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Yves Rocher is a French
skin care Skin care is a range of practices that support skin integrity, enhance its appearance, and relieve skin conditions. They can include nutrition, avoidance of excessive sun exposure, and appropriate use of emollients. Practices that enhance appea ...
,
cosmetics Cosmetics are constituted mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either natural sources, or synthetically created ones. Cosmetics have various purposes. Those designed for personal care and skin care can be used to cleanse or protect ...
and
perfume Perfume (, ; french: parfum) is a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agreeable scent. Th ...
company, founded in 1965 by French entrepreneur
Yves Rocher Yves Rocher (7 April 1930 – 26 December 2009) was a French businessman and founder of the cosmetics company that bears his name. He was a pioneer of the modern use of natural ingredients in cosmetics.. Early life Yves Rocher was born in the ...
in
La Gacilly La Gacilly (; ) is a commune in the Morbihan department of Brittany in north-western France. It is located on the right bank of the Aff River, about north of Redon, on the train line between Vannes and Rennes and about from both. It extended on ...
. The company is present with over 3,000 stores, about half of them franchised, in 88 countries on five continents and employs 13,500 personnel. The company's headquarters is located in
Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...
,
Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
, France. It maintains a
botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...
, the ''
Jardin botanique Yves Rocher de La Gacilly The Jardin botanique Yves Rocher de La Gacilly, sometimes called simply the Jardin botanique de La Gacilly, is a botanical garden located at the Yves Rocher industrial site at La Croix des Archers, La Gacilly, Morbihan, Bretagne, France. It is open ...
'', which is open to the public without charge at its factory site in
La Gacilly La Gacilly (; ) is a commune in the Morbihan department of Brittany in north-western France. It is located on the right bank of the Aff River, about north of Redon, on the train line between Vannes and Rennes and about from both. It extended on ...
. For the company's national and international experience in sustainable development, and eco-friendly products, the Environment Possibility Award conferred the "Environmental Heroes of the Year" to Yves Rocher in 2020. Rocher Group, formerly Yves Rocher Group, had a turnover of 2.75 billion euros in 2019. The group also includes the brands Daniel Jouvance, Dr Pierre Ricaud, Isabel Derroisné, Petit Bateau, Kiotis, Stanhome and Galérie Noémie.


History

Laboratoires de Biologie Végétale Yves Rocher was established in 1965 to incorporate the local business focused on selling
hemorrhoid Hemorrhoids (or haemorrhoids), also known as piles, are vascular structures in the anal canal. In their normal state, they are cushions that help with stool control. They become a disease when swollen or inflamed; the unqualified term ''hemo ...
salve and cosmetics based on traditional recipes through
mail order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing a telephone call * Placing a ...
s
Yves Rocher Yves Rocher (7 April 1930 – 26 December 2009) was a French businessman and founder of the cosmetics company that bears his name. He was a pioneer of the modern use of natural ingredients in cosmetics.. Early life Yves Rocher was born in the ...
ran since 1956. As the mayor of his hometown
La Gacilly La Gacilly (; ) is a commune in the Morbihan department of Brittany in north-western France. It is located on the right bank of the Aff River, about north of Redon, on the train line between Vannes and Rennes and about from both. It extended on ...
,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
since the late 1950s, Rocher hoped that the establishment of a local business would help create jobs and stop people from fleeing the village in search of work. In 1959 the company opened its botanical garden and a laboratory to experiment on new recipes along with searching for potential ingredients worldwide. In 1965 the company built its first factory and an expanded botanical garden with a modern laboratory named Le Centre d'Etudes et de Recherche en Cosmetologie (Center for the Study and Research of Beauty Care). The same year the company produced its first Green Book of Beauty catalog. Focused on transforming botanical substances into cosmetic ingredients, Rocher had anticipated the boom of interest in natural cosmetics and ecology in general. In 1969 Yves Rocher launched a new production facility in La Gacilly, and in 1970 the first retail store opened in Paris. The company rapidly expanded its retail network through its stores and selling
franchise Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...
s, and expanded its mail order and retail business to the rest of Europe. By the early 1970s, the company sales had topped Fr 80 million. Yves Rocher avoided public listing and found a strategic partner to fund future growth. In 1973 the 60% share in the company was sold to
Elf Aquitaine Elf Aquitaine is a French brand of oils and other motor products (such as brake fluids) for automobiles and trucks. Elf is a former petroleum company which merged with TotalFina to form "TotalFinaElf". The new company changed its name to Total in ...
subsidiary
Sanofi Sanofi S.A. is a French multinational pharmaceutical and healthcare company headquartered in Paris, France. Originally, the corporation was established in 1973 and merged with Synthélabo in 1999 to form Sanofi-Synthélabo. In 2004, Sanofi-Syn ...
, yet Rocher himself retained 57% of the company's voting rights. By 1981 the company reached Fr 1 billion in sales with mail orders accounting for 70%, and retail along with in-home party sales providing the rest. In 1982 the company's new Center for Applied Research claimed to develop a technique to extract the DNA of certain plants and re-engineer them to produce heightened benefits. The A.D.N Revitalizing Resource line of skincare products based on that research boosted the company sales worldwide up to Fr 2.6 billion by 1984.


Foundation

The Yves Rocher Foundation was founded in 2016 by Yves Rocher under the aegis of the institute of France since 2001.


Controversy

Yves Rocher Vostok, the company's East European subsidiary, sued Russian opposition politician
Alexei Navalny Alexei Anatolievich Navalny ( rus, links=no, Алексей Анатольевич Навальный, , ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ nɐˈvalʲnɨj; born 4 June 1976) is a Opposition to Vladimir Putin in Russia, Russian opposition ...
and his brother for
fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...
and
money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...
. '' New Gazette'' accused Bruno Leproux, managing director of Yves Rocher Vostok, of assisting the Russian government's campaign against Alexei Navalny. Since August 2014 the "One Question for Yves Rocher" movement has been expanding in Europe in order to get the Yves Rocher corporation to take a definitive position on the case against Navalny. On 30 December 2014, Alexei Navalny's brother Oleg was sentenced to 3 years forced labour and Alexei Navalny himself to a suspended sentence of 3 years. On 17 October 2017,
European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...
decided that the case of fraud against Alexei and Oleg Navalny on the complaint of the company "Yves Rocher" was considered in Russia with violation of the right to a fair trial. The court concluded that the verdict was arbitrary and unreasonable. According to the decision of the ECHR, Russia must pay the brothers Navalny 76 thousand euros. The ECHR refused to consider the issue of political motivation. At the same time, three judges of the ECHR Dmitry Dedov, Helen Keller and Georgios Sergidez expressed the opinion that it was necessary to consider a possible political background of the case. Despite the decision of the ECHR on 25 April 2018, the Presidium of the Supreme Court of Russia refused to revoke the verdict to the Navalny brothers in the case of Yves Rocher and decided to resume the case to consider new circumstances. On February 2, 2021, the court changed Navalny's probation to a real one and sent him to a colony for 2 years 8 months (taking into account the period spent by the politician under house arrest). After the verdict, the oppositionist was declared a
political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...
. Yves Rocher refused to support Navalny in any way, which provoked criticism The winner of the
Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...
for 2021,
Dmitry Muratov Dmitry Andreyevich Muratov (russian: Дмитрий Андреевич Муратов; born 29 October 1961) is a Russian journalist, television presenter and the editor-in-chief of the Russian newspaper ''Novaya Gazeta''. He was awarded the 202 ...
, at the ceremony of presenting this award, said the following: “Opposition politician Alexei Navalny is being kept in the camp on a false denunciation by the Russian director of the largest perfume company from
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. The director wrote a statement, but he was not summoned to court and did not recognize himself as a victim ... But Navalny is in prison. The perfume company itself chose to step aside, hoping that the smell of this case would not harm the scent of its products.


References


External links

*
Groupe Rocher official website

Yves Rocher Foundation
{{Authority control Cosmetics companies of France Companies based in Brittany French brands Chemical companies established in 1959 Manufacturing companies established in 1959 Retail companies established in 1959 1959 establishments in France