Bottega Verde, the leading Italian brand in the production and sale of cosmetics made with natural ingredients, originated as a herbalist’s shop in 1972 in Pienza, Italy, in the heart of the truest, most natural region of Tuscany.

In 1992 it became the property of the Lavino family. The new owners were a prime example of Italian entrepreneurial skill, combining their innate aptitude for innovation and high level of expertise to make the brand the success it is today. 

The no. 1 Italian mono-brand retail chain for the production and sale of cosmetics made with natural active ingredients

with over 6 million customers, a figure that continues to grow.

They combined the values of an Italian family business with those of an authentic, natural, transparent kind of beauty to generate a great success story. The results obtained were fruit of the company’s will to invest heavily in acquiring expertise regarding the formulation of skincare and cosmetic products.

Now a huge Italian success story, Bottega Verde is currently crossing the national borders and reaching out to the international market, offering it the values of natural Italian beauty and the excellence of a brand focused on incorporating the efficiency of over 300 natural active principles with the sensorial perception and pleasant nature of the products, its distinguishing feature.

The Bottega Verde ambitious foreign expansion programme is in full swing. In addition to Italy, the brand is currently distributed in more than 25 countries in 4 continents and its objective is to be the top range of natural Italian cosmetics products worldwide.

Bottega Verde – the values of the brand’s Tuscan heritage

Cradle of the Renaissance and the birthplace of the Italian language, Tuscany is perhaps the most famous region in Italy, the expression of a magnificent history and culture, with humanistic origins that are firmly rooted in the values of Italy’s intellectual, artistic, architectural and culinary traditions.

Visitors to this region experience both the pleasure of discovering the wonderful natural environment that welcomes and impresses them with its landscapes made of colours and flavours: fields of sunflowers line up against a backdrop of cultivated hillsides and vineyards, peaceful areas with a scattering of farmsteads sprinkled around the countryside which harbours the striking beauty of the olive groves and the authentic flavours of a region that seems never to have lost its connection with the land.

And it is indeed here that Bottega Verde has its headquarters, in the countryside around Siena, a treasure chest of absolute beauty preserving symbolic locations that have been declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites, such as the green hills of Pienza.

Indeed, the brand’s headquarters are located in Palazzo Massaini, a splendid castle dating as far back as the 1500s, nestled in the countryside near Siena amidst hills, vineyards and wheat fields where olive oil and wine are produced. A magical place, where history and nature interact in perfect harmony. 

This is the place that provides the inspiration for the main ingredients contained in the Bottega Verde cosmetic range. Products that sum up the unique, distinctive values of the brand: Italian spirit, beauty, creative passion, nature and high quality products.

A NATURAL ITALIAN LEADERSHIP

Today, Bottega Verde formulates, produces and directly distributes its products under what has become its most popular brand, with more than 400 stores, in the first mono-brand cosmetics retail chain in Italy: in its 40 year-long history, Bottega Verde has consolidated its market position as leader by promoting the love of nature transformed into beauty by science and the most advanced dermo-cosmetic technologies: the products are developed in the Bottega Verde laboratory by a team of in-house cosmetologists who work with the best universities in Italy. An area of excellence focalised on combining the efficiency of over 300 natural active principles with the sensorial perception and pleasant nature of the products, its distinguishing feature.

For example, the latest exquisite natural active ingredient studied by the Bottega Verde laboratory is the Red Grape Extract of Palazzo Massaini, an exclusive ingredient made from grape pips with anti-oxidising and anti-ageing properties that have fascinated the company’s researchers. The grape has an ancient history that goes back to the depths of time. Appreciated by entire civilisations due to its many properties and used for the production of wine, it has always been considered an extremely virtuous fruit.

BOTTEGA VERDE CONCEPT STORES

Italian Nature: these two short words sum up the essence of the Bottega Verde brand…products made in Italy, design, savoir-faire.

When entering a Bottega Verde store, the consumer immediately feels the benefits of the concept of 'Italian Nature': a true shopping experience that allows us to breathe in the nature of the brand’s Tuscan origins and take a little piece of Italy home with us when we leave. The protagonist of this experience is Palazzo Massaini, a prime example of the unique Bottega Verde charm: the striking image on the sign outside welcomes the customer, and the same image also takes centre stage as we enter the store.

The customer feels as if they have been plunged into nature, on an itinerary full of scents, colours, senses and beauty, in the Tuscan countryside which is adored by people from all over the world .

The visual and sensory impact of the store is a mixture of natural materials, hi-tech accents and traditional references. The Italian, and most of all Tuscan heritage of Bottega Verde distinguishes an environment which tells the story of Italian excellence based on history, nature and a high level of expertise, but also contemporaneity and innovation. 

Bottega Verde in facts and figures

• Proceeds of sales to the public: 160 million euro (2014)
• Number of products in the range: over 800
• Number of new products per year: over 100
• Number of employees in Italy (including headquarters, points of sale, production): over 1000
• Channels of distribution: Direct retail and franchising, E-commerce, Mail order
• Number of points of sale in Italy: 413
• 6 million loyalty cards in Italy
• 1 million fans on Facebook in Italy

Bottega Verde milestones

• 1972: Bottega Verde starts as a small herbalist store in Pienza, Tuscany, cultivating an artisan passion for producing and selling high-quality cosmetics made with natural ingredients.
• 1992: Acquisition of the Bottega Verde brand, the first catalogue is issued and the first R&D laboratory is created
• 1996: the first pilot store in the mono-brand retail chain is opened in Italy.
• 2000: the e-commerce site goes on-line
• 2014: opening of the 400th store in Italy
• 2014: the first store opens in Abu Dhabi

BOTTEGA VERDE AWARDS

Bottega Verde has been named Retailer of the Year for 7 years running in the “Herbalist” category

In Italy the brand is the winner of the Italian Retailer of the Year in the “Herbalist” category. Each year, more than 15,000 Italian consumers rate all aspects of the largest chain stores, and Bottega Verde proved to be a winner thanks to its favourable quality/price ratio, communication, service, and the skill and courtesy of its staff.

Bottega Verde, a record-breaking webshop

In November 2013, the Bottega Verde e-shop won the top award at the Webshop Awards Italy 2013: Top e-commerce Website in Italy (the best in terms of quality, reliability and safety), in addition to the prize in the Health and Beauty category.

For the last seven years, Bottega Verde has also won the top prize in the e-commerce category of the Beauty Web Award held each year by Bellezza.it – the top Italian beauty & wellness web portal – in collaboration with Cosmetica Italia (National Association of Cosmetics Companies).

Bottega Verde is the most popular Italian brand for facial and body skincare

Bottega Verde is the most popular Italian brand for facial and body skincare (in 2013 and 2014).

• It is the Italian brand with the highest number of skincare product users in Italy,
• It is the favourite Italian skincare  brand of Italian women