There are over a thousand L’OCCITANE boutiques in 90 nations on 5 continents. To provide sufficient high-quality merchandise, L’OCCITANE works with over 130 French farmers and 10,000 discipline employees from Corsica to the lavender fields in Provence to make sure the top quality and sustainability of elements for his or her iconic merchandise.

L’OCCITANE produces luxurious physique washes, scrubs, skin-toning physique oils, foot and hand care, and basic epidermal good works, however L’OCCITANE doesn’t simply rescue pores and skin and assist complexions. It additionally has a charitable aspect. The well-known French skincare model works with over 40,000 girls in land-locked Burkina Faso in West Africa to advertise entrepreneurship and schooling. Different vital work consists of serving to the visually impaired in varied nations.

Established in 2004, The L’OCCITANE Basis was created to unite the philanthropic initiatives launched in 1976. Along with supporting the visually impaired and the emancipation of ladies, in addition they work in the direction of preserving pure heritages and biodiversity worldwide. In 2020, it surpassed its aim of supporting 33,000 girls in Faso and has set a brand new one to assist 60,000 girls there by 2025.

Now seventy years outdated, L’OCCITANE’s founder, Olivier Baussan, studied literature at L’Universitie d’Aix-en-Provence. He purchased an outdated nonetheless from an area farmer to distill rosemary and lavender important oils; with a chemist pal, Yves Millou. Then Bassaun purchased an outdated cleaning soap manufacturing facility, and, in 1976, L’Occitane was born, reviving the standard artwork of soap-making in Marseille. A yr later, the primary harvest of delicate lavender occurred. In 1981, it opened its first store in Volx, Haute Provence. The primary retailer in Paris opened on Rue Vavin in 1992.

L’OCCITANE’s best-selling skincare product is the Shea Butter Hand Cream. One is offered each two seconds around the globe. Olivier Baussan first heard about Burkino Faso’s feminine shea butter makers from a stranger he met at an airport whereas touring in Africa. He instantly modified his flight residence and flew to Burkina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou, inserting a big order of shea butter and pledging to work with girls into the longer term to assist their schooling and entrepreneurship. He has modified lives in Africa. There have been twelve employees on the manufacturing facility he pledged to assist, and now that quantity has was 1000’s and 1000’s. His charitable group, of which he’s vice chairman, nonetheless focuses on the financial emancipation of ladies.

The corporate determined in 1997 to incorporate the names of merchandise in braille on many of the packaging. It partnered with the Helen Keller Basis to supply eye exams to colleges on each coasts of america. Not simply stateside, proceeds from the gross sales of L’OCCITANE’s “Animal Soaps Set” go to Orbis, a non-profit group preventing blindness in growing nations. For over 20 years, the corporate’s basis has supported initiatives and initiatives to fight avoidable blindness. It hopes to achieve 15 million beneficiaries worldwide by 2025.

The L’OCCITANE Basis has been a member of the Worldwide Company for the Prevention of Blindness since 2016. “At L’OCCITANE, we need to reside in a world the place everybody can see and expertise the sweetness that nature has to supply,” says Baussan.

Yearly since 2000, the retailing group has offered a brand new solidarity product to lift funds to assist our companions combat avoidable blindness worldwide. Earlier than that, in 2017, L’OCCITANE and its basis launched into a significant worldwide partnership with UNICEF. The collaboration assured a minimal of 1 million euros yearly for 3 years. It helped forestall childhood blindness of greater than 5 and a half million youngsters in Bolivia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, and Niger.

The corporate goals to supply 10 million beneficiaries entry to eye care, exhibiting its dedication to preventing avoidable blindness by way of its Union for Imaginative and prescient program. L’OCCITANE has labored with UNICEF to supply Vitamin A complement packages for kids worldwide. Vitamin A is crucial for a kid’s immune system, and Vitamin A deficiency is the main explanation for childhood blindness.

One other vital initiative for the corporate, L’OCCITANE, has partnered with the PUR Mission globally to combat deforestation and local weather change by planting timber regionally. For over ten years, L’OCCITANE has been introducing initiatives corresponding to eco-refills and in-store recycling. Since its inception, it has supplied a glass bottle return system for native refilling or recycling.

Says Baussand, “The Basis has sprung forth from L’OCCITANE’s soul. Merely bringing out what’s on the within.” He and the corporate have confirmed that the ability of a stable company philanthropy philosophy can result in lasting, impactful modifications within the lives of tens of millions worldwide.

Though the corporate was offered to Austrian businessman Reinold Geiger, Baussan retains a 5% stake. The headquarters is predicated in Manosque within the Alpes-de-Haute, Provence in southwestern France.