The Body Shop India and VAHDAM India initiatives to make the planet a better place to live
About VAHDAM India
VAHDAM® India is an award-winning, digitally native Consumer brand taking India’s finest teas & superfoods to consumers in 100+ countries, under a proud home-grown label. It has raised over 120+crores in Venture Funding from India’s Top Consumer Investors. Founded in 2015 by the then 23-year old Bala Sarda, VAHDAM® has been endorsed by global icons like Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres, Mariah Carey, and Martha Stewart amongst others. It is also the only Indian brand ever to be featured in ‘OPRAH’S FAVOURITE THINGS’ two years in a row (2018 & 2019). In February 2020, VAHDAM® Teas was awarded the ‘Global SMB of the Year’ by Jeff Bezos. It is also a certified Climate Neutral & Plastic Neutral Brand and directs 1% of their revenue towards the education of the tea growers’ children under their social initiative, ‘TEAch Me’. ‘VAHDAM’ is the reverse anagram of the founder’s father’s first name, ‘MADHAV’
Initiative
Climate/Plastic Neutrality
· In 2020, VAHDM® became one of the first tea brands in Asia to get a Climate Neutral & Plastic Neutral Certification. This was in line with the brand’s long-term goal of aligning to UN SDGs by 2030.
· With this they went ahead to offset the carbon footprint by purchasing credits in projects that work at reducing, removing or avoiding emissions or carbon from traditional fossil fuels, and thus help control climate.
· In 2021, VAHDAM® India have continued with their commitment towards Climate Neutrality by measuring and offsetting their carbon footprint for the year 2020 and will continue to do so in the coming years.
· Offsetting – VAHDAM® India has purchased an equivalent amount of carbon credits to ‘neutralize’ their emissions. They have purchased credits from the following projects that are underway in India.
o 20MW Biomass Power Project at Godawari Power and IspatLimited, Chhattisgarh
o 100.5 MW Wind Power Project in Madhya Pradesh, India
o Improved Wood Stoves in Udaipur – Helping Women and Environment
· Reducing -As part of the long-term commitment to climate change, VADHAM® India is focused on reducing its carbon footprint by progressively looking at doing more with less energy consumption. While a growing business does result in a direct increase in the carbon footprint, they endeavour to reduce energy consumption through a planned roadmap. Eg. Monitor usage of Air-conditioners, Lights and Fans at office headquarters, Use reusable glassware in canteens.
· Renewing – Responsible businesses are increasingly focusing on measuring and reducing the use of plastic. In 2020, VAHDAM® worked with rePurpose Global, to measure and offset its plastic usage, and become one of the first tea brands in India to get the Plastic Neutral certification. rePurpose Global is the World’s First Plastic Credit Platform dedicated to reducing waste, reviving lives, and restoring nature’s balance. VAHDAM® regularly measures its plastic footprint by carefully calculating the total amount of plastic that is used in its operations. This footprint is then neutralized by investments in various projects.
About The Body Shop
Founded in 1976 in Brighton, England, by Dame Anita Roddick, The Body Shop is a global beauty brand and a certified B Corp™. The Body Shop seeks to make positive change in the world by offering high-quality, naturally-inspired skincare, body care, hair care and make-up produced ethically and sustainably. Having pioneered the philosophy that business can be a force for good, this ethos is still the brand’s driving force. The Body Shop operates about 3,000 retail locations in more than 70 countries. Along with Aesop, Avon and Natura, The Body Shop is part of Natura &Co, a global, multi-channel and multi-brand cosmetics group that is committed to generating positive economic, social and environmental impact. The four companies that form the group are committed to generating positive economic, social and environmental impact. The Body Shop India is managed by Quest Retail Pvt Ltd and is operational in India since 2006. The Body Shop operates 200 stores across the country.
THE BODY SHOP LEMON FACE WASH INR 945 
THE BODY SHOP LEMON HAIR & BODY WASH INR 1195
The Body Shop Plastic for change initiative
In 2019, The Body Shop has launched world’s first Community Fair Trade Plastic packaging by sourcing recyclable plastic waste from waste picker communities in Bengaluru, India.They have applied a 4 decades of Community Fair Trade expertise to create sustainable packaging. At the heart of this project, is the belief that simply reducing the plastic we use is not enough – we must look at plastic waste that already exists as a valuable resource that can and does form the livelihood of some of the poorest people in the world. By working with our Community Fair Trade partner Plastics For Change (PFC), The Body Shop is sourcing recyclable plastic waste from waste pickers and recycling this plastic to create product packaging. In 2019 alone, they have purchased 250 tonnes of Community Trade recycled plastic from this initiative and used it in nearly three million 250ml haircare bottles. In 2019, they have sourced 250 tonnes of recyclable plastic and by the end of 2021 aiming to purchase over 900 tonnes of Community Trade Recycled Plastic.
The Body Shop Bring Back Our Bottles (BBOB) Initiative
Taking back the plastic packaging is also key to The Body Shop commitment to confronting plastic pollution while supporting the waste picker community. With the launch of CFT Recycled Plastic, in 2019 The Body Shop also launch in-store recycling program – Bring Back Our Bottles (BBOB). Through BBOB, consumers can drop off their TBS plastic empties to their nearest store for recycling. BBOB is active at all The Body Shop standalone stores in India and the packaging they collect is also fed back into our Plastics for Change initiative in Bengaluru thereby ensuring a closed loop.
