Our Commitment

With NIVEA, Eucerin and La Prairie we have three of the world’s most successful global skin care brands for the mass, pharmacy and selective market. Our brands represent modern and innovative skin care and reliable quality. This is accompanied by a responsibility which we take seriously. When it comes to care we have always taken a holistic approach: caring for skin, as well as for people and the environment around them.

We are aware that the business landscape we survey today has changed beyond all recognition: In the past it was considered helpful to act in a responsible manner, today with scarcity of resources and ever increasing consumer and retailer demands it is vital to both business and society. For us sustainability is one of the drivers that we exploit in order to realize our goals, both social and business. 

Our 2020 ambitious commitments are designed to ensure that we are focused on the areas where we as a company have our greatest impact: Products, Planet, and People. In 2012 we focused on the company-wide implementation of our ‘We care‘ strategy:

• We achieved considerable reductions for our NIVEA Body range. By decreasing packaging material for the newly designed bottle, we will save almost 350 tons of plastic a year. 

• We extended our life-cycle-analysis program to expand our knowledge of where and what the biggest impacts during a product’s life are. Thus, allowing us to deliver products to the market which have a significantly reduced environmental footprint.

• In Mexico we are building a new plant according to LEED standard certification. This will result in a significant reduction of CO₂ emissions and water usage compared to an equivalent plant – increasing our overall resource efficiency.

Our sustainability efforts can only be successful if we can inspire our employees. Encouraging responsibility and individual engagement is the key. If every one of our almost 17,000 employees takes a small step towards sustainability, we as a company will generate a tremendous impact. This combined with our strategic approach will enable us to unleash the company’s full potential and achieve our 2020 commitments.

In 2013 we will continue working on innovative and sustainable solutions for our consumers, the environment and society at large – together with our employees and our stakeholders.

Stefan F. Heidenreich
Chief Executive Officer