleda releases an annual sustainability report. [32] [33] Weleda has created several gardens to grow ingredients for its products according to biodynamic cultivation methods that involve sustainable farming, avoiding pesticides and working with the seasons. Following the concept of lead plants, various medicinal plants are cultivated in the gardens, such as calendula, valerian, lavender and sage. [34] [35]

Waste prevention and recycling

Weleda Benelux has been climate-neutral for several years. The companies in the Netherlands and Belgium have also been participating in a Soil & More Impacts project in 2008 and the Dutch company organizes composting operations worldwide. [36] Weleda partnered with TerraCycle, a waste management company, to bring customers to recycle their packaging. Consumers can send in their empty packaging from the entire Skin Food line of products to be recycled for free. The collected packaging is cleaned and melted into hard plastic used to make new recycled products. [37] [38]

Environmental projects

Weleda Australia and the Kitchen Garden Foundation have formed a partnership to educate children about the important role of pollinators by building a network of ‚Bee B&B Hotels‘ at primary schools. [39] [40] In 2019, Weleda partnered with Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) to protect orangutans and committing to sourcing sustainable palm oil. Weleda has pledged $100,000 to the 20-month project that aims to create harmony between nature conservation and human needs in the Mawas area. [41]

In 2018, Weleda received the first-ever Union for Ethical Biotrade (UEBT) Certification and label for sourcing with respect. The UEBT certification is designed to show consumers that the product they want to buy is produced by a company that treats people and biodiversity with respect. [42]

Awards

Weleda won the first prize at the 2021 Sustainable Beauty Awards by Ecovia in the categories "Sustainable Leadership" and "Sustainable Pioneer". [43]

Related Research Articles

Anthroposophy is a spiritual new religious movement which was founded in the early 20th century by the esotericist Rudolf Steiner that postulates the existence of an objective, intellectually comprehensible spiritual world, accessible to human experience. Followers of anthroposophy aim to engage in spiritual discovery through a mode of thought independent of sensory experience. While much of anthroposophy is pseudoscientific, proponents claim to present their ideas in a manner that is verifiable by rational discourse and say that they seek precision and clarity comparable to that obtained by scientists investigating the physical world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rudolf Steiner</span> Austrian esotericist (1861–1925)

Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner was an Austrian occultist, social reformer, architect, esotericist, and claimed clairvoyant. Steiner gained initial recognition at the end of the nineteenth century as a literary critic and published works including The Philosophy of Freedom. At the beginning of the twentieth century he founded an esoteric spiritual movement, anthroposophy, with roots in German idealist philosophy and theosophy. His teachings are influenced by Christian Gnosticism. Many of his ideas are pseudoscientific. He was also prone to pseudohistory.

Biodynamic agriculture is a form of alternative agriculture based on pseudo-scientific and esoteric concepts initially developed in 1924 by Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925). It was the first of the organic farming movements. It treats soil fertility, plant growth, and livestock care as ecologically interrelated tasks, emphasizing spiritual and mystical perspectives.

The General Anthroposophical Society is an "association of people whose will it is to nurture the life of the soul, both in the individual and in human society, on the basis of a true knowledge of the spiritual world." As an organization, it is dedicated to supporting the community of those interested in the inner path of schooling known as anthroposophy, developed by Rudolf Steiner.

Egil Kristian Tynæs was a Norwegian anthroposophical doctor, senior physician at the Municipal Clinic in Bergen and a humanitarian aid worker. On June 2, 2004, in Badghis, Afghanistan Tynæs and four others were killed in an ambush whilst working for the humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières.

Anthroposophic medicine is a form of alternative medicine based on pseudoscientific and occult notions. Devised in the 1920s by Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925) in conjunction with Ita Wegman (1876–1943), anthroposophical medicine draws on Steiner's spiritual philosophy, which he called anthroposophy. Practitioners employ a variety of treatment techniques based upon anthroposophic precepts, including massage, exercise, counselling, and substances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ita Wegman</span> Dutch physician

Ita Wegman co-founded Anthroposophical Medicine with Rudolf Steiner. In 1921, she founded the first anthroposophical medical clinic in Arlesheim, known until 2014 as the Ita Wegman Clinic. She also developed a special form of massage therapy, called rhythmical massage, and other self-claimed therapeutic treatments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marie Steiner-von Sivers</span> Baltic German actress (1867–1948)

Marie Steiner-von Sivers was a Baltic German actress, the second wife of Rudolf Steiner and one of his closest colleagues. She made a great contribution to the development of anthroposophy, particularly in her work on the renewal of the performing arts, and the editing and publishing of Rudolf Steiner's literary estate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ehrenfried Pfeiffer</span> German soil scientist

Ehrenfried Pfeiffer was a German scientist, soil scientist, leading advocate of biodynamic agriculture, anthroposophist and student of Rudolf Steiner.

Rudolf Hauschka was an Austrian chemist, author, inventor, entrepreneur and anthroposophist.

Walther Cloos was a pharmacist, alchemist, Anthroposophist, lecturer, researcher, inventor, author and pioneer in anthroposophical pharmacy.

Willem Frans Daems, PhD was a pharmacist, anthroposophist, pianist, teacher and editor.

Hans Krüger was a pharmacist, anthroposophist, botanist, lecturer and researcher.

Wilhelm Pelikan was a German-Austrian chemist, anthroposophist, pharmacist, gardener and anthroposophical medicine practitioner.

Oskar Schmiedel was a pharmacist, anthroposophist, therapist, Goethean scientist and theosophist.

Peter Selg is a German psychiatrist. He was born in Stuttgart and studied medicine in Witten-Herdecke, Zurich, and Berlin. Until 2000, he worked as the head physician of the juvenile psychiatry department of Herdecke hospital in Germany. Selg is director of the Ita Wegman Institute for Basic Research into Anthroposophy and professor of medicine at the Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences (Germany). He lectures extensively and is the author of numerous books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cosmetic industry</span> Industry that manufactures and distributes cosmetic products

The cosmetic industry describes the industry that manufactures and distributes cosmetic products. These include colour cosmetics, like foundation and mascara, skincare such as moisturisers and cleansers, haircare such as shampoos, conditioners and hair colours, and toiletries such as bubble bath and soap. The manufacturing industry is dominated by a small number of multinational corporations that originated in the early 20th century, but the distribution and sale of cosmetics is spread among a wide range of different businesses. Cosmetics must be safe when customers use them in accordance with the label's instructions or in the conventional or expected manner. One measure a producer may take to guarantee the safety of a cosmetic product is product testing. FDA occasionally does testing as part of its research program or when looking into potential safety issues with a product. Both the cosmetics business and consumers can benefit from the FDA's resources on product testing.

Sunfield is a private special school, Children's Home and charity on the border of Worcestershire and the West Midlands in England. It was founded in 1930 and now supports boys and girls, aged 6 – 19 years, with complex learning needs, including autism.

The Rudolf Steiner Fellowship Foundation was founded in 1966 by a group of young anthroposophists with a goal to care for the elderly.

Dr. Hauschka is a German skincare company that produces natural skincare products using biodynamic, fair trade, and sustainably produced ingredients.

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