• Romanian startup bonapp.eco has announced partnership with global beauty brand Yves Rocher Romania to reduce cosmetics and beauty product waste from items left unsold.
• Yves Rocher Romania will be the first non-food company to join the bonapp.eco network of 150 affiliated partners.
• Bonapp.eco was launched in November 2021 to fight waste in the retail and hospitality sectors. Two months later, the company raised a seed investment of 800K euro to expand beyond Bucharest.
There is an increased focus in the beauty and cosmetics sector when it comes to sustainability, from replacing raw plastic material in packaging with recycled plastics and alternative materials to launching product refill schemes to prolong the life cycle of products. Yet another pervasive challenge comes from unsold or returned products and items that expire in warehouses and store shelves. Estimates show that between 20 and 40 percent of beauty products end up to waste.
Luckily, a new food and consumer goods distribution model that is getting traction around Europe could be one solution to the problem of surplus waste. In Romania, bonapp.eco has pioneered the concept of combating surplus from food waste by connecting sellers with eco-conscious consumers, eager to purchase at a discounted price.
Now, bonapp.eco ventures in a new market, looking to help mitigate waste problems in the beauty and cosmetics sector by joining forces with global brand Yver Rocher. Within the new partnership, bonapp.eco users will be able to purchase beauty products that are approaching their expiration date with discounts of 60% and above.
“Whether we’re fighting food waste or beauty product waste, our value proposition remains the same: we are committed to turning the environmental and economic challenges caused by surplus products into a sustainable business opportunity for the benefit of everyone. More than ever, our solution comes as a win for consumers. A win for retailers. And a win for the planet,” says Grégoire Vigroux, co-founder of bonapp.eco.
Yves Rocher has been present in Romania for over 20 years, reaching 44 stores. So far, six Yves Rocher stores have joined bonapp.eco’s network in Bucharest, but the partnership will soon be extended to other shops across Romania.
For the beauty brand, the move comes following their commitment to be carbon neutral in their activities in La Gacilly, France, by 2025, and to reduce their overall impact on the environment. Since October 2020, the company has been producing its bottles from 100% recycled plastics, says Andreea Ivan, General Manager of Yves Rocher Romania.
For bonapp.eco, this is another step in their commitment to help fight waste. So far, the company’s app has been downloaded by 30,000 users, selling over 3,000 meals in Bucharest alone. Looking forward, the company is hiring sales teams and City Managers in Cluj, Timisoara, and Iasi, and plans for an Eastern European roll-out later this year.
Elsewhere around the world, brands are fighting the waste surplus challenge in various ways. Global companies such as Prose and Pure Culture beauty are specializing in made-to-order products. The hope is that further tailoring products to the customer’s expressed needs and preferences will help reduce surplus products and thus fight waste. Yet there are also concerns with custom production that it can rather add on to, rather than reduce waste.
