Miranda Kerr Talks Sustainability, Making Kora Organics Climate Neutral Certified
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Kora Organics is now climate neutral certified, and founder Miranda Kerr is taking the mission to make a cleaner beauty brand seriously.
“I really try to be conscious about everything that we’re doing, from the ingredients to the manufacturing to sustainability,” said Kerr, also the chief executive officer of Kora Organics, at the 2022 Fairchild Media Sustainability Forum.
More from WWD
Working with organization Climate Neutral, the beauty brand measured and offset its carbon footprint for 2021.
“[We] are committed to reducing our carbon emissions annually moving forward,” Kerr continued. “It’s quite a big step but something I’m really proud of. We purchased carbon credits and refund different projects across the globe that really help combat climate change whilst replenishing the environment. We’re just continually trying to find new ways to lower our carbon footprint and do our best with a more sustainable business and manufacturing process.”
Kerr plans to reduce the brand’s air freight by 20 percent over the next year, as well as electricity and gas in offices by 50 percent by 2030. The company is also working with the Pace Group to plant trees and aims to utilize recycled, recyclable, refillable or biodegradable materials for primary and secondary packaging when possible.
From the start, Kerr — who rose to prominence as a model before launching Kora Organics in 2009 — has been leaning on the expertise and guidelines of environmental and sustainably minded organizations.
“From Day One, our products have been certified organic with ECOSOC, which is an independent global certification body,” said Kerr. “They guarantee the ingredients that we use are genuinely organic and produced to the highest feasible and sustainability practices. So, they are cross-checking everything we do. There is nothing that we can do without their approval, including obviously the ingredients, the manufacturing. All of our packaging has to be approved by them. All of the verbiage has to be approved by them. It really just ensures that our products have got that independent reviewing process and our customers can trust that our products are exactly what they claim to be.”
Kerr, an Australian native, was 13 years old when her mother was diagnosed with spleen cancer, which would impact her view of health, wellness and the connection to the environment.
“As a family, we looked everywhere for healthier alternatives because what we didn’t realize is there were so many products in our household that was potentially causing harm to us unknowingly,” she said. “And so, we looked and did an overhaul of everything from packaged goods to cleaning products to hair care to skin care, and I wasn’t able to find anything that was truly organic.”
She discussed the matter with a friend of hers in 2006, who connected her with a creator of organic essential oils.
“She put me in touch with our manufacturer and the chemists that we still work with to this day in Australia, and that’s where this all started,” Kerr said.
Leaning on refillable packaging these days (made using recycled plastic pods), her goal is to stay true to the brand pillars as she continues to introduce more products; it all stems from the core identity of the brand, being organic — the only organic line found at Sephora.
“Studies have shown that organic ingredients can actually contain up to 60 percent more antioxidants than a non-organic ingredient,” Kerr said. “So not only are our products clean and free from things like sulfates and parabens and GMOs, or artificial colors or fragrances, but they’re also packed with potent certified organic ingredients that really feed your skin with the nutrients and the antioxidants that it needs.”
Sign up for WWD's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
