Jean-David Schwartz: “Corporate culture is about more than just grand ideas, it generates tools to serve the firm”

At the beginning of 2022, Jean-David Schwartz (EDHEC Master 1997) took over the helm at Yves Rocher. With some 6000 employees, several years ago the cosmetics firm took a major environmental turn. Here its new Global CEO describes the main issues at stake and future endeavours.

Can you briefly describe your current position and responsibilities?

I’ve been the Global CEO of Yves Rocher since January 2022. I’m responsible for establishing the brand’s medium to long-term strategy, and building up the staff teams who nurture, drive, enrich and implement that strategy. I’m also a member of the Executive Committee of Groupe Rocher, to which the Yves Rocher brand belongs and of which I am also Executive Vice-President. In this capacity, alongside my peers I contribute to the firm’s strategy on behalf of various brands and work to ensure that our corporate culture continues to develop and is maintained, leading by example.

There’s always something new to learn in the cosmetics sector, whether about consumers or society …

Yes, it’s a sector in perpetual movement because the promise of beauty has the attributes of dreams, modernity and desirability, which must of course be nurtured through words, actions and communication. What was desirable 20 years ago is not necessarily anymore. In our industry’s DNA there has always been a need for modernity, inherent in the types of products it offers. Generally speaking we are seeing that the need and desire for beauty is emerging at an increasingly young age, between 14 and 16. These new generations have, by nature, new expectations and new profiles. The challenge is at once to keep up with this and get ahead. Yves Rocher, which is a generalist brand – something that is quite uncommon in our sector –, ultimately accompanies its clients throughout their life, with evolving needs and trends, beyond beauty per se.

Does this beauty profile emerging in the teenage years stem from consumers amalgamating all of the different brands, or is it driven by something more personal?

It is clear that nowadays young people are very much shaped by their environment and the insights they glean mostly from social media. They interact with – and are exposed to – a form of beauty that has gone global, even though not everyone necessarily follows the latest trend in a given country. It is the media which nowadays mainly shapes their vision of beauty. Another important component for us is the type of need or type of beauty, not only among young people. Depending on each individual, we draw up personas to ensure that the DNA of each brand corresponds to one or more communities. Start-ups getting off the ground generally occupy a niche in the market. Big companies like Yves Rocher reach out to a much wider audience, which of course means broader profiles. Each team is responsible for a terrain which they seek to develop. 

Would you say that the common thread among all cosmetics brands is a strong brand identity and innovative R&D?

Yes, that’s really the balance to strike. No firm is capable of innovating in all areas and being market leader across all criteria. Each one will find success in certain areas. Innovation involves first of all taking a gamble with a cosmetic ingredient, technology or packaging. Next comes marketing, brand positioning and image – in other words what you convey and the way you sell. In any case, innovation must meet the expectations of consumers and the primary purchasing criteria for cosmetics. These can relate to expertise and usage (product efficacy), but also emotions (brand attachment and identification). And so it can’t simply be rational. Another criterion is the revolution we’ve been seeing for some years now: environmental and social responsibility. Our business leaves a considerable footprint, whether through sourcing, energy, transport or water consumption. And there is now a powerful and profound movement, evolving quite rapidly, to make sure we do our bit and meet consumer expectations. Regulations have moved on. The AGEC legislation, which prohibits single-use plastics, has for example caused a significant shift in recent times.

Given the “non-essential” aspect of cosmetics, how do you ensure they spearhead reflections on sustainability? 

Everyone has their own notion of what “essential” or “non-essential” means. The need for beauty is thousands of years old; throughout history humanity has spoken of beauty and beauty care, with a scale running from basic care to something more aspirational. In light of the recent climate, our industry is being challenged on its foundations, but the need is still present whatever happens. Indeed, the market for beauty has not collapsed; it has just been in slight decline in Western Europe since the late 2000s, the first time this has happened. This “deconsumption” reflects the desire to return to what is essential. The Yves Rocher brand did not wake up 5 years ago with the realisation that it had to step up its CSR. Our relationship with nature has always been deeply embedded in our values, acting with conscientiousness and a strong sense of commitment. Groupe Rocher, indeed, was the first international firm to become a mission-based company in 2019. Now we must continue in this vein.

What are the tangible changes for Yves Rocher due to its status as a mission-based company?

It has encouraged us to accelerate the shift towards more natural formulas, agroecology and organic fields. We are still a company catering for a mass market, so we need to move towards ever more responsible consumption by reducing the intensity of our promotions, for example. In order to decrease our environmental footprint, we also have a role to play raising awareness among consumers. The aim is not to be perfect right away, but neither can we afford to have huge failings. That might result in us abandoning certain products which we wouldn’t be able to improve for technical reasons.

Those who come to discover our brand in La Gacilly, our homeland in Brittany where we have developed an entire ecosystem, often tell us that we simply must communicate about it. We keep quite a low profile. It’s not a matter of being virtuous, but authentic in our message. We refuse to talk about carbon neutrality, preferring instead low-carbon and emission reductions. Others allow themselves shortcuts because they plant some trees. We have planted 135 million trees in 25 years, so if we applied the same logic to our emissions, we would have been carbon-neutral for years. Similarly, in relation to the Paris Climate Agreement, we project a carbon emissions reduction in absolute terms, whereas many firms reason in terms of reducing carbon emissions per product units sold, which has no impact on their growth.

Are consumers ready to make concessions on products with a view to being more ethical and responsible?

It’s a highly strategic question, and one the whole industry faces. The percentage of natural ingredients in our formulas is one of the Yves Rocher brand’s strengths. Today our formulas are between 95% and 98% natural, which was not the case 40 years ago. The fascinating work of R&D presents the major challenge of coming up with a formula that is at once natural, sensual and experiential with the right tactile and Galenic properties. The consumer wants it all, which is perfectly understandable: natural and sensual products that are safe and effective. It is our responsibility to develop formulas that meet these demands. Each company will place the cursor as it sees fit. The Yves Rocher brand is highly focused on natural qualities, so we try to push that cursor as far as we can. But that doesn’t mean we don’t work on other aspects! 

Could the rising price of raw materials compromise the development of more responsible products? 

Yes, and inflation generally. We are highly exposed to the rising cost of oil and agricultural raw materials. The market is global, and the mechanism of supply and demand causes prices to rise very quickly. You can’t change the way we make our products from one day to the next just because the cost of raw materials has gone up. So that means the cost for us goes up. If this is a lasting trend, it is foreseeable that choices will have to be made, but not any that would alter our profound commitments like on carbon reductions. Two years ago we switched to using 100% recycled materials in all of our containers, without any virgin plastic. That represented a significant cost for the brand, made even higher with inflation in the cost of materials, but we chose to stick to our decision. We didn’t want to settle for 80% recycled and recyclable, even though that would be above the prevailing practices in the sector. But you still have to be realistic. The consumer’s basket is not expandable, and so we try to remain as affordable as possible. Sustainable development is never black and white; it’s always a question of conjuncture between the economic, social and environmental.

Are the eco-hotel & spa La Grée des Landes and the Yves Rocher Foundation further means to educate consumers about the lifestyle associated with the product rather than the product alone? 

Absolutely. We have the strategic ambition to develop experiential offers and services that can complement or replace our products. The primary objective is to offer a different way of coming to the brand, with a distinct perception and experience. Next, it’s about having a smaller environmental footprint. The sustainable ecosystem in La Gacilly, where the eco-hotel & spa is located alongside a restaurant serving local produce and botanical gardens, is an incredibly valuable asset. With our project “Gacillyze the world”, the idea is to spread this ecosystem all around the world. Biodiversity is a major and historic commitment made by the Yves Rocher brand, and one that we intend to pursue intensely in coming years with the Foundation’s patronage scheme, but also through the brand’s business model. When we plant trees, it’s also part of efforts to increase hedgerows in Brittany and combat excessive pruning. The way we cultivate and harvest our raw materials also makes all the difference. When we open a store in a new shopping centre, that land has been made artificial, which is a responsibility. Climate change and biodiversity are linked, they are the two foremost battles facing humanity. It is also up to higher education institutes to get up to speed so they can attract the right candidates with proven expertise in responsibility and sustainability.

As the leader of the Yves Rocher brand, how do you rally staff to support the project?

It’s a journey, because you can’t create a culture just like that, especially since this brand’s culture is 60 years old and so I’m not its only vector! I have faith in collective intelligence, I know I can’t find all the answers alone. If employees are shown confidence, they will become more responsible and make the right decisions. Benevolence, empathy and kindness are words that can be met with fear or seen as hackneyed, but I claim them as my own! They are modern values when paired with a sense of responsibility and high demands. We have a project for next year based on the same principle as the Citizen’s Convention on Climate. The government selected people who didn’t necessarily know anything about climate change and wagered that together they would find solutions. The experts unanimously agreed that their proposals target the right direction. And so we will be asking staff what the brand will be like in 2030, with the involvement of 10% to 15% of all employees. This example is a concrete illustration of the trust we place in them, beyond vacuous speeches. Corporate culture is about more than just grand ideas, it generates tools to serve the firm.