In this interview, DOUGLAS Group CEO Sander van der Laan explains the importance of sustainability at DOUGLAS and the strategy we are pursuing. He also outlines progress and our groupwide ambitions.
As the DOUGLAS Group, we take our responsibility to our colleagues, customers, suppliers, and the world around us seriously. We have the ambition to be a role model in sustainability in the beauty retail sector. For us, sustainability isn’t just a buzzword. It is a principle deeply rooted in our core values.
Sander, what role does sustainability play for the DOUGLAS Group?
SANDER VAN DER LAAN: We are the leading premium beauty omnichannel destination in Europe – and we also aspire to take a leading position in our industry when it comes to sustainability. We look at sustainability from two angles: On the one hand, sustainability is in line with our ecological and social conscience to live up to our responsibility. On the other hand, our customers and employees have a clear expectation which we want to fulfill. Furthermore, by reducing emissions and waste, for example, we can lower our costs and thus strengthen our competitiveness.
All our corporate brands’ products fully comply with EU regulations relating to animal testing and are therefore cruelty-free. In 2023, we launched our second organic range: DOUGLAS NATURALS.
We recently published our updated sustainability strategy. What are our priorities?
SANDER VAN DER LAAN: Our sustainability strategy is an integral part of our ‘Let it Bloom’ growth strategy, which puts customers at the center of all activities. We are driving environmental, social and governance (ESG) topics along the three focus areas of People, Planet and Products. We are working hard to achieve our new, ambitious sustainability targets in the coming years including, for example, protecting the climate, avoiding waste, and increasing employee satisfaction.
What does DOUGLAS do to protect the environment and save resources?
SANDER VAN DER LAAN: We take our corporate responsibility seriously, having signed the UN Global Compact last year, a United Nations initiative for sustainable and socially responsible corporate policy. One of the goals we are pursuing is to reduce our CO2 emissions in our own business operations by 50 percent by 2025 compared to the financial year 2018/19. We can achieve this by, for example, fostering the energy-efficiency of our stores and using green electricity.
What role does sustainability play for customers and for DOUGLAS products?
SANDER VAN DER LAAN: We are convinced that sustainability is extremely important for our customers, and therefore also for us and our products. We want to provide our customers with transparent information and enable them to make sustainable purchasing decisions. By joining the EcoBeautyScore Consortium initiative, we are supporting the development of a rating for the environmental impact of cosmetic products and therefore have a positive influence. In the past financial year, 94 percent of our DOUGLAS Corporate Brands product new launches were vegan – almost one third of the DOUGLAS’s Corporate Brands new launches in the financial year 2022/23 contained at least 90% ingredients from a natural origin. We are continuing along this path and are expanding our range of natural cosmetics, having launched the new NATURALS line under our Corporate Brands last year.
Employees also attach great value to sustainability – what do we do internally?
SANDER VAN DER LAAN: We are an international and diverse company. At DOUGLAS, for example, 89 percent of management positions were held by women in the past financial year. With initiatives such as management programs, a new e-learning platform, and a mentoring program, we attract and promote talent across borders. DOUGLAS may have its roots in Germany, but we are a European company with employees of 104 nationalities.
