spa therapies
Sustainable, Beauty and the Spa Industry. Our Q&A with Davide Bollati, Chair of Davines Group By Becca Douglas - The Sustainable Spa Association
Davide Bollati, chair of Davines Group, is a true pioneer of sustainability. He joined Davines, his family company, in 1992, having first completed a degree in pharmacy from Parma University and a masters in cosmetic science from Farleigh Dickinson University in the US. His leadership of Davines, the parent company of Sustainable Spa Association brand partner, Comfort Zone, has been characterised by a drive to achieve Sustainable Beauty - a term which Bollati describes as a “combination of plant chemistry and respect for the environment and society”. This approach has resulted in Davines Group being widely recognised as a company with a strong commitment to both ethics and sustainability. As a hallmark of this commitment to sustainability, the group became a B Corporation in 2016. The company's status as a “B-Corp” means that, as a business, it balances purpose and profit and is legally required to consider the impact its decisions have on its workers, customers, suppliers, community and the environment. The Sustainable Spa Association spoke to Davide about all things sustainability - from his passion for the topic and the role played in the SSA in promoting sustainability.
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Q: Sustainable Beauty is a term strongly associated with both Davines Group and you personally - what does it mean to you? I've always had a passion for a type of chemistry that takes experience from nature and is in harmony with the planet. Early on in my career, however, it was just that - a passion, it wasn't very well structured.
77,000sq m, of which 80 per cent is allocated to green space. The scientific garden is central to operations and run by our chemists. It is a sort of experimental garden - it is relatively small but it allows us to start the research on the ingredients we use in our products.
In 2005, however, we decided to attach sustainable beauty firmly onto the brand identity of Davines Group, so for the past 16 years it has been very much a part of what we do as a company. Becoming a B-Corp was a big step too, and we've learned to better measure our sustainable practices. We've now embedded sustainability in our industrial strategy, so it's very much part of our routine and our daily work.
As a beauty company, it's important that our products “work”. But as we've made a commitment to find and only use ingredients that are also environmentally sustainable, the research we conduct is all about finding a balance between the two.
Q: Your HQ, Davines Village, located in Parma, is often highlighted as an example of your commitment to sustainability? Could you tell readers about that?
As a result, we're now reinventing our supply chain. It is a chain based on regenerative organic agriculture. We want every product to have a product life cycle and a score card which measures that.
The Davines Village is a place where everything happens - from the beginning to the end of our industrial process. It includes our offices, our research and development laboratory, the production plant and the warehouse. It also features our scientific garden and greenhouse. The total area is around
Q: What do you see as the biggest challenges you see, when it comes to being sustainable?
Les Nouvelles Esthetiques no’83
We want ingredients that, for example, rejuvenate the skin, but are also sustainable. We aren't satisfied with just ticking one of the boxes.
For us, there are two. The first is a lack of technology that would allow a systemic transition from unsustainable into more
