We recently learnt that one of the UK’s most popular brands has successfully sold their business for £230m. But what do we know about the new owners and what does it mean for us as ethical consumers. Wild as a business pride themselves on being sustainable, green and powered by nature. They have diverted an impressive 80 tonnes of throwaway deodorants from landfill and planted almost half a million trees – so we can’t help but question…… why did they decide to sell their business to consumer goods conglomerate, Unilever?
Who are they? Unilever hosts over 400 brands spanning more than 190 countries and you will definitely recognise some of their household names; Dove, Rexona, Lynx, Persil and Domestos to name a few. As like all large organisations, Unilever have taken many steps to reduce their environmental impact such as reducing operational greenhouse gas emissions by 74%, phasing out triclosan in its products and encouraging suppliers to use renewable energy. However, there is a darker side to this global business. In a 2021 report by Greenpeace ‘The Climate Emergency Unpacked’ they delved into how consumer goods companies are fuelling big oil's plastic expansion and Unilever were front and centre of this. It emerged that Unilever buys packaging from manufacturers that use petrochemicals from companies like ExxonMobil, Shell, and Chevron Phillips, sells 1700 highly-polluting plastic sachets each second and dumps large amounts of waste in countries in the Global South. Unilever scored just 10/100 in Ethical Consumer’s animals rating, the company was found to have a vague statement against animal testing, but it did not prohibit the testing of ingredients on animals, nor did it state that it would only permit testing when required by law.
We are not here to tell you who should and shouldn’t buy from, but we do recognise the importance of knowing who you’re buying from. If you currently click onto the Wild website you would think that you’re buying from a start up whose focus is on sustainability, whereas you are actually lining the pockets of a consumer goods giant whose focus may claim to be on sustainability but in reality is a far cry from Wilds original core mission. So in essence, you are still buying an excellent product that does in fact reduce plastic waste, use natural ingredients and support a greener lifestyle, however, the profits made off your purchase may not be reinvested into sustainable initiatives.
