The Body Shop awarded in two major categories in the 17th Retail Asia Awards

It was celebrated as Beauty Retailer of the Year and ESG Initiative of the Year and Health.

The Body Shop India has been championing purposeful campaigns and projects in the past years. The past year was no exception as it continues to be one of the leading companies in the country.

It was recognised in the recently concluded 17th Retail Asia Awards with two major awards. It is a prestigious annual event that gathers the region's best retailers and recognises the most outstanding retail initiatives.

The first award given is the Health & Beauty Retailer of the Year – India. 

For 40 years The Body Shop showed the world that business could be a force for good.

The Body Shop entered India in 2006 with its first store in Mumbai, Maharashtra. With stores that are truly a sensorial experience for all those who walk in, it now has nearly 200 stores that cover all metropolitan cities and most tier 2 and tier 3 cities.

It had always been a vegetarian beauty brand and now it aims to turn its entire portfolio of products to be Vegan-certified by 2023.

It now has an active web store reaching more than 30,000 pin codes across India.

The Body Shop has always campaigned for causes where its change-making voice can make a difference. It has achieved successful execution of more than 15 CSR initiatives across different categories, and now has a social media family of over 4 million.

It has partnered with various associations to help it reach a wider audience and to connect with customers across the board. Its products and campaigns have always been very well received by the media and have been frontrunners for beauty awards by top publications.

To drive sustainability in the market, The Body Shop India encourages its customers to return plastic bottles to the store. It is committed to recycling 1 million bottles by 2024 through its Return, Recycle, Repeat program.

The second award it was given is ESG Initiative of the Year – India for The Body Shop Project N.A.R.I.

Project N.A.R.I. is a grassroots initiative for women waste pickers in partnership with PFC Foundation in Bengaluru, Karnataka, focused on four vital pillars namely Nutrition, Ability, Retraining, and Inclusion.

It is specifically designed to address the pressing economic and social issues that female waste workers face. It will directly benefit women waste pickers in Karnataka with the aim to positively impact their financial, health and family’s well-being in the long-term.

Project N.A.R.I. includes systemic interventions spanning 6 months which are required for sustainable, on-ground impact.

Some of the issues that The Body Shop and PFC India Foundation will address are reducing health risks by providing robust PPE kits, access to safe nutrition, healthcare awareness, and training and development of female waste-pickers towards becoming plastic quality engineers.

The program includes strong measures of financial inclusion such as access to banking systems and cash incentives for female waste-pickers working within the Plastics for Change system to help source recyclable plastic sustainably.

The project’s scope extends from safety and nutrition to capability-building and healthcare.

The 17th Retail Asia Awards is presented by Retail Asia. To view the full list of winners, click here. If you want to join the 2023 awards programme and be acclaimed for your company's outstanding retail initiatives, please contact Jane Patiag at [email protected].