“We have a lot of rebuilding to do”: Julie Mathers’ return to Flora & Fauna

Just shy of a month since beauty conglomerate BWX fell into receivership, its e-commerce arms, Flora & Fauna and Nourished Life, have found a new home. 

Well, kind of. 

Working together with New Zealand health and beauty retailer HealthPost, Flora & Fauna founder and former owner Julie Mathers is taking over BWX’s digital brands, and will play a key role in the business’ efforts to return to form. 

“It’s all come together really quickly,” Mathers told Inside Retail. “When I did the due diligence on [the sale of] Flora & Fauna it was around ten months – this has been under a month.”

Mathers and HealthPost have created a NZ-based company called The Future Collective, which will act as the shell holding all three brands, HealthPost, Flora & Fauna and Nourished Life, moving forward. 

It isn’t clear what role Mathers will play in the new business, but The Future Collective’s first goal is to get the businesses up and running as soon as possible. 

“We’re aiming to get on the front foot as much as we can with customers and communications.We have a lot of rebuilding to do, we’ve got to find a warehouse, [and] we’ve got to get all the systems running again,” Mathers said.

The Future Collective

The deal began when HealthPost CEO Abel Butler contacted Mathers to see if she would be interested in working together in revitalising the brands. 

Butler said that he and the brand had admired both Flora & Fauna and Nourished Life for a long time.

“We want to help these businesses flourish into the future. We recognise there is a lot of work to be done; and with our experience in ecommerce, health, wellness and natural beauty, we are confident we are the right custodians of these purpose-driven brands,” Butler said. 

According to Mathers, HealthPost is an ideal partner.

“They’re great at what they do, and our values align. We can really leverage their team, their smarts, and how they do what they do,” Mathers said. 

“They’re a purposeful and profitable business. It’s such a good match.”

Mathers explained that all three brands play within the same space of ethical and sustainable health and wellbeing, but each brings their  own twist on the formula.

HealthPost predominantly focuses on the New Zealand market, and provides natural and healthy products for customers. Nourished Life specialises in  natural beauty, while Flora & Fauna is focused on “eco and vegan” goods. 

“They’re very complementary to each other, which means that [The Future Collective] will span quite a large section of the market,” Mathers said. 

“There are also some common threads, and products that are available across all three, which means we can take advantage of those commonalities and efficiencies.”

The new corporation is majority owned by HealthPost, and Mathers will potentially operate akin to a consultant or advisor – though the exact terminology isn’t yet nailed down.

“It’s kind of just all-hands-on-deck at the moment. I think of myself as a very active investor,” Mathers said. 

A welcome return

When BWX initially fell into receivership, Mathers mourned the damage that would be done to the outlying suppliers and businesses that rely on Flora & Fauna and Nourished Life for their livelihoods. Now, having announced she’s returning, she’s been inundated with calls from former suppliers ecstatic to be dealing with her again. 

“My phone’s been blowing up,” Mathers said. 

“We sent an email to the suppliers [on Wednesday] to let them know what was happening, and the feedback has been incredible.”

According to Mathers, customers have also welcomed her back to the role. 

“It really gives us a lot of hope that we’re onto a good thing: these are incredible brands, and they just need to be in the right hands.”

Mathers also acts as the chief executive at child goods retailer Snuggle Hunny, though her intention is to keep those businesses as separate entities. 

A growing space

The Future Collective could very well become a key player in the ANZ health and beauty sector.

Nourished Life’s founder Irene Falcone recently announced that she would also be returning to the world of beauty with the launch of Sans World: a natural beauty marketplace that will include its own skincare range.

And big beauty is beginning to attract even bigger figures. Last month, beauty giant L’Oreal paid an eye watering $3.7 billion for Aesop – one of the biggest organic skincare brands on the market. 

This movement  is being driven by a changing consumer. According to a survey by Power Reviews, 76 per cent of beauty customers want products that are sustainably made. 

In fact, the clean beauty market is expected to be worth US$22 billion by 2024, according to Statista, as driven by a change in priorities for customers.

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