YOU & YOUR HEALTH
Weleda 100
WELEDA: 100
YEARS OF CONNECTING PEOPLE WITH NATURE
100 years ago, Weleda became the world’s first natural cosmetics company, pioneering organic farming methods and cultivation and setting standards for ethical business practices. Today, Weleda is the world’s No.1 producer of certified natural skincare and holistic healthcare products, supplying 55 countries across five continents…
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ELEDA has subsidiaries in 20 countries, manufacturing in 8 of those including the UK, employing over 2,500 people, and managing approximately 248 square km worldwide organically. In Weleda’s own biodynamic gardens, over 120 plants are cultivated for harvest. The resulting plant tinctures form the basis of the many products in the range. Weleda also sustains more than 50 long-term fair trade farming partnerships around the world to produce additional organic ingredients.
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HOLISTIC THERAPIST 2021
Behind many natural brands there’s a highly individual company philosophy, and this is certainly the case with Weleda. When it comes to being green, ethical and sustainable, Weleda has shown true commitment for a century. First founded in Switzerland in 1921, Weleda was established in the UK in 1925 and the original range included several products that are still going strong
today, such as Weleda’s famous Arnica Massage Balm and the iconic Skin Food moisturiser, which have become Weleda classics. The company name derives from the title the ancient Celtic tribes in Germany and elsewhere gave to their healers: ‘Weleda’. These wise women were hugely respected for their understanding of herbs and nature. They were considered priestesses and, like village elders, they were often asked for their counsel and advice and revered for their experience and wisdom. A more modern day ‘Weleda’ was the company’s founder, Dr Ita Wegman, who trained in massage and physiotherapy in the early 1900s and then went on to study medicine and specialise in women’s health and gynaecology at Zurich University at a time when there were very few women doctors. She established the Ita Wegman Clinic in Switzerland, and Weleda remains partially owned by this non-profit organisation today. She had a particular vision for health and wellbeing: a truly holistic approach, using natural products and developing holistic treatments that took into account mind, body and spirit. This ethos continues to shape Weleda’s range today. Her co-founder, scientist and philosopher Rudolph Steiner, was a man ahead of his time. He established biodynamic agriculture and is credited with contributing significantly to the modern organic farming movement. This organic principle and respect for both people and planet underpins Weleda, and the company’s original mission statement, ‘in harmony with nature and
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