Recently, Unilever officially announced that &#34;it will close its high-end skincare brand REN Clean Skincare (hereinafter referred to as REN) by the end of the third quarter of this year,&#34; citing &#34;a series of internal factors, coupled with market challenges.&#34;
In response, Qingyan contacted Unilever China and Unilever headquarters for details. Unilever China replied that &#34;the brand has not officially entered the Chinese market, and the situation is unclear.&#34; Unilever headquarters had not responded by the time of publication.
<h3>Acquisition for Ten Years, Trading to Cease by the End of This Year's Third Quarter</h3>
In fact, as early as the end of February this year, there were rumors in the industry that REN would be closed. At that time, several foreign media reported that Unilever had sent a memorandum to partners outlining &#34;important developments&#34; regarding REN. The memorandum stated, &#34;As one of the efforts to address current challenges, we have engaged in collective consultations with employees and their representatives. This includes reviewing our operational situation to determine the best path for business development.&#34;
Although the memorandum emphasized that &#34;no final decision has been made,&#34; the vague wording reflected the possibility of REN's closure. Earlier, in August of last year, multiple media outlets reported that &#34;Unilever is working with consulting firms to sell its high-end skincare brand REN and another brand, Kate Somerville.&#34;
Regarding the closure of REN, Unilever stated in a press release, &#34;After the collective consultation period ended, we made a difficult decision to formally take steps to close the REN business. A combination of internal factors, along with market challenges in recent years, has made it impossible for the brand to maintain long-term success.&#34;
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://assets-v2.cbndata.com/prod/cbndata/cms/content/img/1919982338341523457.jpeg?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://assets-v2.cbndata.com/prod/cbndata/cms/content/img/1919982338341523457.jpeg"/> Screenshot from Unilever's official website
Additionally, &#34;We are proud of the achievements of the REN team over 25 years of operation, as they have brought clean skincare to the forefront, creating positive changes for people and the planet.&#34; Unilever also stated, &#34;The final closure date for the REN brand has not yet been determined, but it is expected to cease trading by the end of this year's third quarter.&#34;
It is understood that the brand name REN means &#34;pure&#34; in Swedish, which aligns with the brand's positioning. Public information shows that REN was founded in the UK in 2000 by Rob Calcraft and Antony Buck. The brand's creation stemmed from Antony Buck's wife's allergic reactions to everyday beauty products during her pregnancy, and the skincare products available at the time did not meet her desired effects. Therefore, Buck decided to formulate a safe product that was free of preservatives yet effective, leading to the birth of REN.
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://assets-v2.cbndata.com/prod/cbndata/cms/content/img/1919982434630033410.jpeg?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://assets-v2.cbndata.com/prod/cbndata/cms/content/img/1919982434630033410.jpeg"/> Image source: REN brand official website
It is reported that REN was the first to propose the concept of &#34;Clean Beauty&#34; and insists on using 100% natural ingredients and extracted mineral components. The products are free from chemical substances and synthetic components, making it a &#34;pioneer&#34; brand in the pure beauty segment. With labels such as &#34;sensitive skin friendly&#34; and &#34;natural and additive-free,&#34; the brand is not only a trailblazer in embedding &#34;Clean Beauty&#34; into its brand DNA but has also established itself as an industry benchmark through collaborations with Sephora, presence in high-end department stores, and entry into first-class airline channels.
According to information on REN's official website, the brand's product range includes toners, serums, moisturizers, masks, cleansers, and body care, with prices ranging from $20 to $76 (approximately RMB 144 to RMB 549).
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://assets-v2.cbndata.com/prod/cbndata/cms/content/img/1919982498983239681.jpeg?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://assets-v2.cbndata.com/prod/cbndata/cms/content/img/1919982498983239681.jpeg"/> Image source: REN brand official website
According to a report by the Financial Times, REN's sales revenue in 2013 was approximately £40 million (around RMB 384 million), and at that time, clean beauty was one of the fastest-growing categories in the global beauty market. With strong market performance, REN was acquired by Unilever in 2015, although the acquisition amount was not disclosed. Notably, REN was the first brand acquired by Unilever's premium beauty division.
In May 2018, REN officially entered the Chinese market and opened a Tmall International overseas flagship store. According to public reports, during the 2019 Double 11 shopping festival, REN's sales increased by over 480% year-on-year. However, as the clean beauty segment became increasingly crowded and market competition intensified, REN's differentiated brand positioning advantage diminished, leading to a downward trend. Since 2022, REN has begun to terminate partnerships with some online retailers and reduce the number of its independent stores in the United States; by 2023, REN has successively discontinued 29 products and paused five new product launch plans.
In the past two years, REN's performance in the Chinese market has also been unsatisfactory. Although the brand entered Tmall as early as 2018, it lacked localized marketing and product innovation, failing to capitalize on the social e-commerce boom, ultimately leading to consumer perception of the brand remaining at the &#34;niche brand&#34; level. It is noted that REN currently has only 322,000 followers on its Tmall International flagship store, with fewer than 20 product links, among which the best-selling product is REN Retinol Plant A Retinol Serum, but its monthly sales are only over 1,000 units.
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://assets-v2.cbndata.com/prod/cbndata/cms/content/img/1919982569783091202.jpeg?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://assets-v2.cbndata.com/prod/cbndata/cms/content/img/1919982569783091202.jpeg"/> Screenshot from REN Tmall International overseas flagship store
It may also be due to poor market performance that REN ultimately became a &#34;discard&#34; of Unilever. Regarding the news of the closure of the REN brand, Qingyan contacted Unilever China and Unilever headquarters for details. Unilever China responded, stating, &#34;The brand has not officially entered the Chinese market (in general trade form), and we are unclear about the situation.&#34; As of the time of publication, Unilever headquarters has not yet responded.
<h3>Fat Reduction and Muscle Gain, Unilever's Major Transformation</h3>
It is worth noting that the closure of REN is actually another reflection of Unilever's major transformation in recent years. It can be seen that this consumer goods giant, which owns more than 400 brands, is undergoing a profound strategic shift.
As is well known, since 2023, Unilever has sold off its Elida Beauty business under the personal care segment, including more than 20 non-core beauty and personal care brands such as Caress, Ponds, and Impulse, as well as its ice cream business.
While undergoing a large-scale &#34;slimming down&#34; process, Unilever has not stopped its &#34;buying spree,&#34; but instead has been achieving &#34;muscle gain&#34; through acquisitions and investments in new brands, injecting new vitality into the company's development.
A typical example is in brand acquisitions. Last January, Unilever officially acquired the high-end hair care brand K18 for €210 million (approximately RMB 1.714 billion); this January, HUL (Unilever India) announced the acquisition of the ingredient-led Indian beauty brand Minimalist for ₹30 billion (approximately RMB 2.56 billion); in April this year, Unilever announced the acquisition of the sustainability-focused personal care brand Wild, aiming to strengthen its position in the high-end beauty and personal care sector.
In terms of investments, Unilever's actions have been even more frequent in recent years. According to previous analysis by Qingyan, during the six months from July to December last year, Unilever invested in eight beauty brands. These included the American high-end skincare brand OneSkin, ClayCo Cosmetics, and Oak Essentials, as well as the Indian mass personal care brand Wishcare and the Indian high-end dermatological skincare brand Skinlnspired.
Additionally, Unilever has been continuously making personnel adjustments, accelerating the turnover of executives. For example, in October 2024, Unilever appointed Mary Carmen Gasco-Buisson as the new CEO of its high-end beauty business. It is reported that Mary Carmen has over twenty years of experience in beauty and luxury goods, including 22 years at Procter &amp; Gamble.
It is worth mentioning that in February this year, Unilever suddenly announced a change in leadership, with former CEO Alan Jope's tenure lasting less than two years. It is reported that on March 1 of this year, Unilever's new CEO Fernando Fernandez officially took office. Recently, this new CEO attended a fireside chat at Barclays
He stated, &#34;In China, we have adhered to an all-in strategy for many years. However, in fact, our (some products) entry into China may have been relatively late. When the beauty business in China was rapidly developing, Unilever did not have the right brand portfolio. But now we are prepared for this and will conduct local acquisitions while deploying our own brands.&#34;
From Fernando Fernandez's remarks above, it can be anticipated that Unilever may have new moves to acquire brands in the future.
<h3>Multiple Pure Beauty Brands Struggling</h3>
From another perspective, REN, as a &#34;veteran&#34; pure beauty brand, is not alone in facing difficulties, but rather reflects the collective anxiety of the pure beauty track. Not only REN, but the development of several pure beauty brands has also been unsatisfactory. For example, The Body Shop, known as the &#34;pioneer of pure beauty,&#34; announced earlier this year that it &#34;will fully close its operations in Brazil,&#34; and the brand had already announced the bankruptcy of its UK operations in March 2024, as well as the gradual closure of its offline stores in the United States, Belgium, Canada, and other regions (see the article &#34;The Pioneer of Pure Beauty Closes Operations&#34; for details).
Another pure skincare brand, Boscia, officially closed its brand website on May 31 last year and closed its Tmall overseas flagship store in December of the same year, citing &#34;stopping operations due to brand development strategy adjustments.&#34; According to public information, Boscia is a brand under Japan's FANCL Group that focuses on overseas markets, catering to the European and American pure beauty market with the concept of &#34;natural&#34; and &#34;0 additives.&#34; Boscia was once very popular in Europe and America. However, according to investigations, the brand's annual revenue has shrunk from its previous peak of 132 million yuan (in the 2020 fiscal year, from April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020) to less than 50 million yuan in the past two years.
According to data from market monitoring agency Brand Essence Market Research, the global pure beauty market size may reach 11.56 billion USD (approximately 81.947 billion yuan) by 2027. Although the market size indicates good development potential for the pure beauty market, this year, against the backdrop of an economic downturn, the narrative of pure beauty seems to be difficult to tell. As mentioned above, many pure beauty brands have fallen into difficulties.
Industry insiders believe that consumers' understanding and demand for pure beauty are constantly evolving. &#34;Initially, they may have primarily focused on the safety of product ingredients, but over time, consumers have also raised higher demands for product efficacy, user experience, packaging design, and other aspects. If brands cannot keep up with the changes in consumer demand in a timely manner and launch products and marketing strategies that meet market needs, they are likely to lose consumer favor.&#34;
Overall, these once high-profile clean beauty brands are difficult to avoid being eliminated from the market due to reasons such as unclear brand differentiation, insufficient product innovation, and conservative marketing strategies, compounded by the deterioration of the current economic environment.
In a sense, the closure of REN reflects that the clean beauty business is not easy to operate; on the other hand, it reveals the survival rule of beauty giants—constantly &#34;selling/closing old brands and buying new ones.&#34; In fact, it is not just Unilever; looking at the global beauty industry, giants like L'Oréal, Estée Lauder, and Shiseido are all adjusting their corporate development strategies through &#34;buying&#34; and &#34;selling&#34; to achieve longer-term growth.
When companies like Unilever sell off or shut down &#34;outdated brands&#34; and bet on new brands and new markets, it also indicates that the industry is undergoing a new round of reshuffling.
This article is reproduced from Qingyan (ID: qingyanwh) with authorization. All rights reserved by Qingyan. No translation or reproduction is allowed without permission.
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Unilever announced that it will close its high-end skincare brand REN Clean Skincare by the end of the third quarter of this year, due to internal factors and market challenges. This move reflects the difficulties in the clean beauty industry and the strategic adjustments of beauty giants. Although rumors of the closure surfaced as early as the end of February this year, Unilever conducted collective consultations before making the final decision. The REN brand achieved certain successes during its 25 years of operation but was unable to maintain long-term success

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Unilever abandons another brand by shutting down the clean beauty brand REN