Hain Celestial raises its personal care profile by supporting female education

Hain Celestial is heightening its growing profile in the personal care categories with a three year charitable commitment the global poverty-fighting charitable organization, CARE.

The company wants to highlight its personal care portfolio, which now includes Alba Botanical, Avalon Organics, Belvedere and Jason, through its commitment to CARE’s Empower Her Through Education campaign.

The program aims to eliminate barriers to women in education, tackling issues such as a violence, hunger, child marriage and repressive ideological beliefs against women in developing countries throughout the world.

Supporting women’s causes

Like Avon Products, which is one of the world’s biggest supporters of women’s breast cancer charities, Hain Celestial is aiming to wear its philanthropic credentials by specifically supporting women’s charities, in a bid to resonate with its mainly female consumer base.

"Education can transform the lives of girls, women and whole communities.  It can fuel real progress on a large scale—reducing violence, poverty, and inequality," said Dr. Helene Gayle, president and CEO of CARE.

Research flagged up by the charity shows that 31 million girls worldwide have been unable to obtain a proper education and that a child born to an literate mother is 50% more likely to survive beyond the age of five.

"It is essential to address the educational obstacles that affect millions of impoverished women. They are the most at risk, and they have the most power to break the cycle of poverty in their families and their communities," said Julie Merchant-Houle, general manager of personal care at Hain Celestial.

Hain Celestial expanding beyond food

Last month natural products company Hain Celestial announced it was expanding its presence beyond the food and beverage arena by growing its personal care portfolio with the acquisition of Belvedere, a leading naturals player.

Belvedere is a Canada-based consumer goods company with a variety of lines that encompass the baby, body  and hair categories and include both niche and mass market brands, most of which are focused on the domestic market.

Its brands include Live Clean, Fuzion, One Step, Down Under, 24/& Essentials and European Formula, while it also develops and manufactures a number of private label brands from its facility in Mississauga, Ontario.

Established in 1981 by Donald Belvedere, by 2014 the Belvedere business had a turnover of approximately $25 mn, with the backbone of the sales derived from Live Clean, which is the leading natural hair care and baby care brand in Canada.