100% control – 100% Isabelle Laurier
Our story
Back in 1991, our founding mother Isabelle Laurier started a local ecological gift store in her little Belgian home town Wetteren. Isabelle Laurier BV (The Bay Tree) was born. People came from far far away to buy Isabelle’s unique little gifts and scents. As a young mother of three, she strongly believed that she could make the world a better place to live in for her kids and for many other families.
Isabelle and her husband Diederik started distributing sustainable cosmetic brands that they believed in. They could now sell their products on a larger scale and thus increase their positive impact. After almost five years of distributing these brands in Belgium, the time was right in 2000 to make the next biggest possible step: the creation of their own brand and the expansion of their business all over Europe working together with leading international retailers.
Our business has always been built on the following principles:
- Long-lasting partnerships with our shareholders
- Social engagement through close cooperation with local artisans for packaging
- Creating and distributing positive, honest and fun products
- Offering a large assortment of wellness products
In 2012, two of the three sons joined the family business. Pieter and Jan have been spoon-fed the same principles, passion and business feeling as their parents. In 2013, they decide to launch the brand Isabelle Laurier, honouring the love of the business’ founding mother.
Pieter and Jan are the company’s second generation and today’s business owners. We believe that Isabelle Laurier can make life more enjoyable and continue to create happy family moments. We look forward to the day that you want to be part of our journey.
IMPACT
- 90% of our cosmetic products are made by small-scale family owned factories in Belgium or Western Europe. We purchase these products unpackaged
- Real people package our products in social workshops in Ghent
- Every day +/- 100 people work on the packaging of our cosmetics and accessories
- Isabelle Laurier employs people who have fewer opportunities on the labour market, each with its own story, a heart for our products and a great eye for detail
- Every year several interns are trained in our family business
SUSTAINABILITY
- We are a pioneer in natural cosmetics from the start in 1991
- 85% of our cosmetic products are natural
- All our products are tested on our children and ourselves, not on lab animals
- Our accessories are all tested according to the highest EU standards
- We only do sustainable product developments, no seasonal collections
- In summer time, we cycle to work
