By Peter Marsh
Natura is a fast-growing Brazilian cosmetics and toiletries company which started as a small laboratory in a garage in São Paulo 37 years ago. Today, it is trying to go international.
Natura picked France as the first country outside Latin America to try out its ideas.
We wanted to choose a sophisticated market where people want things to be very good, says Alessandro Carlucci, Naturas Chief Executive. We wanted a test that was tough.
Mr Carlucci says the experiment was successful. Within five years, he says, Natura wants to have at least 10 per cent of its revenues coming from outside Brazil, compared with 3 per cent now. Apart from Brazil and its small operation in France, Natura currently sells its cosmetics in a few other South American countries.
It sells a range of 600 soaps, shampoos, skin-care lotions and similar products. All of them are based on about 900 natural ingredients, sourced mostly from farmers in the Amazon rainforest.
The company promotes itself as an ethical company that works with growers who harvest their products in an environmentally sensitive way. It also uses biodegradable packaging.
What makes them different from other companies is their corporate values. They really want to make the world a better place, says Mauro Cunha, Chief Investment Officer at Franklin Templeton Investimentos Brasil.
Results are good. In the first nine months, revenues were up 21 per cent to US $1.3bn. Net income rose 33 per cent to $344 m.
FINANCIAL TIMES
4 Answer these questions:
1 Where does Natura sell its products?
2 What is the companys target for the next five years?
3 Where does the company get the ingredients for its products?
4 What makes Natura an ethical company?
5 Why did Natura choose France to find out how successfully it could expand abroad?
5 Match the words (1-5) to the nouns (a-e) to make word partnerships used in the article.
| 1 a fast growing | a) values | 1______ |
| 2 chief | b) ingredients | 2______ |
| 3 corporate | c) lotion | 3______ |
| 4 skin-care | d) executive | 4______ |
| 5 natural | e) company | 5_______ |
6 Make a note of two facts about Natura that you find particularly interesting. Then compare and discuss your ideas in pairs.
7 Work in pairs. Say what you know about the companies in the table.
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| Nationality | ||||
| Product(s) | ||||
| Other information |
8 
Tom Armstrong and Rachel Humphries talk about the four companies. Listen and complete the table.
9 Listen again and check your answers.
TA = Tom Armstrong
RH = Rachel Humphries
| RH: | So Tom, what do you know about the Virgin Group? |
| TA: | Theyre a very large group, erm, they exist in a lot of different sectors and theyre run by Richard Branson theyre British. |
| RH: | Yes, yeah and they, they produce Virgin Cola, dont they? |
| TA: | Yeah and I think theyre also famous for the airline, the Virgin Atlantic. |
| RH: | Um, and they have a radio station Virgin radio. |
| TA: | Yeah, and they still have the megastores*, and I think they have megastores all over the world now |
| PH: | Yes. |
| TA: | selling videos, music. What do you know about Benetton? |
| RH: | Well, theyre Italian, and theyre very successful clothing manufacturers. |
| TA: | I think they produce sportswear** now. |
| RH: | Yes, thats right sportswear, and erm, another, they have another trademark called Sisley, which produces more expensive clothing. |
| TA: | And Mercedes-Benz do you know anything about them? |
| RH: | Well, they manufacture expensive, luxury*** cars and theyre German, I think, or maybe German American now, perhaps. |
| TA: | I think theyre part of the Daimler Chrysler Group, which again is a large group Ive heard that they also produce a very small car called the Smart. |
| RH: | Oh right, its good for the towns and cities. |
| TA: | Yeah. |
| RH: | And what about Sony? |
| TA: | Oh Sony, theyre, theyre as far as I know theyre still the world leaders in electronics, and produce, for example, the Sony Walkman. |
| RH: | Mmm, and theyre Japanese. |
| TA: | Yeah. |
| RH: | And er, what else do they produce?... computer games |
| TA: | Yeah, and they also do music now; they did the music for the film the Titanic. |
megastore*- ,
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sportswear**-
luxury*** -
10 Close your notes and write a paragraph describing Virgin, Benetton, Daimler Chrysler or Sony.
