Eco-Revolution in Beauty: Hendrix Wong on Nu Skin's Bold Sustainability Drive
In an era where sustainability is swiftly becoming a pivotal aspect of consumer choice, Nu Skin stands at the forefront, championing eco-friendly practices within the beauty industry. As more Malaysians become discerning about the environmental impact of their beauty products, Nu Skin’s dedication to sustainable innovation sets a remarkable example. Committed to fostering a resource-rich future, the company relentlessly pursues advancements in sustainable packaging and ingredient sourcing.
We had the privilege of discussing these initiatives with Hendrix Wong, Vice President of Market Operations for Malaysia and Brunei at Nu Skin, in an exclusive interview. Hendrix elaborated on how the brand’s founding principle, “All of the good, none of the bad,” shapes their sustainability efforts, their ambitious goals for 2030, strategies to combat deforestation, and his insights into upcoming sustainability trends in the beauty and wellness industry for 2024.
Interview with Hendrix Wong, Nu Skin
Can you elaborate on how Nu Skin's founding principle, "All of the good, none of the bad," influences the brand's approach to sustainability and responsible business practices?
Founded in 1984 with a commitment to providing quality skin care that features only premium, wholesome ingredients, Nu Skin remains true to its "all of the good, none of the bad" heritage today, striving to offer innovative beauty and wellness products with simple, effective ingredients.
In order to meet our internal safety standards and ensure our products are of the highest quality and efficacy, we stay updated on industry information, government regulations, and consumer concerns regarding chemicals.
In addition to following regulatory requirements for all products across all our markets, we also maintain a list of restricted ingredients, which serves as a guide for future and existing formulations.
How does Nu Skin ensure that its commitment to sustainability aligns with its core values and mission as a company?
We are committed to creating an impact in the community in a sustainable way, and this is backed by our mission to be a Force For Good and make a difference in the world.
Our Force For Good initiatives focus on making an impact in building a better world for the children as they are the future.
In our local market, our Southeast Asia Children’s Heart Fund has a longstanding partnership with IJN Foundation and Gleneagles Hospital Kuala Lumpur where we fund life-saving heart surgeries for underprivileged children with congenital heart disease.
We have reached a remarkable milestone with our Nourish The Children initiative in early 2023. Since the VitaMeal® initiative began in 2002, more than 800 million meals have been purchased and contributed by brand affiliates and employees of Nu Skin to feed hungry children around the world. VitaMeal® can be purchased in either a 10 or 30-meal bag while individuals can choose to donate purchased VitaMeal® organisations.
On the environmental front, we are committed to helping reduce deforestation by sourcing fibre-based packaging from certified sustainable or 100% recycled sources. This will assist Nu Skin in meeting our 2030 goal to change all our packaging to be recycled, recyclable, reusable, reduced, or renewable.
As Nu Skin continues to pursue excellence in environmental and social impacts, we understand that our enduring success depends on conscious, daily decisions to include sustainable practices at every level of our business.
We will continue to intensify and increase our commitments and develop our targets and programs to preserve our planet and support our people. We embrace a culture of responsibility to ensure a better tomorrow for Nu Skin’s employees, suppliers, brand affiliates, and the broader global communities in which we operate.
Could you share some specific examples of how Nu Skin incorporates sustainability into its product development process, from ideation to final delivery?
Nu Skin takes great care to ensure that products are safe, ethical, and of the highest quality; this is central to Nu Skin’s values. We know that good product quality is reflected by a product's ethical and responsible production and a product's impact on a broad group of stakeholders.
Every product that we deliver to consumers must pass the quality standards at our Nu Skin Analytical Lab to ensure product safety and we aim to provide all users with the highest standard of products for their wellbeing. The key to the consistent quality of our products is our 6S Process.
In addition to following regulatory requirements for all products across all our markets, we maintain a list of restricted ingredients, which serves as a guide for future and existing formulations. Our Nutricentials® line features clean ingredients , giving you confidence in what you’re putting on your skin. It is a great example of our efforts to ensure consumers feel confident in the safety and efficacy of our products.
Nu Skin has set a goal for all product packaging to be recycled, recyclable, reusable, reduced, or renewable by 2030. What steps is the company taking currently to work towards achieving this ambitious target?
We are taking steps towards ensuring product sustainability across the board and we managed to launch our innovative, single material Nutricentials® Pumps in 2022, which are made from 19% recycled material and have been designed without a metal spring for easier recycling.
In 2019, Nu Skin has also developed an internal scoring system that allows us to better understand the environmental impact of our packaging. As we work to complete our 2030 commitment that all packaging be recycled, recyclable, reduced, reusable or renewable, this system helps us to make informed decisions about our packaging improvements and their impact on the planet by considering factors such as material type, carbon footprint, recycled content usage, etc.
By 2030, we plan to have all our product packaging be recycled, recyclable, reusable, reduced, or renewable and this aim underlines our commitment of being a Force For Good for the planet and the communities we exist in.
In sourcing fibre-based packaging from certified sustainable or 100% recycled sources, what challenges has Nu Skin encountered, and how has the company addressed these challenges?
Limited availability of certified sustainable or 100% recycled fiber-based packaging materials.
Potential cost implications of sourcing from these certified sustainable or 100% recycled sources.
Ensuring consistent quality and performance of the fibre-based packaging materials.
How does Nu Skin engage with its suppliers and partners to ensure they share the same commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship?
In 2022, Nu Skin issued a social and environmental practices survey to a group of top suppliers. The survey is positioned to inform the future development of policies and procedures to mitigate environmental and social risk and impact within Nu Skin’s supply chain, as well as the development of targets and deadlines related to supply chain management.
Our Conflict Minerals Statement is also shared annually with suppliers in our direct supply chain that supply the ingredients for our products which details that Nu Skin does not directly source minerals from smelters or mines. We require suppliers to source minerals from socially responsible suppliers and provide all necessary declarations to support Nu Skin’s compliance with the US Conflict Minerals Rule.
These steps mark our commitment towards ensuring that we are partnering with like minded suppliers who share our same vision and aim in sustainability.
Can you discuss any initiatives or partnerships that Nu Skin has undertaken to promote sustainable practices within the beauty and wellness industry beyond its own operations?
At Nu Skin Malaysia, sustainability is so much more than just a buzzword to us. We are committed to REDUCING, REUSING, AND RECYCLING as much as possible, and we are collecting the empties from all brand affiliates and customers to make this possible.
We encourage our Brand Affiliates and customers to bring their clean, dried and full-sized empties ranging from Nu Skin®, Pharmanex® and ageLOC® product lines to Nu Skin Kuala Lumpur Experience Center to be recycled with our local partner of the waste management industry.
As we make our product packaging more sustainable, we also urge everyone to do their part to ensure the responsible disposal of our products.
As Nu Skin continues to innovate in the beauty and wellness sector, how does the company balance sustainability with meeting consumer demand for new products and trends?
In 2022, Nu Skin announced our membership in the EcoBeautyScore Consortium, with the hopes of putting our customers first – and recognizing the need for an easy-to-understand, industry-wide standard for environmental impact assessment and scoring.
This includes a science-based approach that will examine the full life cycle of products from ingredient sourcing, transport, use, and end-of-life.
It will empower informed decision-making for consumers and highlight where we can improve our products in a sustainable fashion.
In your view, what are some emerging sustainability trends in the beauty and wellness industry for 2024, and how is Nu Skin preparing to adapt to these trends?
Transparency & Greenwashing Scrutiny
Trend:
Consumers are demanding proof of sustainability claims. Certifications and clear sourcing information are crucial.
Nu Skin's Adaptation:
Assess, score, and make plans to improve the environmental impact score of 100% of our products.
Achieve 100% Roundtable Sourced Palm Oil (RSPO) at a mass balance level. As of January 2023, approximately 76% of our RSPO certification-eligible palm oil ingredients were certified RSPO.
Ethical Sourcing & Cruelty-Free Practices:
Trend:
Consumers are increasingly concerned about animal welfare and ethical sourcing of ingredients.
Nu Skin's Adaptation:
Nu Skin advocates and subscribes to both the ethical and humane treatment of animals and human health and safety protection. Nu Skin does not test its cosmetic products on animals, nor do we request others to test on our behalf, except when mandated by law and regulatory agencies. We evaluate our products in clinical tests on human volunteer panels to ensure our products’ efficacy and safety.
We follow FDA guidelines for developing and testing over-the-counter (OTC) products. Where applicable, we fulfill Halal certification requirements on many of our products.
Nu Skin works to phase out chemicals of concern from our formulas, and we are members of the Personal Care Products Council (PCPC), which requires that all products meet the PCPC’s Microbiological Challenge Test’s high standards.
How does Nu Skin measure the impact of its sustainability efforts, both internally within the company and externally in terms of environmental and social benefits?
In 2022, Nu Skin took strides to address environmental and social risk within the organisation through the development and implementation of an Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS) that follows the ‘Plan, Do, Check, Act’ model outlined in ISO 14001 guidelines.
The purpose of the ESMS is to equip Nu Skin with a framework to protect the environment and its inhabitants while being adaptable and responsive to the changing nature of social, economic, environmental, and other issues. This is a joint effort between the sustainability team and subject matter experts throughout the organisation’s departments.
This framework supports Nu Skin’s existing efforts to identify and address risk within our operations, including ingredient and packaging portfolios. Examples of these efforts include Nu Skin’s product packaging improvement and palm oil commitments. Social and environmental sustainability risks are managed alongside other business risks as part of Nu Skin’s enterprise risk management program.
As the beauty industry continues to evolve, Nu Skin strives for innovation and responsibility, proving that sustainability and luxury can go hand in hand. Through Hendrix Wong’s insights, it is clear that Nu Skin's unwavering commitment to the planet and its people is more than just a mission—it’s a movement. With ambitious goals set and a steadfast dedication to ethical practices, Nu Skin is not only transforming beauty routines but also pioneering a greener, more sustainable future. Stay tuned as we watch Nu Skin lead the charge in redefining what it means to be beautiful, inside and out.
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