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Burt's Bees
By Nicole Distasio
Currently based in a state-of-the-art facility in Raleigh, North Carolina, Burt’s Bees founders Shavitz and Quimby have come a long way from selling quarts of honey from the back of a pick-up truck outside of Bangor, Maine. In 1991 Roxanne discovered a cache of beeswax Burt saved in his backyard honey-house and the friends decided to make candles to sell at local flea markets. They sat up headquarters in a once abandoned one-room schoolhouse and business quickly took off. Burt and Roxanne began making lip balms, hand salves and other bees wax-based products that are still the core of Burt’s Bees product line today. Today the company also offers natural cosmetics, a popular baby care line and a booming on-line retail operation. This rapid expansion created a need for “expertise to grow and develop the company” that was not found in rural Northern Maine, according to Quimby. Burt’s Bees relocated in 1993 to the more “business-friendly, mainstream location” of Raleigh, NC. In Raleigh, Burt’s Bees has felt at home and has the support of a “well-developed infrastructure” needed by any young and growing company, she said. Burt’s Bees is proud to say that their original business plan is followed today. The company pledges, “to be a manufacturer of Earth-friendly, natural personal care products, operating on the premise that there are simple solutions to difficult problems and that Mother Nature teaches the answers by example.” The plan continues, “by imitating her economy, emulating her generosity and appreciating her graciousness, everyone will realize his/her rightful legacy on the magnificent Planet Earth.” Following that business plan led Burt’s Bees to make significant conservation investments. In 1998, they were a founding donor to The Nature Conservancy’s acquisition of the largest conservation purchase in Maine history. Burt’s Bees’ $2,000,000 contribution to The Nature Conservancy’s 185,000-acre purchase along the St. John’s River, home to many rare plants and wildlife, was just the beginning. Between August 2000 and August 2001, Burt’s Bees invested another $3,000,000 in four preserves totaling over 7,500 acres as a part of an effort to save the surviving area of the great North Woods of Maine. Asked about the difficulty of maintaining the integrity of the Burt’s Bees’ earth-friendly business plan over time, Quimby gets to the heart of the matter. “Because we have certain non-negotiable underlying rules, which must be adhered to in every product that we create, the integrity of our formulations and packaging remain uncompromised. Small things, such as using no petroleum, no artificial preservatives and no man-made ingredients, offer a challenge which continues to preserve the inherent truths with which we started this venture.” Burt’s Bees products can be found at most natural food markets, as well as at finer boutiques and spas across the Southeast.
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