A. In small groups, discuss these questions.

1. What kind of products are often advertised as 'natural'?

2. In your country, what is important for people when they buy cosmetics and things like soap, shampoo or toothpaste?

B. Before you read the article, match the words (1-6) to their meanings (a-f).

1 toiletries	a) a group of products of the same type that a company makes
2 sophisticated	b) the money a company has after paying tax and other costs
3 revenues	c) who knows a lot about fashion and the modern world
4 a range	d) that you can destroy without making the environment dirty
5 biodegradable	e) things like toothpaste, soap, shampoo, etc.
6 net income	f) money that a business gets from selling goods over a period of time

C. Look through the article and complete this fact file.

Name: Natura	Type of products:
Location:	Chief Executive:
Number of products	Revenues:

Natura aims to expand internationally

By Peter Marsh

Natura is a fast-growing Brazilian cosmetics and toiletries company which started as a small laboratory in a garage in Sao Paulo 37 years ago. Today, it is trying to go international.

Natura picked France as the first country outside Latin America to try out its ideas. 'We wanted to choose a sophisticated market where people want things to be very good,’ says Alessandro Carlucci, Natura’s Chief Executive. 'We wanted a test that was tough.'

Mr Carlucci says the experiment was successful. Within five years, he says, Natura wants to have 'at least' 10 per cent of its revenues coming from outside Brazil, compared with 3 per cent now. Apart from Brazil and its small operation in France, Natura currently sells its cosmetics in a few other South American countries.

It sells a range of 600 soaps, shampoos, skin-care lotions and similar products. All of them are based on about 900 natural ingredients, sourced mostly from farmers in the Amazon rainforest.

The company promotes itself as an ‘ethical’ company that works with growers who harvest their products in an environmentally sensitive way. It also uses biodegradable packaging. 'What makes them different from other companies is their corporate values. They really want to make the world a better place,’ says Mauro Cunha, Chief Investment Officer at Franklin Templeton Investimentos Brasil.

Results are good. In the first nine months, revenues were up 21 per cent to R$2.7bn (US$1.3bn). Net income rose 33 per cent to R$344m.

FINANCIAL TIMES

D. Answer these questions.

1 Where does Natura sell its products?

2 What is the company’s target for the next five years?

3 Where does the company get the ingredients for its products?

4 What makes Natura an 'ethical' company?

5 Why did Natura choose France to find out how successfully it could expand abroad?

E. Match the words (1-5) to the nouns (a-e) to make word partnerships used in the article.

1 a fast-growing	a) values
2 chief	b) ingredients
3 corporate	c) lotion
4 skin-care	d) executive
5 natural	e) company

F. Make a note of two facts about Natura that you find particularly interesting. Then compare and discuss your ideas in pairs.