Amanda Barlow - An alternative route

The average woman is said to absorb two kilos of chemicals through her skin every year, but UK cosmetics company Spiezia Organics is looking to change that.

The typical image of your average organic consumer as a sandal-wearing hippie is dead, according to Amanda Barlow, board director of Spiezia Organics. In fact organic products are becoming so popular that the last 12 months has seen the category grow 33% to reach value sales totalling £802m in the UK, says Barlow, with a projected growth to the tune of £2.3m a week. This popularity goes some way to explaining the company’s burgeoning sales since its modest conception seven years ago.

Spiezia Organics is the brainchild of Mariano Spiezia, an Italian doctor who retrained as a homeopath following his increasing disillusion with traditional medicine. Spiezia believes passionately that nature provides everything we need to heal, and the business began with him making up ointments and salves to solve his patients’ skin complaints.

Each product is rooted in solving a specific skin complaint, and includes elements of ancient Roman, Egyptian and traditional Chinese herbal medicine. Spiezia uses organic olive oil as a base in which to macerate herbs, and all ingredients are 100% organic. For an organic company to emphasise its organic content may be stating the obvious, yet Barlow explains: "Our products are as much about what doesn’t go into them as what does. We’re still one of few companies in the UK to have 100% accreditation across the full range."

In fact consumers may be shocked to discover just how important this distinction is. "The Soil Association has made great in-roads into certification, but you can still label something as organic if it has a content of 75% or over. To use the word natural you only have to have a 2% natural content. It’s grossly misleading to the public."

In the face of such confusion over the meaning of organic, coupled with consumer ignorance of the implications of these labelling standards, it must be difficult for Spiezia to voice its point of difference to the average customer. "Our difference is that we are 100% organic. Where we used to use Spiezia Organic with the strapline ‘Made For Life’, we now use ‘Spiezia 100% Organic’ on every label."

The company also has a website that it uses both as a sales channel and an educational tool. "Of course we need to be commercially viable and expand to get our message out there but the main drive for the company is to promulgate the philosophy of a better lifestyle. For us it’s about saying that beauty products can be purer. There are alternatives out there," explains Barlow. This mission statement has struck a chord with the public, who are voting with their feet when it comes to companies such as Innocent, that succeed in convincing consumers of their conscience.

Fresh approach

However, rather than pitching Spiezia’s products to the ready and waiting, found browsing the shelves at the likes of Fresh & Wild, the company has chosen the department store route, starting with Harvey Nichols. "By placing our products in organic channels we would be preaching to the converted. We need to be regarded primarily as a cosmetics brand, so that a lady who would usually buy a mainstream cosmetics brand can see our products as an alternative."

For this reason Spiezia underwent a rebranding process in 2004. "We have to pitch our offering so as not to scare off the buyers of mainstream cosmetics. We’ve changed the jars from blue – a colour typically associated with organic products – to a contemporary purple and ditched the sticky labels in favour of a more aesthetic direct printing with a new logo. It’s really important to compare favourably with existing brands. We want people to be able to display our bottles in their bathrooms." In line with Spiezia’s core values, however, the packaging is fully recyclable.

This has opened up a whole new market for Spiezia. Barlow explains that the company now has three main categories of customer. The first covers single, high earning city dwellers, who shop in Harvey Nichols. Then there is the 50+ market, which Barlow attributes to editorial coverage in Saga and WI magazines, who are motivated by a concern for their families’ well being. Finally, the company’s loyal custom base comprises high earning, rural families. But the message is clearly spreading, as Barlow has found that lower income families are increasingly registering their interest in Spiezia.

The company has had to work hard to keep up with demand. In 2002 it had a database of 2,000 customers. Today that figure has grown to 10,000. Similarly, turnover has increased from £70,000 in 2002 to £285,000 in 2005. This year Spiezia’s goal is to break through the £500,000 barrier. To meet this target the company has upped production capacity, recruited more staff and is looking into a mechanical filling system.

Spiezia also has some more long term ambitions. The company has developed spa treatments and is looking at opening an educational centre to promote natural healing. Expansion abroad is also on the cards and Spiezia is in talks with distributors in the US.