Economic Audit - The Body Shop

Domain: Economic - Economic Entity scope: The Body Shop International Limited (cosmetics retailer, founded 1976 UK); current parent Auréa Group (Mike Jatania consortium, acquired September 2024) is documented and attributed at the parent level; former owners L’Oréal (2006–2017) and Natura &Co (2017–2023) and interim PE owner Aurelius Group (November 2023–September 2024) are documented and attributed at prior-owner level. Compiled: 2026-06-25 Method: Live web search only

Supply Chain & Sourcing Relationships

The Body Shop operates a Community Fair Trade (CFT) programme, launched 1987, which sources ethical ingredients and packaging from producers described as “thousands of producers, farmers and artisans across the world.”¹ The programme explicitly names three countries in its current public-facing materials: Ghana (shea butter, Tungteiya Women’s Association, since 1994), Nepal (recycled paper and gift packaging, Get Paper Industry, Kathmandu, since 1989), and India (recycled plastic via Plastics for Change, since 2019).¹ The Body Shop’s supplier ethics page identifies six priority supply chains - palm, soy, ethanol, mica, cotton, and paper - subject to traceability or certification requirements, and references a Sustainable Sourcing Charter, but does not publish a comprehensive country-of-origin supplier list.²

Israel and Community Fair Trade: No public evidence identified that The Body Shop sources any Community Fair Trade ingredient from Israel or Israeli settlements. Multiple searches on Dead Sea minerals and Israeli agricultural supply chains returned no results connecting The Body Shop to Israeli or OPT-origin sourcing. Dead Sea mineral products appearing in search results are from separate Israeli cosmetics brands (AHAVA, Dr. Mud, etc.), not from The Body Shop’s supply chain.³ The Body Shop’s own ingredient transparency pages contain no reference to Israel, the West Bank, or the Dead Sea.²

Product Origin, Labeling & Regulatory Compliance

The Body Shop’s full product portfolio was certified 100% vegan by the Vegan Society as of January 2024, and maintains Leaping Bunny cruelty-free status.⁴ These certifications survived the 2024 administration. The company’s sustainability reporting was materially disrupted during administration (February–September 2024), with no updated emissions data or supply chain disclosure published during that period.⁵

No public evidence identified of any Body Shop product labelled as originating from Israel or carrying “Made in Israel” provenance. No public evidence identified of any regulatory compliance action in Israel or related to Israeli product standards.

Investment, Capital & Financial Exposure

Current ownership - Auréa Group (September 2024–present): Auréa Holding Limited is registered in London, England (5-10 Bolton Street, London W1J 8BA) and describes itself as a growth capital firm.⁶ Co-founders are Mike Jatania (British cosmetics executive, Executive Chairman) and Paul Raphaël (former UBS executive vice-chairman).⁷ No Israeli investors in the Auréa consortium were identified in public sources; no Israeli capital exposure was identified.

Prior PE owner - Aurelius Group (November 2023–September 2024): German private equity firm, Munich-headquartered, with offices across Europe, the US, and Tokyo.⁸ Acquired The Body Shop from Natura for £207 million in November 2023; placed the UK entity into administration February 2024, with German operations filing for bankruptcy concurrently.⁹ No Israeli investor connection identified. Note: a separate Israeli entity called “Aurelius Capital” exists but is an entirely distinct firm (Israeli VC focused on dual-use technology); no relationship to Aurelius Group or The Body Shop.¹⁰

Former owner - Natura &Co (2017–2023): Brazilian cosmetics group. Attributed to Natura &Co as former owner, not to The Body Shop corporate. Former owner - L’Oréal (2006–2017): French cosmetics group with Israeli factories and partnerships. Attributed to L’Oréal as former owner, not to The Body Shop corporate; frequently cited in boycott discourse as the source of confusion regarding The Body Shop’s Israel connections.

Financial results: Under Auréa ownership in its first 100 days (Q4 2024), The Body Shop reported £28 million in sales and a £2 million profit, ending the period 17% ahead of internal forecasts.¹¹ In the year to December 2022 (under Natura), the company had reported a £71 million loss.¹² No Israeli capital, Israeli investor, or Israeli financial institution has been identified as having a stake in The Body Shop’s current capital structure.

Operational Presence & Market Activity

Current market footprint: As of 2025–2026, The Body Shop operates in over 70 markets globally.⁶ Its official international markets page lists around 70+ countries across Africa & Middle East, Americas, Asia & Oceania, and Europe.¹³ Middle East markets listed include Iraq, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Israel: not listed. Israel does not appear on The Body Shop’s official international markets page as an active market.¹³ There is no official Body Shop franchise or retail presence in Israel under the current corporate structure.

Third-party retail into Israel: The Body Shop’s products appear to be available in Israel through independent third-party distributors and e-commerce platforms (e.g., Care to Beauty, makeupstore.co.il), which are not official Body Shop channels and represent grey-market or parallel-import supply rather than a licensed franchise or approved distributorship.¹⁴

UAE / Gulf franchise - Kamal Osman Jamjoom Group (KOJ): The Body Shop’s Middle East franchise is operated by KOJ Group, which holds head franchise rights for the UAE and Western Saudi Arabia. KOJ is a Dubai-based retailer.¹⁵ The UAE business was confirmed unaffected by the UK administration in February 2024.¹⁶ No connection between KOJ and Israel was identified.

“Body Shop Israel” (Fischer Pharmaceuticals / Dr. Fischer) - unresolved licensing question: A 1996 Globes (Israeli business press) article reported that an entity called “Body Shop Israel” operated 21 retail outlets in Israel, with products developed in the laboratories of Dr. Fischer (Fischer Pharmaceuticals Ltd, an Israeli pharmaceutical and personal-care company headquartered in Bnei Brak, Israel).¹⁷ A subsequent aggregated business-intelligence source states Fischer Pharmaceuticals owned “The Body Shop (Israel) Ltd” and grew it from 20 to 45 outlets.¹⁸ However, the relationship between this Israeli entity and The Body Shop International Limited is ambiguous in the public record: no trademark-licence agreement or franchise contract between The Body Shop International and Fischer Pharmaceuticals has been identified in live sources. Activist and consumer-focused sources describe this as a “separate store called ‘Body Shop’ that operates in Israel which has unfortunately caused some confusion with the international brand.”¹⁹ The current status of Body Shop Israel / Fischer Pharmaceuticals’ retail outlets is unresolved - no post-2000s sources confirm it is still operating under that branding, and it does not appear in any current Body Shop International franchise listing. This matter is unresolved and material to scope: if Body Shop Israel operated under trademark licence from The Body Shop International at any point, that would constitute an in-scope economic relationship (and would bear directly on the 2005 Pisgat Ze’ev settlement-mall lease examined in the Political audit); if it was a separate Israeli business operating under a coincidentally similar name (or an expired/unlicensed arrangement), it falls outside scope.

Historical context - Day for Palestine (2001): The Body Shop’s UAE franchise stores donated one day’s revenues to Palestinian causes in 2001 via the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation. Body Shop International’s response at the time stated this was done by UAE franchise retailers acting as local franchisees and did not require approval from Body Shop International management.²⁰ This is noted as historical context rather than an ongoing operational finding (see Political audit).

Corporate Structure & Foundational Ties

The Body Shop International Limited (Companies House number 15859787) was re-incorporated on 26 July 2024 as a UK private limited company, registered address Watersmead, Littlehampton, England, BN17 6LS.²¹ The Body Shop Holdings Limited (Companies House number 15856010) was incorporated 24 July 2024, forming part of the Auréa-owned post-administration structure.²¹ The operational headquarters relocated from Littlehampton/London to Brighton (Plus X Innovation hub) in late 2024, described as a “cultural reset” by then-CEO Charles Denton.²²

Trademark history note: In 1987, The Body Shop International acquired rights to the “Body Shop” trademark in the US, Japan, and Israel for US$3.5 million, purchasing these from the owners of an unrelated original “Body Shop” store in Berkeley, California (opened 1970 by Peggy Short and Jane Saunders).²³ This trademark acquisition covered US/Japan/Israel territories; it establishes that The Body Shop International held the Israeli trademark from 1987, which is relevant to (but does not by itself resolve) the unresolved Body Shop Israel / Fischer Pharmaceuticals licensing question above. No live source confirms licensed stores operated under that trademark in Israel.

Auréa Group’s portfolio alongside The Body Shop includes Herbivore (plant-based skincare), Dcypher (customisable foundation), and Scandinavian Biolabs (hair care). No Israeli portfolio company was identified.⁷

Profit Repatriation & Economic Contribution

The Body Shop International Limited is a UK-registered private company. Post-September 2024, profits flow to Auréa Holding Limited, registered in London.⁶ No publicly available accounts for The Body Shop International Limited (incorporated July 2024) had been filed at Companies House as of the research date, consistent with being a newly formed private entity within its first annual reporting cycle.²¹

Under Auréa, the company reported £28 million in sales and £2 million profit in Q4 2024.¹¹ These revenues derive from UK retail operations, Australian operations, and North American e-commerce (re-launched October 2025).¹¹⁶ International franchise royalties and fees from head franchise partners (e.g., KOJ in the Gulf, plus franchise partners in Europe and Asia-Pacific) flow to The Body Shop International in the UK. No evidence was identified of profit repatriation to any Israeli entity or via any Israeli financial channel.

No Israeli investor, Israeli bank, or Israeli economic entity has been identified as a beneficiary of The Body Shop’s current profit flows.

End Notes