A Deal That Stings: Local Burt’s Bees Bought by Clorox

Triangle based company Burt’s Bees might have been my favorite billion-dollar corporation… almost. Granted, the only product I’ve used is the underarm spray. It was one of those products that I actually felt good about purchasing because I knew my money was supporting what was, at one time, a locally established company. Having sold a stake in 2003 for $177 million to AEA Investors, Burt’s Bees maintained their air of locality. It is produced 20 minutes away and they seemed to understand my needs. It’s an underarm deodorant and not an anti-persperant. I knew as a human I was meant to sweat and they knew that too. It also helped me smell like lavender instead of ‘Dioxyuberclogo-Roygbiv-69’.

The buy-out company that bought Burt’s in 2003 just sold it to Clorox for (what!?) $925 million. Clorox has got faith.

Burt’s Bees has always promoted health and well being of its customers by using only natural ingredients such as beeswax, botanical and essential oils, herbs, flowers and minerals. They are one of the few truly socially responsible companies of this size who are strongly committed to supporting many humanitarian organizations, and fully dedicated to environmental sustainability.

It seems that Clorox, whose products couldn’t be farther away from ‘green’, is looking to cash in on the steady rise of the natural health industry. Clorox’s faith lies in the assessment that natural and organic personal care sales is expected to rise from $6.1 billion in 2006 to $10.2 billion in sales by 2012, according to Package Facts, an industry researcher. What’s discouraging is that ‘green’ products from local companies are getting slurped up by larger companies for the sake of tapping into the ‘green’ market. Buyouts like this are quickly blurring the distinction between natural local products and all the other junk on the shelves. Clorox does not care about making socially and environmentally sensitive products. The major objective with this purchase is to invest in the market that natural personal care consumers are providing.

Fortunately, the company will remain semi-independent and will continue to operate in the triangle. About 380 employees work at the headquarters and more are employed at a distribution center near RDU airport.

Even if the product stays exactly the same—I get to associate my underarm spray with bleach. I’ll have to re-evaluate my purchasing decision next go around. Sometimes green gives me the blues.

Illustration copyright NewRaleigh.com 2007