Davide Bollati (Davines Group) is the protagonist of the interviews with ItalyPost and auxiell

Yes, the company was founded 41 years ago by my parents. We have both a hair products division and a skincare division, with two brands: Davines and Comfort Zone. Behind it all is a large research laboratory with about sixty chemists, pharmacists, biologists, microbiologists. Then a production plant that produces over 30 million units per year. The products are distributed in about 90 countries with nine direct subsidiaries. The main countries are the United States, Italy, France, Germany, England. Western Europe and North America account for 85% of our turnover.

It is a phase of great transformation. Especially in Anglo-Saxon countries, there is a fragmentation of salons, with independent artisans. In Europe, tradition remains more rooted. The sector is in good health, resistant to pandemics. Beauty has become almost a basic necessity. Italians spend more than €200 per person per year on beauty products. The beauty sector in Italy is worth about 15 billion euros, with the professional segment about 5% worth 700 million.

Sustainability has been a theme since 2005. Today we are a certified B Corp with a score of about 123, growing. We are in our third recertification. We have a culture of measurement and concrete projects to reduce impact, focusing on decarbonization, biodiversity, circularity, and water. The most important thing is the new headquarters, the Davines Village, opened in 2018, designed by architect Matteo Thun. It includes a 17-hectare regenerative organic agriculture field for research. We work with the Rodale Institute and the Bore Beauty Coalition on supply chain sustainability. It is difficult for consumers to understand the technicalities of sustainability.

We have a green chemistry lab, AGR scientists, and pharmacognosy experts who recover active ingredients from natural resources with sustainable extraction. We moved from petroleum derivatives to green chemistry. It seems like a failed evolution, an idea of progress that did not consider finite resources. Today, global demography is rising, and we need two or three planets. We must find a different way to satisfy our needs.

Yes, we did not expect the situation today with rising CO2 and temperatures. The problems are interdependent. B Corps are based on the principle of interdependence, recognizing the links between phenomena.

Yes, about 60. We have seven labs. The total investment related to sustainability is not less than 8-10%. It is strategic for us.

It is very difficult. You need transparency and sharing. Our Hair community is more receptive than the Skin community. It must be done with training, education, and transparency.

If I were a twenty-year-old today, I would invest in this field and build a career on these topics, because I would certainly not remain unemployed.

Very much. We need more technology, discoveries, and innovation. We need fresh minds. Our success took years of hard work and passion. We need to innovate to change our way of living and working.

There is great polarization. We have been growing by about 100 new people per year for three years. We have many cultures and nationalities. We must engage more. We have strong values and a B Corp framework, but we cannot take anything for granted. We want to safeguard the family spirit. We are not the most profitable company; we make choices not purely economic.