A Vision Becomes Reality

A Vision Becomes Reality

Annemarie Lindner’s Success Story

5

Foreword

9

A Vision Becomes Reality

11

“I was raised very strictly” Values for Life

19

“A cosmetologist, that’s what I want to be” A Woman Discovers Her Calling

31

“It was very difficult” Fleeing and Starting Anew in the West

37

“Made in the Black Forest” A New Home in the Black Forest

45

“Pioneering scientific spirit” On the Road to Success with New Products

53

“We need to know our roots” The Second Generation Contributes

61

“Skincare is a matter of trust” Bringing Together the Best of Nature and Science

77

“Being a reliable partner” Lived Responsibility for People and the Environment

85

“Keep what’s tried and true and dare to try what’s new” New Directions for the Future

93

“Success depends on courage” The Börlind Awards 1987–2017

100

Legal Information

Foreword

This book is dedicated to the life and work of my mother, Anne­marie Lindner, who died on February 18, 2016 at the advanced age of 95.

She was a major figure in the world of natural cosmetics; her ideas, perspectives and work significantly shaped both our company and the entire natural cosmetics sector, which now plays a very important role in the cosmetics market.

When Annemarie Lindner, along with my father Walter Lindner, founded ‘Kräuterkosmetik Annemarie Lindner – im Zeichen des Lindenblatts’ ( Annemarie Lindner Herbal Cosmetics – Under the Sign of the Linden Leaf ) in Eilenburg near Leipzig in 1954, no one could anticipate the extent to which this type of skincare would take hold in Germany, Europe and now the entire world.

After just four years, my parents’ flourishing enterprise was expropriated, which led the two of them to flee with my maternal grandmother and me to the Black Forest in West Germany. Together with Hermann F. Börner, they founded the ‘ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND’ natural cosmetics company there in 1959, in Calw-Altburg.

And thus began a remarkable success story. Through his enterprise, which produced botanical remedies, Hermann F. Börner had excellent connections to the German ‘Reformhaus’ ( health food store) sector. This type of shop successfully offered and continues to offer natural whole foods, natural medicinal products and natural cosmetics. It is remarkable that this business idea, which arose from the ‘life reform’ movement in the early 20th century at a time when nature was not yet in the foreground of people’s consciousness, was for decades put into successful practice through the network of Reformhaus shops in Germany.

5

My mother further developed the field of herbal cosmetics and created a very special natural skincare system based on cleansing, moisturizing, night care and day-time protection – for all skin types, including sensitive, oily, damaged and dry skin. She worked with her trainers and customer consultants to successfully offer and distribute these products, and the system, in the Reformhaus shops. Seminars in our training center in Bad Teinach and at the technical school for Reformhaus specialists helped ensure that ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND soon became one of the leading brands, and is today the leading brand, of natural cosmetics offered in the Reformhaus stores. Since 2006, the brand has also been successfully offered in perfumeries, selected drug stores and department stores.

Along with the specialists in our research and development department, Annemarie Lindner constantly developed new products, for which new active substances were, in the truest sense of the word, actually ‘discovered’ in nature. My mother’s goal was to always be at the forefront of innovation and use new findings to create special, high-quality skincare products.

Because of her extensive travel, my mother was frequently away from home. This was possible for her only because my grandmother took very loving, devoted care of me and my father. My father was the backbone of the realms of production and administration. Meanwhile, Mr. Börner led the external sales team, which eventually came to oversee distribution to all of Germany’s 2,500 Reformhaus stores.

The family, consisting at that point of grandmother, mother, father and son, made up the firm foundation of the business activities.

And the family still plays that role today.

After my father’s death in 1978, I joined the company and, to­gether with my mother and Dr. Rothböck, at that time the company’s second general manager, helped develop it further both within Germany and around the world.

My mother assigned some of her shares to me while she was still alive, and after Mr. Börner’s death I was able to take over his shares from his three children, meaning that Börlind has since then been 100% family-owned.

6

It was important to my mother that my wife’s and my four children, i.e. the third generation, be involved in the company as well; she therefore also transferred shares in the company to her grandchildren while she was still alive.

My mother’s life and work is a model and an inspiration for my wife, me and our children as we seek to successfully lead the Börlind company along with its subsidiaries DADO-cosmed and KHV. We all feel an obligation to my mother’s life’s work. In keeping with the principle of “If I can’t eat it, I won’t put it on my skin,” we continue to develop natural products for high-quality skincare.

Michael Lindner

7

A Vision Becomes Reality

One of Annemarie Lindner’s mottos was “Every person has a calling inside. We need to sense that calling and follow it.” She herself did that with great passion throughout her life. This natural cosmetics pioneer faced daunting challenges more than once: Experiencing expropriation in the German Democratic Republic, fleeing to West Germany and starting anew as a nobody in the Black Forest. But she was a visionary whose convictions remained unshaken by those who belittled her as an ‘herb lady.’ She did not compromise in her committed pursuit of her idea for systematic beauty care using nature’s treasures.

And her time came. Phenomena like dying forests, the ozone hole and global warming led people to rethink the relationship between human beings and nature. More and more people understood that by ruthlessly exploiting the earth’s natural resources, we are ultimately digg­ing our own graves. Our only hope for the future is to live in harmony with the natural world, conscientiously and sustainably making use of nature’s gifts. And that’s exactly how Annemarie Lindner, with her natural cosmetics, approached the field of facial and body care.

Over time, more and more customers came to trust in her philosophy.

Today, people in over 30 countries around the world buy her products and thereby help write the impressive success story of a charismatic entrepreneur. But the story of ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND can also be read on another level: It is also the history of a family business that works creativ­ely and cohesively and has, within the span of two generations, climbed from its very humble beginnings to the very top.

9

“I was raised very strictly”

Values for Life

Berlin-Charlottenburg, 1920 Like most people, Annemarie Lindner is also a child of her time.

She was born Annemarie Schmidt on September 22, 1920 in Berlin-­ Charlottenburg. It was a very turbulent time in Germany; revolts, attempted coups and galloping inflation put enormous pressure on the young democracy of the Weimar Republic. Global economic crisis and mass unemployment threw many families into need and despair.

In 1932, over 5.6 million people in Germany were unemployed. The Schmidt family too lived in very modest circumstances. “We were poor people,” recalls Annemarie Lindner. “We never had meat on weekdays.

In the winter, my father was unemployed. When he found work again, he once brought us oranges. Oranges! That was something very special. How excited we were about that!”

During those years, a secure job was worth more than gold.

Among those who had to change jobs frequently was Annemarie Lindner’s father, Kurt Schmidt, a former career soldier. After several moves, the family wound up in Leipzig again, where Kurt Schmidt

11

Page 10: Annemarie Lindner on the first day of elementary school (1927 ) Page 12: Annemarie Lindner (s. f. r) with her family (1933 )

12

Values for Life

had found a job in a sugar factory. There, the Schmidts rented a little compa­ny-owned home from the factory owner, set up house and lived in peace for a while.

In his family, Kurt Schmidt had undisputed authority. His wife Anna cared lovingly for their two children, Annemarie and her younger sister Ruth, who was born in 1926, while Kurt was the disciplinarian.

However, despite his strictness he was a role model for his daughter Annemarie. “Throughout my schooling, my father was always by my side, and I admired him for the things he knew and could do. He placed great value on absolute punctuality, order in all things, and honesty. Perhaps his twelve years as a soldier taught my father this discipline, which he then passed on to us daughters. I was raised that way and wouldn’t want to be any different,” concluded Annemarie Lindner when she looked back. The much-admired father profoundly affected his daughter. Annemarie Lindner so internalized the values he conveyed – discipline, order and honesty – that they later became the pillars of her career.

Although Annemarie Lindner was a very good pupil, she only attended the general public school, because her parents did not have the funds to pay for college preparatory school tuition. She completed school at the age of 14 and hoped to become a saleswoman. Her primary hope was to attain financial independence by working. “I really wanted to earn money,” she said. “That was very important for me, because I did not want to be dependent on my parents.” In light of the stilltense economic situation – at least two million people were still unemployed in Germany in 1935 – Annemarie Lindner already began looking for an apprenticeship four months before she completed school. She went from business to business but was rejected everywhere. Apprenticeships were always few and far between during times of crisis. But she did not give up. “One day I stood at the door to a factory and told the doorman, ‘I would like to speak to the hiring manager.’ ‘Regarding what?’ he asked. ‘I need to tell him in person,’ I answered. They actually let me in, and I got to see the director. I can still see the director sitting in his chair behind his desk. ‘Well, what is it you need to say to me?’ he asked. ‘I will finish school at Easter, I’m looking for work, and I want to

13

ask if you could hire me,’ I said. ‘And you’re already here now!’ he said with a smile. ‘Girl, I’m not sure yet. But I like you. If we hire someone, it will be you! Come again in late January.’” At that time, when adults had much greater authority over children than today, a 14-year-old schoolgirl simply presented herself to the director of a factory to ask for an apprenticeship. This was very unusual conduct that already provides a glimpse of the entrepreneur she was to become, resolutely and courageously pursuing her goals once she had set them.

Her courage was rewarded. On April 1, 1935, Annemarie Lindner began training to be a bookbinder at the Otto Wiegand book printing company. After a three-year apprenticeship, the industrious, reliable young woman was hired on. In January of 1939, she then moved, at the director’s recommendation, to the Brehmer Brothers’ Special Factory for Folding and Stitching Machines, where she presented the company’s machines to potential customers in the exhibition room.

“There I even had my own little office,” Annemarie Lindner remembered proudly about that first step in her career. She had even been told when being hired that this was to be a long-term position. A stroke of good luck! Annemarie Lindner enjoyed the work, as she was naturally good with people. She was not timid, and in addition to skillfully demonstrating the machines in the exhibition room she also tested new models and made suggestions for improvement to the engineers working on them. She even got to work on a promotional film the company made, and was applauded at the film’s premiere.

Annemarie Lindner was content with her life. Things could have gone on like that as far as she was concerned, but fate intervened. The storm that had been brewing over Europe since the National Socialists had taken power broke out. On September 1, 1939, the Second World War began when Germany attacked Poland. From that point on, food ration cards and blackout orders shaped everyday life. Soon, alarm sirens and nightly bombings threw people into fear and terror. After the war started, Annemarie Lindner was transferred to the payroll office, where she learned to work with a slide rule.

14

Values for Life

War Years In 1939, the family also experienced a severe personal blow when Annemarie Lindner’s father developed Parkinson’s disease. As the disease worsened, he was forced to give up his work. From that point on, Annemarie’s mother supported the family, but was soon unable to handle the double burden of work and caretaking. Annemarie Lindner then left her position and found a half-time job near her parents’ home.

“That way, I could help my father groom and dress himself in the morning before I went to work, and I could also quickly be back with him after work. When the bomb alarms sounded at night, my mother carried my father on her back into the air-raid shelter, because he could no longer walk due to the palsy on his left side,” she recalled. In 1944, Kurt Schmidt succumbed, at just 56 years of age, to his severe disease.

That same year, the family’s home was destroyed by bombing.

However, in the midst of all the suffering, Annemarie Lindner, her mother and sister experienced some good luck. An entrepreneur named Walter Lindner happened to drive by with his delivery car as the family stood in despair before the ruins of their home. He regularly made purchases in the sugar factory where Kurt Schmidt had worked.

Because of that, he had also occasionally brought the Schmidts groceries during the lean war years, so he knew the family. When Walter Lindner noticed the three women, he stopped and spontaneously of-­ fered them his help. He found them a room in Eilenberg, a nearby small town where he himself lived with his family and ran a wholesale business and two grocery stores. Now the three women at least had a roof over their heads again. However, shortly before the end of the war, the situation in Eilenberg deteriorated dramatically. “The Americans used phosphorus bombs. While they advanced from the west, the Russians came ever closer from the east. At the end of the war, the city was largely destroyed. But we were alive!” said Annemarie Lindner, describing those fear-filled weeks.

The war years had taken a toll on the young woman. In addition to worrying about staying alive, losing her home and experien­ cing the death of her admired father, for whom she had cared lovingly for months, Annemarie Lindner also experienced another devastating

15

blow of fate – the failure of her young marriage. At just 20 years of age, she had married a good-looking air force medic in 1941. During the last year of the war, she learned that her husband, who was stationed in Paris, had had an affair with a Frenchwoman. “For me, a world collapsed,” she recalls. After her husband returned from being held as a prison of war, she divorced him in November of 1945. But letting her head hang in defeat was not Annemarie Lindner’s style. With the self-discipline she had been taught, she pulled herself together, left the past behind and turned her gaze to the future. Wasn’t she, at the age of 25, just getting started? But what would the rest of her path through life look like? In 1946, Annemarie Lindner got her answer. It turned out to be a momentous year for her, both professionally and personally.

16

Values for Life

Page 17: Annemarie Lindner ( born 22. September 1920; died 18. February 2016 )

17

“A cosmetologist, that’s what I want to be”

A Woman Discovers Her Calling

Wedding, 1946 Every cloud has a silver lining, as the saying goes, and as Annemarie Lindner learned firsthand. If she hadn’t suffered from oily skin ever since puberty, the Börlind company might well not exist today. For years, she underwent dermatological treatments, some of which were very painful, and she had tried all the conventional products that were available in pharmacies by the time she finally discovered the beneficial effects of natural cosmetics. The support of her second husband, Walter Lindner, was also of inestimable value to her career. He always encouraged her when times were difficult and drove the company’s development forward with great entrepreneurial spirit.

Right after Walter Lindner had found a room in Eilenburg for Anna Schmidt and her daughters in 1944, he too had suffered a blow of fate. His first wife had died unexpectedly during an operation. In his subsequent search for assistance, he had turned to Anna Schmidt, who began taking care of his eleven-year-old son and the household while her daughter Annemarie took on the office work. The young woman

19

Page 18: Annemarie Lindner at a skincare consultation near the Baltic Sea ( 1956 ) Page 20: Annemarie and Walter Lindner’s wedding ( June 15, 1946 )

20

A Woman Discovers Her Calling

was drawn to this dynamic man. The considerable age difference of 22 years made no difference. Walter Lindner had been born on March 22, 1898 in Leipzig, and when they married on June 15, 1946, Annemarie Lindner was 25 and Walter Lindner was 48. It turned out to be a long, happy marriage in which both partners complemented each other in a congenial way.

Because Walter Lindner had supplied the armed forces, he was expropriated by the Soviet occupation authorities after the end of the war. After one year, he got his business back and then had to supply the Soviet military with groceries. “Things weren’t so bad for us; we had everything we needed to live. From the Russians we even got a lot of things that others did not have,” Annemarie Lindner explained.

“I remember Walter going to Leipzig every week with butter and cheese in his briefcase for friends.”

In the fall of 1946, the couple went to Bad Elster for mud bath treatments. Annemarie Lindner still suffered from acne, which had caused her a great deal of grief over the years. “One dermatologist treated me with Resorcinol. The liquid burned terribly. After three days he pulled off the blackened skin with tweezers. The new skin looked nice and rosy, but unfortunately that did not last long. The acne soon recurred,” she recalls. A massage therapist then suggested that she visit the spa’s cosmetologist. Annemarie Lindner followed his advice and received her first natural cosmetics treatment. The treatment consisted of an herbal steam bath and a therapeutic clay mask. She continued treatment with the recommended products at home and to her delight found that she had fewer blemishes. She ordered refills by mail and in gratitude sent a package of food items to the owner of the Dresden cosmetics company from which she had obtained the herbal products. The two women began to correspond with one another. One day, the entrepreneur wrote that she wanted to open a beauty school again. When Annemarie Lindner read those lines, it was as if she’d been struck by lightning. All at once she knew: “A cosmetologist, that’s what I want to be!” She had discovered her calling.

At first, Walter Lindner was not at all enthusiastic about his wife’s plans, because he needed her help in the company. At that point,

21

the Lindners had 13 employees. Because Walter Lindner traveled a lot, his wife managed the company when he was gone. However, once Annemarie Lindner had made up her mind she did not budge from her decision, and in the summer of 1947 she began a six-month cosmetology training program in Dresden. Every Monday, she got on the train at 5 a.m. and traveled to Dresden, where the windows that had been broken during the war were still nailed shut with boards.

When she returned to Eilenburg late Saturday evening, she took care of the office work that had piled up during the past week before falling exhausted into bed. Fuel was scarce in post-war Germany, so in the winter Annemarie Lindner sat at a typewriter in her room in Dresden wearing her coat and typed her thesis. Those were difficult months, but she persevered. “I really wanted to do it; I studied day and night, and when I took my oral exams, I was able to answer all the questions,” she recalled. Annemarie Lindner didn’t just pass, she was the class valedictorian and completed her diploma with honors.

The First Beauty Salon One step led to another, and Annemarie Lindner opened a beauty salon in her home in Eilenburg. But how could she operate her salon and at the same time work in her husband’s business? The resourceful young entrepreneur found a way to answer this question. “Wednesday became my day. If someone called requesting, for example, an appointment on Monday, I replied: ‘I’m sorry, Monday is full, but I have an appointment available on Wednesday,’” she explained with a grin, “I liked making appointments with young people who like me suffered from pimples and blackheads. I could pass on my experiences to them.” Using an herbal guidebook that her husband had given her, she expanded her knowledge and successfully treated her customers with herbal extracts.

Annemarie Lindner came to the conclusion, remarkable for the time, that herbal substances from nature are ideally suited for successfully correcting skin problems; moreover, in the right dosage, they are very safe. The fact that many belittled her as an ‘herb lady’ didn’t bother Annemarie Lindner. She had found her calling and was deeply convinced of the effectiveness of her natural cosmetics. Her customers,

22

A Woman Discovers Her Calling

who had after all experienced the success of her products on their own skin, recommended her to others. Her beauty salon was well on its way to becoming quite well-known when fate again placed some obstacles in her path. Because private entrepreneurship was not desirable in the GDR’s planned socialist economy, the Lindner company’s business premises – and thus Annemarie Lindner’s beauty salon as well – were expropriated a second time in 1951.

What now? The Lindners did receive rent for their former business and storage spaces, but the rent was far too little to be able to feed a family from it. And that family had, with the birth of son Michael on May 23, 1949, grown by one. “Even though my husband had two sons from his first marriage, I wanted to have a biological child. I had already given up hope when to my surprise I became pregnant,” said Annemarie Lindner, recalling the happy news. In order to be able to provide for their family, she and her husband looked for work. Annemarie Lindner found a job as a tobacco and spirits representative at the German central trade offices ( Deutsche Handelszentrale, DHZ ). Her area of responsibility covered half of the Delitzsch district in northern Saxony, where she sold products to restaurants and snack bars. Morning after morning, she loaded goods into the car and drove off. When she returned in the evening, she still had to prepare the day’s list of sales and take inventory by candlelight ( the power was turned off almost every evening ) before her long workday was finally over. Scarcely any time was left for her little son. Luckily, she knew that he was in her mother’s loving hands.

However, soon Annemarie Lindner began to feel worse and worse every day. This was due in part, no doubt, to the strenuous work and the constant pressure of trying to fulfill the sales target. But was it just that? Why, in this situation, did she not demonstrate her firm resolve and great self-discipline in order to achieve the goal? Probably because it was not her own goal. Was she really, just when she had discovered her calling in natural cosmetics, going to work as an alcohol and cigarette representative? No. Deep inside, Annemarie Lindner was not willing to do it. Her physical complaints, then, were surely a sign of her mental resistance. When Annemarie Lindner finally went to a doctor,

23

he diagnosed vegetative dystonia, a disorder of the vegetative nervous system, and placed her on disability leave.

Soon thereafter, Annemarie Lindner attended the spring trade show in Leipzig with her husband. There, she met the owner of the Dresden cosmetics company again. When offered a job as a representative with that company, Annemarie Lindner happily accepted. Even though she was once again working as a representative, at least now she was working in the cosmetics industry again. A few weeks later, her boss unexpectedly offered her an opportunity to replace a cosmetologist who had fallen ill and hold consultations in a shop in Halle.

“I didn’t like going there, because I simply didn’t have the confidence to advise customers in a shop and sell products,” Annemarie Lindner recalled. But she did her work well. Customers received her competent and eloquent manner so well that her boss used her as a cosmetics consultant from that point on. However, because the company was unable to continue its pre-war successes, she lost her job after four years.

At the age of 35, Annemarie Lindner once again faced the question of how to move forward. Her husband, a dynamic entrepreneur through and through, already had an idea: “Let’s find a laboratory technician, make our own cosmetic products and sell them,” he suggested to his wife. Private businesses were undesirable in the GDR, but the state couldn’t dispense with them entirely. On their own, the nationallyowned enterprises ( Volkseigene Betriebe, VEB ) were not, despite targeted preferential treatment by the state, able to guarantee that the population was provided for. In retail business and the trades in particular, private companies that relied primarily on individual work and did not employ more than ten people were therefore allowed to exist. However, they were subject to the whims of the socialist state, which ultimately strove for complete nationalization of all areas of the economy, and there was therefore a constant threat of compulsory expropriation.

Annemarie Lindner liked her husband’s idea, since it allowed her to remain in the cosmetics industry and even develop her own creations.

Thus, on March 1, 1955 the couple founded the ‘Anne­marie Lindner – Kräuter-Präparate ( herbal products )’ company. They selected a pink linden leaf as its logo. The Lindners had soon set up a small laboratory

24

A Woman Discovers Her Calling

“If I can’t eat it, I won’t put it on my skin.”

Annemarie Lindner

25

and found a suitable lab technician. Once more Annemarie Lindner delved into her old herbal guidebook, where she found a great deal of inspiration. That same year she placed her first herbal creams, masks and toners on the market with “Stay young, prevent aging” as her slogan. She approached this task as well in the orderly and systematic way that was so characteristic of her. She developed skincare series adapted to each skin type; they were the precursors to the Börlind facial care products on which the company’s natural cosmetics are still based today. Her ideas about the five steps of facial care – cleansing, strengthening and moisturizing, daytime protection, night care and special care – still underpin the Börlind product philosophy.

However, just developing products was not enough. Just as Germany today has DIN standards, the GDR had minimum quality requirements that all products had to meet. The lowest category was symbolized by an empty triangle, then came a triangle with the number two for adequate quality, then one with the number one for good quality and finally, S ( Sonderklasse, special class ) for top-quality products. Before a product could be placed on the market, a sample with the product name had to be sent to the standardization office in Berlin-Köpenick for quality testing. The Lindners eagerly awaited evaluation of the natural cosmetics samples that they had sent in. When they final held the official notification letter in their hands, they could hardly believe their eyes: All of the products had been awarded an ‘S.’ “We were elated,” remembered Annemarie Lindner. “My high quality standards, based on the idea that “If I can’t eat it, I won’t put it on my skin,” were rewarded.

State enterprises also requested that Annemarie Lindner hold presentations for their workers about skincare. That generally happened on Sundays in company cafeterias. The improvised stage usually consisted of a few tables pushed together with a chair on top of them.

With her honest manner, Annemarie Lindner was also received well by this audience. “I never used written notes, but just described my successful use of the products and talked about the effects of the herbs.

After all, I myself had many years of experience dealing with my own oily skin and knew all too well what needed to be done.”

Soon Annemarie Lindner was so well-known in the GDR that

26

A Woman Discovers Her Calling

journalists and radio reporters came knocking as well. In addition to writing articles for the Sunday supplement to the ‘Leipziger Volkszeitung’ newspaper, she also spoke about cosmetics every Wednesday for a quarter of an hour on the Leipziger Rundfunk radio station. “I was in high demand, and our products sold very well,” she recalled. However, she and her husband were not able to enjoy the success of their work for long. As entrepreneurs, they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

27

“How I created a bestseller”

“So then my products had the national ‘top quality’ seal and were available in the HO ( Handelsorganisation, East German trade and distribution organization ) shops,” recalled Annemarie Lindner. “So far so good. But women still needed to get acquainted with my natural cosmetics. Like all entrepreneurs, ultimately I wanted to make sales. Unfortunately, my husband and I could not decide freely about the selling or marketing of our products but instead had to follow the state’s instructions. I was thus obligated to hold presentations about skincare for women on vacation on the islands of Rügen und Usedom in the summer months. That meant I could also present my products – which was of course especially important to me. For my presentations, I was allowed to use the spa park’s pavilion in the evenings. The rows of chairs in front of it were always packed. Because everything was broadcast over loudspeakers, people even sat on the beach to listen to me. After my presentations, I always asked a member of the audience to come onto the stage with me to be a model for a short herbal mask treatment.

One evening in Bansin I had an unforgettable experience. I had just finished my presentation when a lady appeared out of nowhere and stood before me. ‘I’ve been here for three weeks now; tonight my husband is picking me up. So of course I want to look beautiful,’ she told me. I asked her to take a seat on the stage. Then I went to the microphone and revealed her wish to the audience. Everyone grinned. After I had cleansed the holiday-maker’s facial skin, I applied my herbal mask. While the mask was on, I used the time to provide a few tips about facial massage.

28

A Woman Discovers Her Calling

When I took the skin-smoothing mask off after a few minutes, I couldn’t believe my eyes! The woman’s skin looked like that of a zebra. There were white streaks on her forehead and around her eyes and mouth. ‘What happened?’ I thought with alarm. In a flash I placed myself in such a way that nobody could see the woman’s face, which was illuminated by lamps. What to do? After a moment of panic, I fortunately realized what had happened.

During her vacation, the woman’s skin had tanned, but her wrinkles had remained light-colored. Relieved, I took a deep breath, turned to the spectators and explained: ‘I knew that my herbal mask works. But even I didn’t know until this evening that it smooths the skin so well!’ When the woman left the stage shortly after that, all the tourists lined up as if to see a movie star. All of them wanted to see the amazing effect of my herbal mask from close up.

In addition to my evening presentations, I worked during the day as a cosmetics consultant in HO shops. I always examined the facial skin first carefully with a magnifying glass, then made a skin diagnosis, wrote a skincare prescription and explained to the customer how to use the recommend­ed products correctly. But on the day after my presentation in Bansin, there was only one topic of discussion: my herbal mask. What a rush! The customers practically tore the product out of my hands. My herbal mask became a real bestseller! In no time at all, I had sold all the stock from the shelf. What now? My husband was already sitting in the car, heading for all the surrounding HO shops in order to bring me their stocks of herbal masks. Walter and I were really a great team.”

29

“It was very difficult”

Fleeing and Starting Anew in the West

Usedom, 1958 In the summer of 1958, Annemarie Lindner had just returned to Usedom for three months of ‘seasonal work’ when she suddenly heard a knock at her hotel room window. Startled, she asked, “Who’s there?”

“It’s me. Open up!” said her husband’s voice. “What’s Walter doing here in the middle of the night? This can’t be good,” she thought in a flash as she let him in. “The grey-haired man was in our office when I brought you here,” said her husband softly. Annemarie Lindner felt a shiver go down her spine. ‘The grey-haired man’ was generally known to be an employee of the Stasi secret police who always appeared when an enterprise was to be forcibly expropriated.

But this time Walter Lindner was not willing to bend to the state’s will. He did not want to put up with a third expropriation, and so he had decided to flee with his family to Braunschweig, where his oldest son Manfred now lived. A daring step, since at that time in the GDR, fleeing the republic was punishable by up to three years in prison. However, Walter Lindner, like about 2.7 million East Germans up through

31

the construction of the wall in 1961, elected to leave for West Germany.

Because the Stasi employee would no doubt return soon, Walter Lindner had no time to waste. He had therefore asked his mother-in-law to quickly pack the most important belongings and had traveled with her and his son Michael by taxi to East Berlin. There the three of them boarded a commuter train to West Berlin. After Walter Lindner had installed his mother-in-law and his son in a hotel, he got into another taxi and finally arrived on Usedom, where his wife was, in the middle of the night.

In order to be less conspicuous, the couple decided the next morning to travel separately to West Berlin. Walter Lindner took a taxi again, while his wife went by train. Annemarie Lindner drew plenty of looks because of her luggage, which after all had been intended to be enough for three months. In order not to arouse mistrust in the event of an inspection, she therefore bought a ticket to Eilenburg rather than a ticket to Berlin. During the trip, a police officer suddenly appeared in the compartment with the conductor. “Where are you heading with all those suitcases?” he asked Annemarie Lindner. Although her heart was pounding, she managed to answer casually, “I had planned to work on the Baltic Sea for three months. But now I have to return home unexpectedly because my mother has to have major pelvic surgery.” To reinforce her words, she showed the men an official letter that she always carried with her. It read as follows: “For working women en route.

Please help Mrs. Lindner with all matters.” Her performance had convinced the two of them. They wished Annemarie Lindner all the best and continued with their inspection rounds.

In East Berlin, Walter Lindner was waiting for his wife on the platform. They placed most of the luggage in a locker and boarded the commuter train to West Berlin. “I then went back to East Berlin several times, always with a certain amount of fear, to fetch our few possessions,” said Annemarie Lindner, remembering those eventful days.

Walter Lindner booked a flight to Hannover for his family for two days later. His son Manfred was to pick them up there. Before that, Annemarie Lindner wanted to go to East Berlin one more time to pick up some money owed to her by a wholesaler who sold her products.

32

Fleeing and Starting Anew in the West

Her husband was not at all pleased with this plan. “So far everything has gone well. Don’t take any risks now!” he warned his wife. But Annemarie Lindner would not be deterred. She knew all too well that they would need every penny for their new start in the West. Surprised that she wanted him to pay her 3,600 East German marks in cash, the wholesaler asked her, “Are you planning to flee?” Again Annemarie Lindner steeled her nerves and fibbed, saying, “No. We’ve been able to find tires from the West for our car, and the seller wants cash.” She hid the money in her clothing and returned to West Berlin, where she received 600 West German marks for it. In 1960, the average monthly wage in the FRG was about 500 German marks.

Although Walter Lindner was already 60 years old when they fled to the Federal Republic of Germany, he seemed better able to deal with the uncertainty of the situation and yet another new start than his 37-year-old wife. Maybe having survived two world wars and overcome two expropriations had taught him that life always goes on, and that the sun always comes out again once it stops raining. This attitude was definitely supported by his positive nature, which always helped him look to the future and watch for new opportunities. He was the one who kept encouraging his wife during the initial months in Braunschweig when she was discouraged due to financial worries or the lack of interest in her natural cosmetics. “It was very difficult. After all, nobody in the West knew me,” recalled Annemarie Lindner. “But my husband always believed we would be successful. How often he said to me, ‘Honey, we’ll make it!’”

A New Start in West Germany After initially living in two converted attic rooms in Braunschweig, the Lindners soon found a small house with an attached laboratory.

Annemarie Lindner got to work immediately. Using a mixer she had purchased used, she prepared her first cream samples, experimented with new recipes and created the herbal vitamin cream based on a Braunschweig recipe. Since she had no representatives, Walter Lindner himself drove from shop to shop with the goods in his trunk. But they just couldn’t make any sales. This was due not only to the fact that

33

Annemarie Lindner’s natural cosmetics were still entirely unknown in the FRG. In general, at that time natural body care still hovered at the margins in Germany. It was the time of the ‘economic miracle,’ when things started to improve again after the privations of the post-war years. In 1955, the German economy grew by 10.5 percent. In the late 1950’s, there was full employment. Now people wanted just one thing: to enjoy life. Many were gripped by a wave of frenzied consumption.

The principle often seemed to be ‘more is more.’ Menus featured good butter, cream cakes and rich soups. Granola was unheard of. The clothing industry sought to convey a sense of luxury and glamour. Whatever came from the U.S. was considered chic, and those items were often colorful and artificial. Women wore slinky synthetic dresses with nylon slips, and men wore permanent press shirts. Many cosmetic products contained silicon, paraffin and synthetic fragrances. The idea of living sustainably in harmony with nature and its resources was at most an unrealistic daydream. Only the Reformhaus stores, which sold natural foods and cosmetics processed in an environmentally friendly way, had decided to take that kind of path. Annemarie Lindner’s products, then, fit in very well with the Reformhaus stores’ selections. However, most of the business owners worked exclusively with manufacturers who used the ‘neuform’ logo of the association of German Reformhaus stores. This particular doorway to success was therefore closed to the Lindners.

When Walter Lindner came home in the evening, his wife awaited him impatiently. But when she asked if he had sold anything, he could only shake his head in regret. One day when he returned, he was finally able to playfully announce, “I sold one twelfth of a dozen herbal masks!”

The fact that he formulated it this way shows that he was both a caring husband and an indefatigable optimist. And he turned out to be right! Soon things started looking up, in a double sense of the word, for Annemarie Lindner’s natural cosmetics in the Federal Republic of Germany.

34

Fleeing and Starting Anew in the West

Page 30: The first beauty salon Page 35: Walter Lindner ( born 22. March 1898; died 29. March 1978 )

35

“Made in the Black Forest”

A New Home in the Black Forest

Calw, 1958 Annemarie and Walter Lindner still hadn’t reached the final destination of their journey. At the recommendation of an acquaintance, they went to the Black Forest in November of 1958 to meet Hermann Börner, a manufacturer of over-the-counter medicinal products who was looking for a cosmetics producer. In addition to his main business in Berlin, Börner also owned a subsidiary in the community of Altburg, which is located at an altitude of about 600 meters above the Nagold Valley and is today a district of the city of Calw. Walter Lindner was thrilled at the prospect of seeing the Black Forest, where he had once traveled long ago, again. He was not, however, thrilled by the occasion for the trip. He did not view the possibility of a partnership at all favorably.

He firmly believed that working alone was better than working in bad company.

Nevertheless, the meeting was extremely productive, as both sides quickly grasped the advantages of collaboration. Hermann Börner knew the West German market, was already selling his products in

37

Reformhus stores as a contracted manufacturer and had five external sales employees, while the Lindners knew about manufacturing high-quality natural cosmetics and had many years of experience in customer service; with their systematic approach to skincare, they also filled a marketing gap in the Reformhaus stores’ offerings. At a late hour, they therefore agreed to found a joint enterprise.

The very next morning, Walter Lindner announced to his wife, “I even have a name for the company. The first syllables of Börner and Lindner will become Börlind.” Hermann Börner also liked the suggestion, and therefore he and Walter Lindner founded the ‘BörlindGesellschaft mbH für kosmetische Erzeugnisse’ ( limited liability company for cosmetic products ) on January 1, 1959. Each side held 50 percent of the shares. For Annemarie and Walter Lindner, the collaboration with Hermann Börner represented a big step forward. After all, they really wanted to sell their natural cosmetics in Reformhaus stores all across Germany. As a manufacturer contracting with neuform, Hermann Börner was able to open the door to this important circle of customers for them. In his commercial building, they set up an office, a production room and a storage and shipping room for the newly founded company. The Lindners also soon found a place for their family to live. Because the mayor lived in his own house, they were able to move into the apartment designated for him in the Altburg City Hall.

It therefore looked like they had all their ducks in a row for a successful start in the Black Forest. And this time, Annemarie and Walter Lindner really were in the right place at the right time.

Production started quickly, and Annemarie Lindner trained the representatives. However, gaining access to the Reformhaus stores proved more difficult than expected. The external sales employees needed all their persuasive powers to convince Reformhaus owners to offer items without the neuform logo in their shops. And even when those owners agreed, they only took the goods on commission. If Annemarie Lindner hadn’t managed to sell her cosmetics on site on her subsequent consultation days, the Reformhaus stores would have been able to return the goods. But that did not happen. Once again, it was time for the gifted speaker to come forward, and she thus entered

38

A New Home in the Black Forest

Page 36: Annemarie Lindner developing her natural cosmetics Page 39: Press conference in Austria (1972)

39

a period of extensive traveling that went on for decades, first all across Germany and soon to other countries as well. With her honest manner, careful consultations and system of care based on skin type, she won over even the most skeptical customers. She prepared for her consultation days with a marketing poster, via invitations to customers and by asking Reformhaus store owners to announce her visit with an ad in the daily newspaper. However, in addition to convincing critical customers, she also had to deal with the decidedly cool reception she received from some Reformhaus owners. Annemarie Lindner remembered: “Once I arrived and asked, ‘Where are my products?’ ‘On the basement steps.

You can bring them up and unpack them,’ was the answer. At the cash register lay most of my invitations, which had not been distributed to customers. When I asked the owner if he had placed an ad for my consultation days, he snapped at me: ‘What are you thinking? I plan my newspaper advertising a year in advance.’ Not one woman came for a consultation with me. I was so sad that tears welled up in my eyes. But in the afternoon I suddenly felt encouraged. At times the customers even stood in line in front of my table. The Reformhaus owner took me aside for a moment, handed me pen and paper, and said: ‘A journalist will be arriving soon. Why don’t you write down what the ad tomorrow should say.’ Extremely pleased, I wrote: ‘The holder of a diploma in cosmetology, well-known from the radio and the press ...’ That wasn’t quite true, since in southern Germany nobody listed to the Leipzig station or read the Leipzig newspaper, but after all, I wanted to draw attention to myself. After three days, the owner said to me: “I have never experienced such a rush! If you promise me that you will come twice a year to advertise, I will no longer accept any consultants from the competition.’ I promised him, and he was for many years a good customer of our company.”

Consultation Comes First Regardless of how big the crowd was, Annemarie Lindner stuck to the steps of her work, which she carried out like clockwork: First she always investigated the facial skin with a magnifying glass, then she wrote a prescription, read it to the customer and explained to her exactly how

40

A New Home in the Black Forest

to use the recommended products. She would give the Reformhaus owner a copy of the prescription so that he could give the customer the right products when she returned to purchase more. At the end of her consultation days, she frequently also trained owners and employees in how to use her products. Because she was the first cosmetics manufacturer to offer a skincare system in the Reformhaus stores, this was new territory for the employees.

When asked about the secret of her extraordinary success, Annemarie Lindner explained: “I have never tried to talk anyone into anything. Consultation has always come first for me.” The pioneer of natural cosmetics already recognized more than 50 years ago a truth that can now be found in every direct marketing handbook: If you try to pressure a customer into buying a product, you arouse skepticism and defensiveness. If you advise people in a credible fashion, on the other hand, you arouse trust and interest – the most important requirements for the decision to purchase. And Annemarie Lindner did sell her products. Sales were so good that Börlind had to hire new production employees. In order to be able to hold the constantly growing number of consultation days, more customer consultants were employed.

Annemarie Lindner generally worked three weeks at a stretch in external sales and then one week in the enterprise. Sometimes, however, she had to be away from home for a significantly longer period of time. This meant that she often couldn’t spend a great deal of time with her family.

Her characteristic self-discipline never left her, and she traveled tirelessly throughout the country and was always friendly to her customers, but inside things sometimes looked very different. Although Anne­ marie Lindner, like many members of her generation, did not show her feelings, she did suffer greatly from the long separations from her family. “Once I was sitting in a cafe in northern Germany on the first Sunday of Advent. Suddenly, candles were lit and Christmas music filled my ears. Tears streamed down my cheeks, and I called home feeling sad. ‘Walter, I am so lonely,’ I said to my husband. ‘Me too,’ he replied.

‘You have Mother and Michael, but I am all alone here,’ I objected, and he comforted me. The company just always came first.”

In light of the growing success with Reformhaus sales, Börlind

41

repeatedly sought to be accepted by the neuform association as a contract producer. However, other contract producers of cosmetics thwarted those attempts. After six years, it finally happened. On October 5, 1965, Börlind was accepted into the neuform association. As a member, the cosmetics company was even obligated to supply its products exclusively to Reformhaus stores. Thanks to the acceptance, in the following years the company was also able to acquire as customers those Reformhaus stores that had previously declined to sell its products because they did not bear the neuform logo. Membership in the neuform association was an important step for Börlind in order to further expand its sales via long-term, stable customer relationships with the Reformhaus stores. In the early 1970’s, the production and storage spaces they had rented in Hermann Börner’s commercial building gradually became too small. For Walter Lindner, the time had therefore come to implement a plan that had been in the works for quite a while already: construction of Börlind’s own corporate building.

42

A New Home in the Black Forest

“Everything the skin needs can be found in nature. It’s just waiting for us to discover it.”

Annemarie Lindner

43

“Pioneering scientific spirit”

On the Road to Success with New Products Lindenstrasse, 1972 It was clear that Börlind needed to grow in order to satisfy the growing demand for its products. But how was that to be done? Walter Lindner sought to build a corporate building of the company’s own, while Hermann Börner wanted to solve the capacity problems by renting more space. While the question was still under discussion, Walter Lindner quietly took action. He acquired land for construction from the city of Altburg. In July of 1972, the German association of reform product manufacturers ( Verband der Reformwarenhersteller, VRH ) offered its members a two-week informational trip through the U.S., and Hermann Börner and the Lindners were among those who signed up.

On short notice, Walter Lindner excused himself from the trip. When his wife and his business partner returned, they were dumbstruck: During their absence, Walter Lindner had started construction on the new corporate building.

At the age of 74 – when most people are enjoying their retirement – Walter Linder was still full of enthusiasm. What motivated him?

45

On the one hand, Walter Lindner was no doubt a full-blooded entrepreneur who liked to have his hand on the rudder, always went straight ahead and pursued his goal with endurance and optimism. Once he reached that goal, he immediately started searching, like a mountain climber, for the next, higher summit. On the other hand, the latent rivalry between him and Hermann Börner probably also played a role in Walter Lindner’s wish for the company to have its own building.

Both men were committed entrepreneurs who belonged to the same generation, and both had the personalities of leaders who liked to make decisions. Because the partnership held promising prospects for the future, Walter Lindner had indeed agreed to it, but it was a marriage of convenience from which both sides hoped to benefit, not a marriage of love. Likewise, renting space in Hermann Börner’s commercial building had, in the beginning, been the best solution for the young cosmetics firm, considering its lack of funds. However, the company was now flourishing, and Walter Lindner could therefore, after the uncertain times in the GDR and the difficult initial years in the FRG, finally realize his entrepreneur’s dream of walking into his own corporate building every morning. After being initially irked by his business partner’s unilateral move, Hermann Börner also acknowledged that the new, larger production space would best meet the expanding company’s needs. The move into the building at Lindenstrasse 15 took place in 1973. Because Börlind kept on growing, a new, larger warehouse had to be built just three years later.

The cornerstone for the new building had hardly been set in place when Walter Lindner began thinking about another new idea: Wouldn’t it be fitting if Börlind could in the future manufacture its natural cosmetics with natural spring water? Because there were well-known thermal baths nearby like Bad Teinach and Bad Liebenzell, he hoped to likewise find a spring on the company’s premises, and he hired a diviner to carry out the search. When the divining rod twitched, Walter Lindner ordered drilling at that spot. Indeed, 80 meters below ground level the drill hit pure, soft water. A second spring was later discovered at a depth of 166 meters. Since then, all Börlind products except a few are produced using this proprietary deep spring water, allowing the

46

On the Road to Success with New Products

company to further refine its image as a cosmetics manufacturer committed to the use of natural raw materials.

Annemarie Lindner was not content with the degree of success that had been achieved either; she continued to greatly enjoy creating innovative products. In the new corporate building’s laboratory, she had the most modern technical capacities available for this undertaking. “I had realized that skin becomes more delicate after the age of 30. I therefore wanted to develop a high-quality skincare series for women over 30 that would decrease wrinkles and improve the skin’s elasticity,” she recalled. Together with Ursula Heinze, the production manager at the time, Annemarie Lindner set about looking for suitable active substances. As with all of her cosmetics, this time as well she was her own first test subject. After a four-year period of development work with numerous tests and scientific confirmation of effectiveness, it was finally time: In 1974, Börlind placed the LL REGENER ATION skincare system on the market. Initially, the series consisted of a cleansing milk, a blossom dew gel, a daytime cream and a night cream.

It was later expanded to include an eye, throat and décolleté cream as well as masks and ampoules. What made the products special was the ‘LL biocomplex,’ a combination of active substances from a bouquet of pure botanical ingredients. The discovery of this combination of highly effective ingredients was revolutionary at the time; an anti-aging product had been developed before that term had become part of everyday language. The exact composition of this LL biocomplex remains one of the Börlind company’s best-kept secrets.

Apropos secrets ... What does LL stand for? That’s one secret that can be revealed. At the time, both the cream’s ingredients and its airy, silky consistency were completely new. With a smile on her lips, Annemarie Lindner revealed the secret: “As we were thinking about a name, our production manager, Ms. Heinze, said ‘The cream is so soft, so mild ( ‘lind’ in German ).’ While she was still thinking about a suitable name, I answered spontaneously, ‘Perhaps Lady lind?’ But the next day I no longer liked the name. Suddenly I had an inspiration: ‘LL.’ Then, when we introduced the series to our representatives, one of them said, ‘LL is surely an abbreviation for Luxury Line.’ Another said, ‘I think it’s

47

1974

1980

1999

2014

2016

Page 48: The LL REGENERATION Skincare system over the Decades

48

On the Road to Success with New Products

the first letters of Lady Lindner.’ Everyone thought of something different. Perhaps the mysterious abbreviation is still sparking customers’ imaginations today! The effect of the recipe for LL REGENER ATION, which is constantly being improved based on new findings, has in any case always been evident, and this skincare series is still, after 40 years, among the company’s bestselling products.

At Börlind, LL REGENER ATION represents a breakthrough.

With this series, the company was able to establish itself firmly in Germany as a producer of highly effective natural cosmetics that are gentle on the skin. The series also opened the door to the international market.

Saying Good-bye Sometimes joy and pain come very close together. The Lindner family learned that lesson in 1978. While the sales figures continued to climb and the one million mark was reached in sales abroad as well, the family was dealt a severe blow. A few days after his 80th birthday, Walter Lindner succumbed to cancer on March 29, 1978. With him, the family business lost one of its pillars. Although Annemarie Lindner was the charismatic natural cosmetics pioneer who always stood in the limelight, Walter Lindner was much more than just ‘the man at her side.’ With the sure intuition of an experienced businessman, he had worked tirelessly for decades to build up the company, even when long past retirement age. “For Walter, the years didn’t count. He was just younger,” as Annemarie Lindner described her husband’s vibrant energy.

The two of them had, despite their significant age difference, been an ideal team for 30 years, with the talents of each complementing those of the other very well. Walter Lindner had always had his eye trained on business management tasks, while Annemarie Lindner had been able to concentrate on creating and marketing new products. Visionary that she was, she sometimes encountered major obstacles on the way to real success for her natural cosmetics. But she was never alone on that path. Walter Lindner believed wholeheartedly in his wife’s dream of cosmetics with the powers of nature, and encouraged

49

her in difficult moments with his indefatigable optimism. Even death could not break the strong bond between the two of them. Later, whenever Annemarie Lindner spoke about her husband, it almost seemed like he could walk in the door at any time.

Even before the approach of her husband’s death, Annemarie Lindner had asked her son Michael to join the company. He had followed his mother’s wishes and taken on a managerial role on February 1, 1978. A new decade was about to begin. That decade would bring important internal changes to the family business, and it would also bring new possibilities and challenges due to German reunification, increasing globalization and growing environmental consciousness.

50

On the Road to Success with New Products

“Every person has a calling inside. We need to sense that calling and follow it.�

Annemarie Lindner

51

“We need to know our roots”

The Second Generation Contributes

After 1978 “I was very pleased to join the company,” reflects Michael Lindner.

It was not a step into the unknown for him. During his school days, he had worked in his parent’s business during vacations, and later he had acquired his first experience in external sales as a college student. “I also learned a number of things from Hermann Börner, who had three daughters and no son. The two of us got along well. He encouraged me and introduced me to the business,” says Michael Lindner. Because he wanted to stand on his own two feet, however, he did not join the family business immediately after completing his business training and his studies in business management. Instead, he first worked for several years in the pharmaceutical industry.

After her husband’s death, Annemarie Lindner took over the management of the company in 1978. Shortly before Michael Lindner, Dr. Helmut Rothböck, Hermann Börner’s son-in-law, had also taken on a managerial role in the company at his father-in-law’s request.

Thus two generations were now shaping the company’s fate together.

53

“You have to really understand skin in order to optimally meet its needs. That requires the kind of comprehensive knowledge that our company has acquired over the course of 60 years.�

Michael Lindner

54

The Second Generation Contributes

There are probably two main reasons why this constellation, which is not always conflict-free, worked so very well at Börlind: For one thing, both Annemarie Lindner and Hermann Börner from the beginning gave the two ‘boys’ enough decision-making freedom to really get involved and implement their own ideas. “My mother gave me space, she never bossed me around. She was really very cool with me,” Michael Lindner acknowledges with admiration. For another thing, the founders’ generation could be completely confident that their two descendants would keep the family business going the way they wanted it.

If one recalls how much work, endurance and dedication Annemarie Lindner had invested in realizing her vision of natural beauty care, she must have been extremely satisfied that her only son was now continuing on her path.

Michael Lindner had inherited his mother’s analytical nature and his father’s fundamentally optimistic attitude. He was also a man with a passion for history and philosophy. “Originally, I wanted to be an archeologist. I was simply fascinated by Heinrich Schliemann’s discovery of Troy,” he says. Even though he did eventually go into business, he retains a lively awareness of the significance of the past and an interest in fundamental questions about life. “You need to know your roots – as a person and as an entrepreneur. I can only lead my company into the future successfully if I am aware of the values, convictions and goals that guide my work. History is the basis for innovation,” emphasizes Michael Lindner. Especially in times of ever faster transformation, this combination of historical consciousness and innovative spirit seems like a happy one, since it enables the entrepreneur to situate his decisions within a broader context and consider their long-term effects. Only in this way can an enterprise succeed in maintaining its unique identity, and thus ultimately its customers’ and business partners’ identification with its products, above and beyond rapidly changing fashion trends.

In 1983, Börlind demonstrated that the company places great value on this unique identity, even with respect to architecture. “I think from the inside toward the outside,” explains Michael Lindner. “That means the core, the company, must first be harmonious before I take

55

our products out into the public.” And thus, under the second generation’s leadership, an innovative new building, ecologically designed, was constructed on the company’s land. The way it was built makes visible the enterprise’s roots and values. The administrative building’s rounded facade is harmoniously embraced by the surrounding natural environment, and the interior features a pool and plants. The building’s many glass surfaces also create an open, inviting feel. Directly behind the building are the company’s herb garden and its deep spring. This is where the Börlind company’s cosmetics are made – from A to Z. The research and development department is located here, as are production, storage and shipping. “It’s important to me that we, unlike other cosmetics brands, make our products here in the Black Forest in the midst of nature and not in some other country where it’s cheaper. Businesspeople from around the world come to us and are impressed by our holistic approach,” says Michael Lindner.

The new corporate building, designed using green building principles, was definitely a milestone in Annemarie Lindner’s life’s work.

For one thing, it represented a visible symbol of her success. It was also a concrete confirmation of her endurance and her unshakeable belief in her products’ efficacy. The woman who was once belittled as the ‘herb lady’ had become the much-admired pioneer of natural cosmetics.

With tireless dedication, Annemarie Lindner had made a significant contribution to establishing natural beauty care on the cosmetics market and ensuring that it increased in popularity every year. Barely 25 years after its founding, the family business employed 90 people, sold its products around the world in 26 countries and achieved revenue of about 14 million German marks. The words spoken by Annemarie Lindner when the cornerstone was put in place in the fall of 1983 conveyed the pride of a committed entrepreneur who had persevered: “We feel very self-confident, because our idea of using time-honored natural materials has now reached a broad segment of the population.

Our principle of making products that are as natural as possible has been proven right. More and more people are asking for such products.”

At the same time, there was already a hint of leave-taking in her words as she continued: “For Mr. Börner and me, it is satisfying and

56

The Second Generation Contributes

reassuring to know that a second generation stands ready to continue with the work we have started.”

In fact, the time for a change of generations had arrived. In late 1983, Hermann Börner retired and named his son-in-law managing director. Annemarie Lindner had already made her son a shareholder in 1984, and she then withdrew from the company on December 31, 1985 at the age of 65 and handed management of the company over to Michael Lindner. “My son was at first not pleased at all,” she remembered. “He would have liked to have kept me in the company for a while longer. But I stuck to my decision. I wanted to make room for him. The times are changing. And young people may do some things differently from older people, but that doesn’t mean they do them worse.”

However, a passionate ambassador of natural beauty care like Annemarie Lindner cannot just flip a switch and turn her back on her life’s work. Until the end, she remained involved with the company in a range of ways, was always up-to-date, passed her knowledge on in trainings or accompanied her son when he visited clients in Germany and abroad. She received numerous awards for her contributions to natural cosmetics. In 1987, the association of German Reformhaus stores awarded her a golden merit pin for her work in that sector. In 2003, the women’s magazine ‘Für Sie’ ( ‘For Her’ ) named her one of the ‘100 most impressive women of the year.’ In 2005, two days before her 85th birthday, she received the prestigious ‘Natural Legacy Award,’ the ‘Oscar’ of the American natural products sector, for her life’s work. And shortly before her 90th birthday, she received the highest honor of the state of Baden-Württemberg, the distinguished service award.

A Life’s Work It’s not only the realms of politics and business that honor Annemarie Lindner’s extraordinary life’s work. As a self-confident woman who achieved great success through discipline and perseverance and did so in a socially and ecologically responsible way, she is also a role model for young people. Thus Nagold’s vocational school center, which includes a college preparatory branch, in 2010 decided to honor Annemarie Lindner by calling itself ‘Annemarie Lindner School’ ( ALS ) in the future.

57

The 95-year-old retained her vibrancy and eloquence until the time of her death in 2016. Wherever she went, she was very soon in the midst of the action. At first glance, her glowing appearance impressed people – the best evidence of her natural cosmetics’ effectiveness.

But above all, it was her pleasantly unpretentious, focused manner of speaking, which drew from such a rich treasure chest of experience, that wowed everyone. She radiated honesty and credibility, traditional values held in high esteem again by more and more people in a world focused on consumption and characterized by outrageous advertising claims.

And how did Annemarie Lindner view herself ? “I’m lucky,” she said with a satisfied smile. “After all, I have achieved everything I wanted, even if I had to work very hard for that success. If I were young again, I would do it all over the same way.”

58

The Second Generation Contributes

Page 52: Michael Lindner ( 2016 ) Page 54: Lindner family (2016 ) Page 59: Annemarie Lindner in the company’s building in Calw-Altburg

59

“Skincare is a matter of trust”

Bringing Together the Best of Nature and Science Expansion of the Brand in 1987 Phenomena like dying forests, the ozone hole and, in particular, the reactor catastrophe in Chernobyl brought about a rapidly growing environmental consciousness in the 1980s. More and more people wanted to know what their food, clothes and cosmetics were made out of, as well as where and under what conditions they were manufactured. In 1985, ‘Öko-Test,’ a new consumer magazine that for the first time evaluated products using environmental criteria, came onto the market. And one year later, the German political system, in light of the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe, reacted to the increased significance of environmental topics by setting up a federal ministry for the environment, nature conservation and reactor safety. Börlind also acted quickly. Out of commitment to its customers and its own standards for its products, the company purchased an expensive measuring device in order to test all incoming raw materials for possible radioactivity.

Parallel to the increasing concern about environmental topics, more and more people began to feel the consequences of harmful

61

environmental influences or food additives in their own bodies: Allergies, atopic dermatitis and other skin conditions not only became more common in general, but they also increasingly appeared during childhood or adolescence. Michael Lindner, receptive to the topic because of his work in the pharmaceutical industry, recognized the need for innovative, natural, dermatologically active skincare products and on January 1, 1987 founded the DADO-cosmed GmbH subsidiary. With “Medical care. Natural effect” as its motto, DADO-cosmed GmbH began working intensively with dermatologists to develop skincare product series to help the skin regain its natural balance. “You have to really understand skin in order to optimally meet its needs. That requires the kind of comprehensive knowledge that our company has acquired over the course of 60 years,” explains Michael Lindner. Whether for basic skincare or as a complement to therapeutic care, DADO SENS Dermacosmetics has been creating dermatological cosmetic for all sensitive skin conditions for three decades now. The product range now includes a broad spectrum for people of all ages with very dry, sensitive skin as well as for people with allergies, acne, diabetes, atopic dermatitis, eczema or rosacea, an acne-like inflammatory skin condition of the face. ‘Öko-Test’ magazine has recognized many DADO SENS Derma­ cosmetics products, some of them even several times. For example, the brand’s ExtroDerm Skin Balsam received a ‘very good’ rating as basic skincare for people with atopic dermatitis three times between 2004 and 2012. But it wasn’t just consumer magazines or dermatological institutes that confirmed the outstanding effectiveness and safety of these skincare products. Customers themselves also provided their highest praise. For example, in 2008 PurDerm shower gel won the prestigious French consumer prize ‘Les Victoires de la Beauté.’ This award is especially coveted because the products submitted are tested in a blinded fashion, meaning the testers have no knowledge of the manufacturer or country of origin. Quality alone decides.

Michael Lindner had already become the sole managing director of the company in 1996. Under his leadership, and through the influence he had previously exerted as a manager, the company’s own

62

Bringing Together the Best of Nature and Science

research and development work was rigorously expanded during the nineties. It was therefore possible, with SYSTEM ABSOLUTE ( 1991 ), COMBINATION SKIN ( 1997 ) and NATUROYALE BIOLIFTING ( 2001 ), to create three different innovative skincare series for different age groups and skincare needs in the course of one decade, all of which positioned themselves very successfully on the market and received numerous awards. ‘Öko-Test’ magazine has several times awarded products from this skincare series a test rating of ‘very good.’

SYSTEM ABSOLUTE day cream, for example, received this rating twice in a row, in 2007 and 2009, while the series’ eye-cream was recognized as ‘very good’ in 2008. NATUROYALE BIOLIFTING cleansing mousse and NATUROYALE BIOLIFTING night cream were awarded the aforementioned ‘Les Victoires de la Beauté’ consumer prize in 2007 and 2008. “These awards were and are a way of honoring our decades-long research work, and we are of course very pleased about them,” says Michael Lindner. “For us, skincare is a matter of trust. It is important to us that our customers know exactly what our products’ ingredients and effects are. That’s why we spell them out precisely for all of our products.” And that’s not something that just started yesterday; when the 1997 cosmetics ordinance obligated the German cosmetics industry to list all ingredients on the packaging, Börlind had already been doing so that as a matter of course for seven years. In 1998, Michael Lindner received the state of Baden-Württemberg’s business medal for his achievements.

Although he always perceived nature as a guide and a source of inspiration, Michael Lindner knew the task of unearthing new ingredients was far from over. “For us, basic research and development work does indeed mean uncovering, in the truest sense of the word, new natural ingredients. But that’s not enough. Instead, our team further develops the ingredients we discover using the latest scientific findings in order to ultimately achieve the perfect effect using both nature and science. That’s how we are able to offer our customers the best, safest and most effective products for their skin. In short, science uncovers nature's hidden potential.”

63

“For me, it’s a wonderful feeling every time there’s a new product on the shelf that is well received by customers. I’m not satisfied with my work until that moment.”

Guylaine Le Loarer

64

Bringing Together the Best of Nature and Science

For sustainable beauty, then, Börlind always relies on the best of both nature and science. It is only by incorporating the most current scientific research findings and using the most up-to-date technical methods that the newly discovered treasures of nature unfold their optimal effects. ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND natural cosmetics have always been based on a bouquet of natural ingredients, because only the combination of several ingredients can achieve the desired additive effect of the products.

Innovative Research Anyone hoping to make natural cosmetics at this high level needs a good dose of creativity as well as comprehensive specialized knowledge. Guylaine Le Loarer possesses both of those things. A biochemist originally from Brittany, she came to Börlind in 1996. In her 20 years of work with Börlind, Le Loarer, who now heads the research and development department, has developed about 100 recipes. “A new cream takes at least nine months to develop. A complete skincare series may well take three years,” explains Guylaine Le Loarer. The company’s own deep spring water and herbal extracts and botanical oils form the basis of every high-quality Börlind cream, but their special combination must be created anew each time depending on age and skin type and on whether it is to be used as a cream for the eyes, for daytime use or for the night. But that’s not all. “Natural cosmetics inherently present a challenge, simply because we can only use about ten percent of the raw materials that conventional cosmetics use,” explains Guylaine Le Loarer. Harmful ingredients or those that do not decompose readily, like polyethylene glycols ( PEGs ) and polycyclic compounds or petroleum derivatives like paraffins and silicones, have always been taboo for Börlind’s creative masterminds, as have collagen, elastin and placenta extracts obtained from dead animals. Börlind decisively rejects carmine, which is obtained from the blood of an insect and is used as a red dye in lipsticks.

Animal testing and genetically modified substances have likewise always been rejected. Instead, the Black Forest-based family business has always relied on substances from renewable resources for

65

its innovative recipes. The lead developer has always liked to look especially closely at the treasures of the sea. A Frenchwoman who grew up on the Atlantic coast, she is particularly interested in algae.

“These plants, which have existed since prehistoric times, are extremely important for our ecosystem because they produce a large percentage of earth’s oxygen via photosynthesis. They are also real survival artists, unusually diverse and rich in active substances,” Guylaine Le Loarer explains enthusiastically. “Red and brown algae, for example, are rich in minerals, fatty acids and complex sugars like polysaccharides that have the ability to bind with water. Certain molecules smoother the skin, while others inhibit inflammation, moisturize or protect.” In light of such a diverse array of effects, it is not surprising that red and brown algae extracts have been used for almost 100 Börlind products over the course of the years.

But in accordance with its product philosophy of combining the best of nature with the best of science, Börlind went even one step further. In order to answer the key question of how the substances could achieve their optimal effect on skin, the development team has also always incorporated the latest scientific findings. For the SYSTEM ABSOLUTE skincare series, this happened, for example, through use of the third dimension. Enzymes and complex sugars have a threedimensional structure that allows them to carry out their tasks more effectively. For SYSTEM ABSOLUTE’s innovative recipe, Börlind used the 3D structure of the complex sugar galactomannan from the seeds of the Peruvian Tara tree to embed a highly-concentrated algae extract within the sugar molecule. “The algae molecules gradually enter the skin through the 3D matrix, and the skin is stimulated to draw out the anti-aging extract from the galactomannan. The galactomannan activates collagen and elastin production, which in turn softens wrinkles and increases the skin’s elasticity,” explains Guylaine Le Loarer.

In addition to algae, another historically significant plant contributed to natural cosmetics innovation at Börlind: papyrus, the precious writing substrate of the ancient world. Börlind is still the only natural cosmetics company that uses papyrus cells to strengthen the skin’s

66

Bringing Together the Best of Nature and Science

Brown algae

Papyrus

Acai berry

Red algae

Lilac

Pistachio tree oil

Organic caffeine

Witch hazel hydrosol

Sichuan pepper

St. John’s wort

White jelly fungus

Black Forest rose stem cells

Page 64: Guylaine Le Loarer, Director of Research & Development ( 2016 ) Page 67: A selection of the ingredients used for ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND products

67

protective barrier. The Black Forest-based family business was also a forerunner in the use of natural ceramides, which likewise strengthen the skin’s role as a barrier, and of botanical hyaluronic acid from white jelly fungus. In 1999, Börlind received the Dr. Rudolf Eberle prize, as the state of Baden-Württemberg’s innovation prize is called, for the use of a micro-emulsion in its COMBINATION SKIN-type skincare series. In 2014 it even received a European innovation prize when the AQUANATURE eye pads were named ‘most innovative natural product’ and awarded the BSB innovation prize, which supports worldwide sharing of the latest knowledge and recognizes outstanding performance.

Year after year, Börlind has coaxed new treasures from nature for its products. For example, Börlind had a surprise in store for anyone who had assumed that white truffles from the Piedmont region of Italy ( Tartufo Bianco d’Alba ), the most expensive edible fungus in the world, were just a tasty delicacy. Michael Lindner was enjoying a truffle dish in the Piedmont region when he suddenly had the idea of testing the edible fungus for possible cosmetically active substances. No sooner said than done. The company’s research team discovered that white truffles are indeed rich in minerals and trace elements and increase the skin’s elastin production. The company then developed an active substance complex for its NATUROYALE BIOLIFTING anti-aging skincare series using white truffle extract, natural hyaluronic acid from jelly fungus and vitamins that activate the skin’s own regenerative process and stimulate cell renewal. Natural lifting power using white truffles – a true innovation!

With NATUROYALE BIOLIFTING as with every product, however, the job was far from over once the new active substance complex had been developed. The next step was months of stability testing at high and low temperatures so that the product could be used all over the world with unaltered stability and effectiveness. Last, ‘Börlind’s golden series’ was tested for effectiveness and safety by an independent dermatological institute before finally being placed on the market with an improved recipe.

“For me, it’s a wonderful feeling every time there’s a new product

68

Bringing Together the Best of Nature and Science

on the shelf that is well received by customers. I’m not satisfied with my work until that moment,” says Guylaine Le Loarer. And as the impassioned creative force behind the products, she has every reason to be satisfied, since Börlind’s products have even managed to leave their French competitors in the dust several times by winning the ‘Les Victoires de la Beauté’ prize in France, the motherland of beauty care.

Corporate Social Responsibility If you want to remain in the lead, you cannot rest on your laurels.

The Börlind company has always held that conviction. Therefore, it is not just the lead developer who is constantly on the lookout for new active substances at raw materials conventions, professional conferences or research institutions. Experienced scouts and ethnobotanists around the world also track down new plants and raw materials for the company. And there’s someone else in the Black Forest-based family business with an excellent sense for the treasures of nature: Daniela Lindner, Michael Lindner’s wife, herself often participates in journeys of discovery, sometimes quite adventurous ones, to the most remote corners of the world. “Because I come from a family active in the Reformhaus sector, I have been familiar with topics of natural nutrition and natural cosmetics since my youth,” explains Daniela Lindner.

“Originally I wanted to become a pilot, to travel and get to know faraway countries. But then I decided to carry on as the third generation in our Reformhaus, a multi-faceted job that I really enjoyed.” After getting married, Daniela Lindner then became involved in the company, where she has been actively working since 2002. Her enthusiasm for travel and discovering new cultures has not flagged. For example, in 2012 she traveled to Nepal with an ethnobotanist who works for the projects supporting rural women of VEBW e.V. ( Verein Entwicklungshilfe Baden-Württemberg e.V., a registered association for development aid in Baden Württemberg ). “Our destination was a remote area on the border to India. Foreigners are practically never seen there.

There are hardly any streets, meaning we often had to make a path straight through the jungle,” tells Daniela Lindner. But her efforts were rewarded: Among the native farmers, they discovered a skin-smoothing

69

Page 70: Promotional film ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND – Natural Beauty

70

Bringing Together the Best of Nature and Science

oil that is obtained from the pressed seeds of the Nepalese Himalayan cherry tree ( Prinsepia utilis ). “It was fascinating to be able to learn about the centuries-old knowledge about this plant that we haven’t even heard of here in Europe,” says Daniela Lindner with enthusiasm.

At home in Calw, scientific tests by the company’s research teams then confirmed the skin-smoothing effect of Prinsepia utilis oil. In 2013, this ingredient was incorporated into the SYSTEM ABSOLUTE eyecare recipe. Börlind thereby became the first company in Europe to use Nepalese Himalayan cherry oil. “Because of its excellent skincare properties, we will no doubt also use this ingredient for other products,” Daniela Lindner says with conviction. Since then, the contact to the Nepalese farmers has become a collaboration. “We emphasize not just quality, but also fair prices and steady supplier contracts,” emphasizes Daniela Lindner, who is, in her role in the company’s management team, also in charge of Corporate Social Responsibility. “After all, behind every raw material is the story of the people who are able to feed themselves and their families when that material is utilized.”

71

“We proudly seek to use cutting-edge research and development to produce natural cosmetics that have been proven to be effective.�

Michael Lindner

Bringing Together the Best of Nature and Science

Protection Using the Treasures of the Sea In the summer of 2014, Börlind once again demonstrated both its pioneering scientific spirit and its open-mindedness with the development of its BEAUTY PEARLS Anti-pollution serum. This time, the company’s own research team had looked to Vietnam to develop a natural cosmetic different from any the world had ever seen by using botanical caviar (macroalgae). Botanical caviar has played an important role in Asian cooking for many generations because of its array of excellent qualities, including its abilities to strengthen the body’s defenses and supply minerals to the body. It is especially popular among the inhabitants of the Japanese island of Okinawa, which is also known for its large number of centenarians. In the realm of cosmetics, botanical caviar helps the epidermis and the dermis adhere better to each other and thereby ensures an improved, tightened skin structure. Based on this, Börlind developed its new product line, which perfectly combines the latest scientific findings with natural cosmetics’ exacting requirements. More specifically, the valuable ingredients of BEAUTY PEARLS Anti-pollution serum fight negative environmental influences and free radicals. The skin becomes palpably smoother and silkier. As always at Börlind, the BEAUTY PEARLS Anti-Pollution serums are offered for all skin types – sensitive skin, dehydrated skin and skin in need of regeneration. “With this innovation, we once again underscore our special commitment to using cutting-edge research and development to produce natural cosmetics that have been proven to be effective,” Michael Lindner observes.

73

The Red Hot Poker’s Beauty Secret Revealed In Europe too, nature holds a number of treasures that can be used for cosmetics. The fascinating, truly eye-catching, flame-colored red hot poker grows in sunny southern France.

And this gorgeous plant offers more than just its beauty: Its sweet nectar, which can only be obtained by hand, early in the morning, for a few weeks in the summer, piqued lead developer Guylaine Le Loarer’s interest. The subsequent scientific analysis confirmed her hunch; the precious nectar of the red-hot poker contains extremely valuable skincare substances. “Its special mechanism of action against free radicals is especially interesting. It also has antiseptic and antiinflammatory effects,” explains biochemist Le Loarer.

Reason enough for Börlind to use this unusual natural raw material to create a highly effective new skincare product. And once again, the Black Forest-based company confirmed how innovative its research is, placing NATUPERFECT AntiPigment & Brightening Fluid, a novel serum, on the market in September of 2014. This serum uses a special complex of active substances consisting of red hot poker extract, ceramides, astaxanthin from microalgae and detoxophane from garden cress to increase the skin’s ability to retain moisture, strengthen the skin barrier and reduce age and pigment spots and prevent the genesis of new hyperpigmentation. “Regular application of NATUPERFECT Anti-Pigment & Brightening Fluid leads to a visibly more even and radiant complexion,” says Guylaine Le Loarer with satisfaction, adding that “Of course this effect has been scientifically confirmed by independent test institutes, as is standard practice for our company.”

74

Bringing Together the Best of Nature and Science

“Natural cosmetics inherently present a challenge, simply because we can only use about ten percent of the raw materials that conventional cosmetics use.�

Guylaine Le Loarer

75

“Being a reliable partner”

Lived Responsibility for People and the Environment Environmentally and Socially Conscious Activism, 1998 “For us, natural and sustainable always go hand in hand. Our skincare products consist of high-quality natural substances, and we also place great value on fair trade and are involved globally in social and environmental projects. We want our world to already get a little fairer today, and for the generations to come to also have a livable future,” explains Michael Lindner. The urgency with which he says this leaves no doubt that the topic of sustainability is one that is very close to his heart. As an entrepreneur, he also accepts the obligation that this avowal implies.

Anyone who states their position this clearly has to walk their talk if they wish to remain credible among customers and the public. “For this reason, we strive to ensure open communication. We like to provide information about our activities and enjoy receiving suggestions. We want our customers to know us. We want to be a committed and reliable partner for whom natural beauty care is inseparably linked with responsibility toward people and nature,” says Michael Lindner.

77

Page 76: Leela from Iran ( 2013 ) Page 78, top: Rose petal processing in Iran ( 2009 ) Page 78, bottom: Malian women visiting in Calw ( 2013 )

78

Lived Responsibility for People and the Environment

When Daniela and Michael Lindner get involved in a project, they view it as a partnership among equals in which both sides learn from each other. The couple, who have three daughters and one son, especially value involvement in women’s projects in developing countries. “Africa depends on women,” says Michael Lindner. “They are usually the ones who work to feed their families and ensure their children’s futures.” One example of this is Siokoro, a village in Mali. The women there produce karité butter, also called shea butter, by hand in a labor-intensive traditional way. Shea butter is a skincare product that has long been well-known in Africa and is now also highly prized in Europe and America due to its smoothing effect. In theory, a good source of income for the remote village. However, the amount produced by hand was usually too small, and was also of inadequate quality. Daniela and Michael Lindner, along with the non-profit organization ‘Häuser der Hoffnung – Schulbildung für die Dritte Welt’ ( Houses of Hope – Educational Training for the Third World ) therefore initiated an organic and fair trade project there, building a production facility and a training center in order to make it possible for the women of Siokoro to manufacture high-quality shea butter in marketable amounts.

A quality lab was also built so that product quality could be monitored in an ongoing fashion. Börlind also took on the delivery of instruction in the specialized knowledge required for the lab work, and trained some Malian women at the company’s main offices in Calw. Firm supplier contracts and fair prices guarantee a stable, forward-looking source of income to the Siokoro women’s cooperative and thus to about 50 families with numerous children. Furthermore, the training center also offers the women literacy programs as well as courses in preventative health and AIDS prevention.

The shea butter project has received several awards. For example, in 2011 Börlind received the ‘Mid-sized Company Award for Social Responsibility in Baden-Württemberg.’ The following year, the German Federal Ministry For Economic Cooperation and Development awarded the company the ‘Innovation Prize for Vocational Educational Projects in Developing Countries’ for this exemplary project.

“Social responsibility knows no borders,” says Michael Lindner

79

with an eye to another of his company’s cooperative projects, this time in Iran. There, Börlind has for years been supporting the ‘Roses not Opium’ initiative, which makes it possible for farmers in the mountainous region of Lalehzar in the province of Kerman to lead better, more self-determined lives. Because they had no other sources of income, people there used to illegally plant poppies, which they sold to opium dealers. At the suggestion of the ‘Zahra Rosewater Company,’ the farmers decided to stop planting this lethal substance and to plant organic Damask roses instead. Their fields, at an altitude of 2,500 meters in pure mountain air, offer ideal conditions for growing this pink rose with its captivating aroma. Immediately after the harvest, the fresh blossoms are processed into rose oil and rose water using a centuriesold Oriental recipe. “The quality of the precious rose oil from Lalehzar is unique,” says Daniela Lindner. “Because of its smoothing and regenerating effect, it is an excellent ingredient.” Firm supplier contracts and a purchase price at the upper end of the usual market range enable the cosmetics company to guarantee a secure income to about 1,500 people.

“The profits also fund three orphanages and a women’s refuge,” she explains.

As essential as natural raw materials are for Börlind’s cosmetic products, the Black Forest-based company draws the line when ‘natural’ is incompatible with ‘sustainable.’ “Our highest precept is to protect nature’s resources,” says Michael Lindner. “For example, deforesting large areas of tropical forests, the earth’s ‘green lung,’ to plant oil tree plantations for obtaining palm seed oil would be completely incompatible with our values. Likewise, we don’t use any rosewood oil, which is obtained from the endangered palisander tree of the Amazon.” Instead, Börlind has consciously decided to use nature-identical substances, meaning substances modeled on nature and obtained using biotechnological processes in the lab that have the same effects as their natural prototypes, when a raw material is scarce in nature.

Beyond organic and fair trade projects, Daniela and Michael Lindner are also engaged in activism as individuals. For example, the couple supported the construction of a dormitory in Jhaljhalia, a town in northern Bangladesh, so that even children from remote villages

80

Lived Responsibility for People and the Environment

could attend the school there. Börlind will continue to be active in Jhaljhalia.

The Lindners by no means only promote social responsibility through projects in other countries. In Germany as well, they support institutions that provide a safety net for people in situations of acute need or difficult times. For example, Börlind supports the Elisabethstift in Berlin, a Protestant children’s home with an attached day-care center and school as well as a wide range of special pedagogical support measures. In addition, the entrepreneurial couple is involved with the Catholic Luise-von-Marillac rehabilitation clinic in Bad Überkingen, the first clinic in Germany to specialize in rehabilitation of young breast-cancer patients, which uses a holistic approach for body, soul and spirit. “Body care, as we know, is also beneficial for the soul. We therefore hope, through special Börlind beauty treatments, to support patients in finding their inner balance again,” says Daniela Lindner.

Of course, a company that stands up for people, nature and the environment all around the world mustn’t forget to apply those principles to its own business. The trajectory begun by Börlind in 1983 when it laid the cornerstone of its new green corporate headquarters has grown over the years into an ambitious and sustainable comprehensive plan that now covers all areas of the company. Because Börlind was not satisfied with its sector’s standard product certification process but instead wanted to subject all corporate activities to ongoing monitoring, the company drafted its own guidelines in 2008. Those guidelines go significantly above and beyond the criteria for existing natural cosmetics seals and were also confirmed by EcoControl, a certification organization for environmentally-friendly products and quality-assurance systems that is active around the world. Since 2012, Börlind has been recognized with the CSE ( Certified Sustainable Economics ) sustainability seal for environmentally friendly, socially integrated and qualityoriented corporate leadership. “We are of course very pleased about this praise. At the same time, it inspires us to continue optimizing our company’s internal standards. We already achieve significant CO2 savings by obtaining environmentally sound electricity from hydropower, wind power and photovoltaic cells,” says Michael Lindner. Börlind also

81

uses a climate-neutral shipping and mailing service, thereby contributing to compliance with the Kyoto protocol specifications for offsetting transportation-related CO2 emissions. The company’s vehicle fleet is also outfitted with the most up-to-date technologies for reducing usage and emissions, which ensures the company a top spot among the Volks­ wagen ‘Green Fleet’ environmental awards in the ‘highest percentage of fuel savings’ category.

Only a company with a highly motivated team of employees can put forward-looking measure into place. That’s why a corporate climate characterized by respect and appreciation is such a central component of Börlind’s holistic sustainability concept. “Eighty percent of our team, including outside sales staff, are women,” says Michael Lindner.

“We have had excellent experiences with our female employees, most of whom have been with us for years. Women work harder. They manage family and career at the same time, which is often a Herculean task.”

The entrepreneur and his wife therefore want to help make it easier in the future to have both children and a career. “Children are a gift and enrich our lives. For me, my family is the center of my life. And of course our family values in turn shape our company. They create a distinctive image for our family business. After all, you can copy products, but you can’t reproduce a corporate culture,” says Michael Lindner.

82

Lived Responsibility for People and the Environment

Page 83, top: Women harvesting shea nuts in Mali ( 2011 ) Page 83, bottom: Prinsepia utilis seeds for dhatelo oil from Nepal ( 2016 )

83

“Keep what’s tried and true and dare to try what’s new”

New Directions for the Future

Merger, 2002 In recent years, demand for organic products has definitely become a megatrend. In all of Europe and North America as well as Germany, the number of people choosing a healthy, sustainable lifestyle in harmony with nature is constantly increasing. As a reaction to this growing interest in all things organic, conventional cosmetics manufacturers are also increasingly bringing natural cosmetic products onto the market. “We don’t need to put on a little green cape. Börlind has been living and breathing natural cosmetics for 60 years already!” says Michael Lindner, who looks optimistically to the future despite the growing competition. And the successful entrepreneur has every reason to do just that: After he succeeded in 2002 in purchasing the Hermann Börner family’s shares in Börlind GmbH, the Lindner family assumed exclusive ownership of the company on January 1, 2003.

But that’s not all. Four years later, Michael Lindner made an entrepreneurially far-sighted decision that ensured Börlind would be very well positioned for the future. In order to meet the growing demand

85

for natural cosmetics, he decided to no longer offer his products exclusively through Reformhaus stores in Germany, but also in perfumeries, pharmacies, natural food stores, selected department stores and high-end drugstores. “That was not an easy decision,” Michael Lindner admits candidly. “After all, we grew up with the Reformhaus stores.

And they will continue to be an important pillar for us. However, the time had come to open ourselves up to other distribution pathways as well.” His determination to dare to try something new was rewarded.

ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND is now number one among the natural cosmetics brands in perfumeries as well.

“Through our expanded distribution plan, our decorative cosmetics are also getting more attention,” notes Daniela Lindner with satisfaction. In keeping with its corporate philosophy, Börlind has from the beginning been committed to naturalness and sustainability in this area as well. As a trained cosmetologist, Daniela Lindner knows what matters when it comes to good makeup, mascara or lipstick: “High-quality ingredients, gentle active substances and of course safety are indispensable. After all, many women wear makeup every day and want to do so without worrying about damaging their skin.” And the company has repeatedly shown that ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND’s makeup make this possible without in any way needing to hide behind conventional products. With “The Leaf of the Linden Tree as a Symbol of Green Glamour” as its slogan, Börlind has participated as a makeup partner in many high-quality events like the Bambi Awards, the Miss Germany finals and the Cannes International Film Festival. In 2013, the Black Forest-based family business even presented its products at the Oscar Awards in Hollywood. “Being able to participate in such an important media event with our decorative cosmetics is a confirmation of our path for us. The topics of naturalness and sustainability are getting more and more important in Hollywood as well,” says Daniela Lindner.

For over 20 years, guests at the Börlind beauty oasis in the Black Forest have been able to experience first-hand how beneficial nature’s powers are for body and soul. At the ANNEMAR IE BÖR LIND NATUR AL BEAUTY SPA in the idyllic spa town of Bad Teinach,

86

New Directions for the Future

Börlind offers a special spa concept with facial and body treatments that are systematically adapted for each individual skin type and age group. In addition, the Börlind City Spas in Stuttgart, Erlangen and Saarlouis have for several years made it possible to immerse oneself in the world of ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND natural cosmetics even in the middle of the city.

In order to be able to continue its successful trajectory with full force in the future, Börlind places great value on an innovative distribution concept. “As a mid-sized family business, we can act much more quickly than a big corporation. That’s an enormous advantage when implementing future-oriented measures and strategies,” explains Gunter Thoss of the management team. “Consider new media, for example. Our distribution team was the first to conduct its product presentations using an iPad. Our customer consultants now also use them because they can demonstrate our products’ effectiveness so clearly with photos and graphics.” In order to optimally meet its customers’ needs, Börlind also ranked user-friendliness as the most important aspect of its website relaunches in 2013 and 2015. Since then, in response to high demand from customers, the family business has been offering its products through its own online shop as well. And since 2008, the natural cosmetics manufacturing company has been providing information to the public through its company magazine, ‘Natural Woman,’ about innovative developments, events and the company’s social and environmental involvement. “Being close to people in a service-oriented way, which our company’s founder Annemarie Lindner emphasized for decades, is and remains one of our trademarks,” summarizes Gunter Thoss.

International Success Whether in Milan, New York or Tokyo, Börlind is present in the metropolises of our world. Asia and North America are among the most important foreign markets. “In the U.S. in particular, we have customers who have been loyal for decades, and the consistent focus on sustainability in our product philosophy has also influenced the whole American natural cosmetics market in a positive way. For that reason,

87

in 2005 the U.S. natural products sector honored my mother for her life’s work with the ‘Natural Legacy Award,’” says Michael Lindner.

In Japan as well, a country where the culture honors nature’s beauty in many ways, Börlind’s products have been very popular for three decades already. With courage, determination and great creative joy, this family business from the Black Forest has made the leap to the top within two generations. And a young natural cosmetologist’s vision became a global brand that is now sold in over 30 countries and numbers among the world’s leading natural cosmetics manufacturers.

What goal does such a successful company pursue for the future?

Without hesitation, Michael Lindner answers, “We want to become the largest and most well-known natural cosmetics company in the world.

And continue to be a family-led company. I regard our company as a domain that I received from my parents in order to make it more successful and pass it on to my children.” Michael and Daniela Lindner decided early on to gradually bring their children in to the company so that the generational handover, which is often especially difficult in family businesses, would work out well. Their plan succeeded: Alicia and Vanessa recently joined the company, while the girls older brother Nicolas took that step in April of 2013. After completing his training in industrial business management, Nicolas Lindner first completed a Bachelor’s degree in International Business Administration at the Munich Business School and then a Master’s degree in Family Entrepreneurship at Zeppelin University in Friedrichshafen. “Because I got to know the company gradually through vacation jobs in production and administration and by participating in events, I have known since completing high school that I would end up at Börlind,” the now 32-year-old Nicolas Lindner recalls. However, he decided to first work for a while for a private equity firm in Munich after completing his studies. “It was important to me to first gain some outside experience,” he explains. After holding various positions in the company, Nicolas Lindner now works with his father as a managing partner to shape the family business’ future. In addition to strategic skills and entrepreneurial creativity, the two of them also share a sense of connection with the company’s roots. “I find it impressive how my grandmother built up

88

New Directions for the Future

“I really like to work in a team and see a working climate characterized by mutual appreciation as one of the great strengths of a family business.�

Nicolas Lindner

Page 89, left: Alicia Lindner ( 2016 ) Page 89, right: Nicolas Lindner ( 2016 )

89

Page 90: Reception area and cosmetic treatment rooms in the ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND NATURAL BEAUTY SPA in the Hotel Therme in Bad Teinach

90

New Directions for the Future

an internationally successful company out of nothing with hard work, discipline and a firm belief in her vision. The clarity and systematic approach of her Börlind skincare company still guides us today,” says Nicolas Lindner appreciatively. The young entrepreneur also wants to continue the tradition of lived social responsibility. In his daily work, he prizes flat hierarchies and a cooperative leadership style. “I really like to work in a team and see a working climate characterized by mutual appreciation as one of the great strengths of a family business.”

With approximately 220 employees, Börlind is one of the largest employers in the city of Calw. With regard to success, this family business in the Black Forest can definitely compare itself to the big corporations. “Now we need to set ourselves up right strategically for the next ten to 15 years,” says Nicolas Lindner with determination. Anyone listening to him will have no doubt that he will continue the family business’ success story into the third generation with the same spirit as his grandparents and his parents. And so Börlind will continue its fascinating search for nature’s treasures, in keeping with Annemarie Lindner’s saying: “Everything the skin needs can be found in nature.

It’s just waiting for us to discover it.”

91

“Success depends on courage”

Theodor Fontane

The Börlind Awards 1987–2017 1987

2003

The association of German Reformhaus stores gives Annemarie Lindner the golden needle award for her work in that sector

The women’s magazine ‘Für Sie’ names Annemarie Lindner one of the ‘100 most impressive women of the year’

1996 Ökotest ‘very good’ DADO SENS ExtroDerm Skin Balm

1999 Dr. Rudolf Eberle prize for development of a micro-emulsion for ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND COMBINATION SKIN

2001 Ökotest ‘very good’ DADO SENS ExtroDerm Intensive Cream

2004 Ökotest ‘very good’ DADO SENS ExtroDerm Skin Balm

2005 Natural Legacy Award (USA) Annemarie Lindner Ökotest ‘very good’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND PURA SOFT Q10 Ökotest ‘very good’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND ROSMARY-HERB SHAMPOO Ökotest ‘very good’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND EXFOLIATING PEEL

93

2006 Prix santé magazine (France) ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND NATUROYALE BIOLIFTING Serum Les Victoires de la Beauté (France) ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND NATURESÔME Nature Effect Fluide Ökotest ‘very good’ anne lind Lemon Grass Shower Gel

2007

Ökotest ‘very good’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND CERAMIDE REPAIR SHAMPOO Ökotest ‘very good’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND CREME PASTELL Apricot Ökotest ‘very good’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND TEENCARE Cleansing Gel

2008 Les Victoires de la Beauté (France)

Les Victoires de la Beauté (France)

ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND NATUROYALE BIOLIFTING Night Repair

ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND NATUROYALE BIOLIFTING Cleansing Mousse

Les Victoires de la Beauté (France)

Les Victoires de la Beauté (France)

DADO SENS PurDerm Creamy Cleanser

ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND NATURESÔME Nature Effect Fluide

Prix santé magazine (France)

Prix santé magazine (France)

ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND NATUROYALE BIOLIFTING Night Repair

ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND NATUROYALE BIOLIFTING Serum Ökotest ‘very good’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND ­ LL REGENERATION Cleansing Milk Ökotest ‘very good’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND FOR LIPS Ökotest ‘very good’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND SYSTEM ABSOLUTE Day Cream

94

Ökotest ‘very good’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND ANTI STRESS MASK Ökotest ‘very good’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND SUNLESS BRONZE Self-Tanning Lotion Ökotest ‘very good’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND SYSTEM ABSOLUTE Eye-Cream

The Börlind Awards 1987–2017

Ökotest ‘very good’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND LIP GLOSS Ökotest ‘very good’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND SUN After Sun Cooling Gel Ökotest ‘very good’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND MAKE-UP

2010 SPA Diamond ‘Beauty natural cosmetics, ladies’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND SYSTEM ABSOLUTE Shortly before her 90th birthday, Annemarie Lindner received the merit award of the state of Baden-Württemberg.

Les Victoires de la Beauté (France)

Ökotest ‘very good’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND SEA ALGAE SHAMPOO

ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND NATUREPAIR Skin Renewal Fluid

Ökotest ‘very good’ anne lind Lemon Grass Shower Gel

Ökotest ‘very good’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND SUN After Sun Cooling Gel

2009

Ökotest ‘very good’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND SUN Sunscreen LSF 20

Beautyworld Cup Annemarie Lindner Ökotest ‘very good’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND LL REGENERATION Night Cream Ökotest ‘very good’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND SYSTEM ABSOLUTE Day Cream Ökotest ‘very good’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND LL REGENERATION Day Cream Ökotest ‘very good’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND MASCARA

Ökotest ‘very good’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND ROSE DEW Day Cream Ökotest ‘very good’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND CREME PASTELL Ökotest ‘very good’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND LIP COLOR Ökotest ‘very good’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND MASCARA Ökotest ‘very good’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND MAKE-UP liquid

95

2011 neuform Life’s Work Annemarie Lindner

Ökotest Magazine ‘very good’ DADO SENS ExtroDerm Skin Balm

Maurice Lacroix Award for Annemarie Lindner’s Life’s Work

Annabelle Prix de Beauté (Switzerland)

Mid-sized Company Prize for Social Responsibility for BadenWürttemberg

Nomination ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND AQUANATURE Hyaluronate Moisturising Serum

Les Victoires de la Beauté (France)

2013

ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND Bust Contour Reform Project of the Year ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND NATUREPAIR Skin Renewal Fluid Ökotest ‘very good’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND SEIDE NATURAL HAIR CARE Volume Shampoo Ökotest ‘very good’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND SUN CARE Lip Balm SPF 20 Bright lights of economy BÖRLIND GmbH

2012 BMZ (Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development) Innovation Prize ‘Shea butter from Mali’ project Reform Product of the Year ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND LL REGENERATION

96

Reform Product of the Year ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND AQUANATURE Hyaluronate Moisturising Cream Annabelle Prix de Beauté (Switzerland) Nomination ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND NATUROYALE BIOLIFTING Serum Annabelle Prix de Beauté (Switzerland) Nomination DADO SENS ProBalance Soft Eye Lotion SPA Diamond ‘Beauty natural cosmetics, ladies’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND AQUANATURE Hyaluronate Moisturising Cream BIO RUS (Russia) ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND BODY lind Body Cream, AQUANATURE Hyaluronate Moisturising Cream, NATUROYALE BIOLIFTING Serum and Eye and Lip Contour

The Börlind Awards 1987–2017

Natural Products Scandinavia (Sweden) ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND ROSE BLOSSOM REVITALIZING CARE Blue Planet Medal (Slovakia) ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND AQUANATURE Hyaluronate Moisturising Cream MEINS Anti-Aging Beauty Award Top 3 ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND ROSE BLOSSOM REVITALIZING CARE Ökotest ‘very good’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND BB CREAM Ökotest ‘very good’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND BODY lind Body Lotion

2014 Prix H. Pierantoni de l'innovation (France) ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND SYSTEM ABSOLUTE Day Cream Light and NATUROYALE BIOLIFTING Peeling Powder BSB Innovation Prize (Europe) ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND AQUANATURE ­Revitalizing Eye Pads Ökotest Magazine ‘very good’ anne lind Body Lotion orange ginger Ökotest ‘very good’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND AQUANATURE Hyaluronate Moisturising Cream

97

Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft ‘Innovative through research’ quality seal BÖRLIND GmbH MEINS Anti-Aging Beauty Award ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND SYSTEM ABSOLUTE Eye Cream Prix Santé (France) ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND BEAUTY PEARLS ­A nti-Pollution & Moisture Serum Anne & Stiili Magazin (Estonia) Best Beauty Innovation Price ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND BEAUTY PEARLS Tara Magazine Beauty Award (Sweden) ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND BEAUTY PEARLS ‘Gold Medal’ for the best innovative skin product (Czechia) ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND SYSTEM ABSOLUTE Day Cream Light ‘Blue Planet’ for the best bio, eko skin products (Czechia) DADO SENS Cosmopolitan Beauty Award / Eco cosmetics (Latvia) ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND ANTI-AGING MAKE-UP

Reform Product of the Year ‘Special jury prize’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND BODY lind Roll-on Deodorant Balm

Ökotest ‘very good’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND SEIDE NATURAL HAIR CARE Mild Shampoo

2015

Ökotest ‘very good’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND SUN CARE LIP BALM SPF 20

BSB Innovation prize (Europe) ‘Natural Products / ­Finished Products’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND BEAUTY PEARLS Anti-Pollution & Moisture Serum GALA Spa Award Nomination ‘Green Innovation Concepts’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND BEAUTY PEARLS Anti-Pollution & Regeneration Serum The Beauty Shortlists (3rd place / Finalists) ‘Anti Aging Serum’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND BEAUTY PEARLS Anti-Pollution & Regeneration Serum SPA Diamond Nomination ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND BEAUTY PEARLS Anti-Pollution & Regeneration Serum SPA Diamond Annemarie Lindner her life’s work Swedish Beauty & Cosmetics Award (Sweden) ‘Serum of the year’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND BEAUTY PEARLS Anti-Pollution & Moisture Serum

98

Beauty Alliance ‘Excellent Partner Award’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND LEA Mid-sized Company Award for Social responsibility in Baden-Württemberg Nomination BÖRLIND GmbH tina Anti-Aging Beauty Award (3rd place) ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND BEAUTY PEARLS Anti-Pollution & Regeneration Serum Stiftung Warentest ‘good’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND SUN Sport Sun Spray SPF 30 GREEN BRANDS 2015 / 2016 ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND LEA Mid-sized Company Award for Social Responsibility in Baden-Württemberg – Certification for Resonsible Enterprise BÖRLIND GmbH Annabelle Prix de Beauté (Switzerland) Nomination ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND NATUPERFECT

The Börlind Awards 1987–2017

Anne & Stiili Magazin (Estonia) ‘Best Beauty Favorite’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND BEAUTY SHOT Hydro Booster Pure Beauty Award (England )

German Brand Award Winner ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft ‘Innovative through research’ quality seal BÖRLIND GmbH

Nomination ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND BEAUTY SHOT Hydro Booster

Econ Award Nomination ‘Natural Woman’ BÖRLIND GmbH

2016

LEA Mid-sized Company Award for Social Responsibility in Baden-Württemberg – Certification for ‘social responsibility’ BÖRLIND GmbH

Daisy Beauty Award ‘best new eco-cosmetic product’ (Sweden) ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND ZZ SENSITIVE Mild Cleansing Emulsion Annabelle Prix de Beauté (Switzerland) Nomination ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND ZZ SENSITIVE Regenerative Day Cream

Responsible Care competition ‘Special Prize for Product Responsibility in the Supply Chain’ ‘Shea Butter from Mali’ project tina Anti-Aging Beauty ‘Natural Cosmetics’ category ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND BEAUTY SHOT Anti-Aging Revitalizer

GALA Spa Award ‘Organic Concepts’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND BEAUTY SHOTS Intensive Concentrates

‘National Champion Germany’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND

SPA Diamond ‘Green Innovation’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND BEAUTY SHOT Hydro Booster

Ökotest ‘very good’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND SEIDE NATURAL HAIR CARE Moisturizing Shampoo

BSB Innovation prize ‘Natural products / most innovative end product’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND BEAUTY SHOT Hydro Booster

99

European Business Awards (Europe)

2017 German Design Award ‘Special Mention’ ANNEMARIE BÖRLIND Quality Seal

Legal Information Publisher

BÖRLIND – Gesellschaft für kosmetische Erzeugnisse mbH Lindenstrasse 15 75365 Calw, Germany Black Forest www.boerlind.com Planning, Text and Editing

Dr. Elke Jahnke Stuttgart

Design and Layout

hauser lacour kommunikationsgestaltung gmbh Frankfurt am Main Printing

Druckerei Imbescheidt GmbH Frankfurt am Main Paper

Cover: Peyer Peydur – FSC ®-certified Banderole and inner part: Papyrus MultiDesign® Original natural – FSC-Mix ® FSC ® products are produced using materials from FSC-certified forests and materials from controlled sources.

First edition, December 2016 Printed and produced in Germany © BÖR LIND, all rights reserved

Photos: BÖRLIND GmbH (10, 12, 17, 18, 20, 30, 35, 36, 39, 48, 76, 78, 83, 90) | Getty (8) | iStock (25, 43, 44, 67, 72, 75 ) beckerlacour.com ( 52, 64, 89 ) | Medienfabrik ( 59, 78 ) | Tim Thiel Photographer (84 ) | Anqer Filmproduktion ( 70)

100