Schmidt's Naturals
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Schmidt's Deodorant Company, LLC (dba Schmidt's Naturals) is an American
personal care Personal care products are consumer products which are applied on various external parts of the body such as skin, hair, nails, lips, external genital and anal areas, as well as teeth and mucous membrane of the oral cavity, in order to make ...
company based in Portland, Oregon. A subsidiary of
Unilever Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...
, Schmidt's Naturals manufactures and sells plant and mineral-based personal care products including natural deodorant, soap, and toothpaste.


History

In 2011 Jaime Schmidt, a mother and social worker in
Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...
, began making personal care products in her kitchen. Over the next 4 years, Schmidt sold her products at farmers’ markets and co-ops around Portland, eventually gaining shelf space at a regional Whole Foods. By 2014, Schmidt had refined her all-natural product line down to five deodorant scents, all sold in small glass jars with an applicator.


Investment

In late 2014, Schmidt accepted investor Michael Cammarata's offer to invest in her company in exchange for equity. In January 2015, the new partners, Cammarata and Schmidt officially formed Schmidt's Deodorant Company, LLC.


Growth

Over the next two years, Schmidt and Cammarata grew the new company rapidly from 4 employees to over 160: moving from a 1,200-square-foot space to a facility and then into one almost three times that size. During this time, with Cammarata focused on the business and Schmidt on the product, the company introduced new formulations, produced a stick variation, and rebranded. In 2016, Schmidt's launched an exclusive partnership with its first big retailer Target.com and was named Manufacturer of the Year in the small company category by the ''
Portland Business Journal American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes ''The Business Journals'', which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States with each market ...
.''"2016 Manufacturer of the Year Schmidt's Deodorant Company LLC"
''bizjournals.com'',.
By late 2016, Schmidt's had grown to almost 50 employees and offered 10 stick deodorants and 6 jar formulations. As the naturals segment continued to grow, Schmidt's Deodorant Company attracted the attention of large retailers.


Rebrand

In June 2017, Schmidt and Cammarata were named Pacific NorthWest Entrepreneurs of the Year by EY (formerly
Ernst & Young EY, previously known as Ernst & Young, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership, network based in London, United Kingdom. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms, Big F ...
). In September, they introduced a line of plant and mineral-based soaps, rebranding the company as Schmidt's Naturals; in November, they released toothpastes. By late 2017, the company had scaled to 120 employees with a 30,000 square-foot facility in Portland, Oregon and customer support center in Florida.


Unilever acquisition

In December 2017, after months of negotiation by Schmidt and Cammarata,
Unilever Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...
, acquired Schmidt's Naturals for an undisclosed sum. After the acquisition, Cammarata became chief executive officer of Schmidt's Naturals and Schmidt continued on as brand spokesperson. Following the Unilever acquisition, the company broadened its product line with the introduction of body wash, mouthwash, and home care products. Between January and August 2018, with Cammarata at the helm, Schmidt's Naturals grew by 300% in sales. In August 2018, Schmidt's Naturals partnered with Cammarata's family friend,
Jane Goodall Dame Jane Morris Goodall (; born Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall; 3 April 1934), formerly Baroness Jane van Lawick-Goodall, is an English zoologist, Primatology, primatologist and Anthropology, anthropologist. She is considered the world's foremo ...
to develop the special edition deodorant scent “Lily of the Valley” with 5% of the proceeds going to the Jane Goodall Institute. In May 2019, Schmidt's announced a collaboration with pop star
Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...
to create a new deodorant called “Here + Now,” which was designed for sensitive skin. The company also started using an AI platform, Alexander, to handle its customer services and to collect data. In July 2019, Schmidt's Naturals began selling deodorant products with hemp seed oil, including Rose + Black Pepper and Sage + Vetiver. In July 2019, Michael Cammarata left the company and Unilever executive Ryu Yokoi transitioned to chief executive officer.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmidt's Naturals American subsidiaries of foreign companies Companies based in Portland, Oregon American companies established in 2015 Personal care companies of the United States Health care companies established in 2015