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[[Image:AhavaPromotion.JPG|thumb|right|upright|180px|Models wearing and distributing Ahava products at [[New York Fashion Week]] in 2009]] |
[[Image:AhavaPromotion.JPG|thumb|right|upright|180px|Models wearing and distributing Ahava products at [[New York Fashion Week]] in 2009]] |
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'''Ahava''' ({{lang-he|אהבה}}) (lit. ''Love'') is an [[Israel]]i cosmetics company that manufactures [[skin care]] products made of mud and mineral-based compounds from the [[Dead Sea]]. |
'''Ahava''' ({{lang-he|אהבה}}) (lit. ''Love'') is an [[Israel]]i cosmetics company that manufactures [[skin care]] products made of mud and mineral-based compounds from the [[Dead Sea]]. The company has flagship stores in Israel, Germany, England, Hungary, the Philippines and Singapore. <ref>[http://www.cosmeticsbusiness.com/technical/article_page/Israel_-_Mineral_Magic/49839 Mineral Magic]</ref> |
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==History== |
==History== |
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Revision as of 08:13, 1 May 2011
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| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Cosmetics |
| Founded | 1988 |
| Headquarters | Holon, Israel |
| Products | Skin care |
| Revenue | $150 million |
Number of employees | 200 |
| Website | http://www.ahava.com/ |
Ahava (Hebrew: אהבה) (lit. Love) is an Israeli cosmetics company that manufactures skin care products made of mud and mineral-based compounds from the Dead Sea. The company has flagship stores in Israel, Germany, England, Hungary, the Philippines and Singapore. [1]
History
Ziva Gilad, a spa technician, came up with the idea of marketing Dead Sea mud after watching women tourists scooping up the mud to take home. Gilad approached three kibbutzim in the Dead Sea region, who jointly established Dead Sea Laboratories (DSL) in 1988 and began selling small plastic bottles of mud and salt crystals to tourists. [2]The company made nearly $1 million during the first year. Ahava is now co-owned by Gaon Holdings, one of Israel's largest holding companies. Ahava exports to over thirty countries worldwide, and exports account for 60% its sales. Ahava products are available in shops all over Israel, with an outlet store at the foot of Masada.[3]
Ahava's shareholders include Kibbutz Mitzpe Shalem (41 percent); Hamashbir Holdings and Gaon Holdings (41 percent); Kibbutz Ein Gedi and Kibbutz Kalya (18 percent). In 2009 Ahava took on new shareholder Shamrock Holdings, the Walt Disney Family's investment arm, which purchased 20% of Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories from its existing shareholders.[4][5][6] The main manufacturing plant and showroom is at Mitzpe Shalem while the company's administrative headquarters is located in Holon.[7]The company has 200 employees, 180 of them in Israel. [8]
In 2009, the company reported sales of nearly $150 million a year. In the United States, the largest overseas market for Ahava products, the company signed distribution deals with Lord & Taylor, Nordstrom and the beauty-supply chain Ulta. [9]
Ahava is the only cosmetics company licensed by the Israeli government to mine raw materials at the Dead Sea. [10]
In 2011, Elana Drell Szyfer, former Senior Vice President of Global Marketing for Estee Lauder, was appointed general manager of Ahava North America. [11]
Products
Ahava sells eight different ranges of skin care products for different skin types. [12] Ahava products are based on the belief that minerals have a capacity to act as "intercellular messengers, transmitting information to skin cells and impacting positively on their health and vital functions." [13]Ahava product lines include Source, a basic product for all skin types; Dermud for dry, sensitive skin, Time Line, an anti-aging facial treatment; Men’s, for men’s skin; and Pure Spa, anti-aging products for the body.[14]The Dermud series includes hand cream, foot cream, facial cleanser, body milk, facial nourishing cream, facial moisturizer, moisturizing shower cream and body cream.[3]The “Pure Spa” collection uses citrus and citrus products as a source of vitamins and minerals. [15]
Ahava has embraced the trend toward more natural ingredients in cosmetics. It purifies its own water and employs minimally invasive techniques to harvest mud and minerals. Ingredients are not tested on animals and Ahava products are packaged in recyclable containers.[16]
Ahava is one of several Israeli cosmetics companies researching nanotechnology applications. The company has established an R&D program to investigate nano emulsion and nano suspension with nano particles of mud. [17]
Controversy
When TV actress Kristin Davis signed on as a spokeswoman for Ahava cosmetics in 2007, Oxfam allegedly cut its ties with her.[18]However, Oxfam denied this, stating that "Kristin Davis remains an Oxfam ambassador and supporter." [19]Boycott campaigns have been organized by organizations such as Code Pink, which says "[Ahava's] products actually come from stolen Palestinian natural resources in the occupied territory of the Palestinian West Bank, and are produced in the illegal settlement of Mitzpe Shalem."[20] In response, the company stated that: "the mud and materials used in Ahava cosmetics products...are mined in the Israeli part of the Dead Sea" and that the Mitzpe Shalem kibbutz where the products are produced is not an "illegal settlement."[21] The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.[22]
Pro-Palestinian activists who locked themselves to a cement-filled barrel at the entrance to the Ahava shop in Covent Garden were arrested on charges of aggravated trespassing. [23]
In January 2011, the upscale UK department store John Lewis announced that it would stop stocking Ahava products.[24] Claims that this was in response to the international campaign of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel have been denied by the company.[25]
See also
References
- ^ Mineral Magic
- ^ Ahava turns Dead Sea Mud into Money
- ^ a b Greer Fay Cashman (January 3, 2008). "MarketWise". The Jerusalem Post.
- ^ "PrivCo Private Company Research Report: Ahava". PrivCo.com. Retrieved 2011-02-19.
- ^ Neuman, Efrat. "Will the British buy love from the Dead Sea?". Haaretz. Retrieved 2011-02-19.
- ^ Neuman, Efrat. "Will the British buy love from the Dead Sea?". Haaretz. Retrieved 2011-02-19.
- ^ From Israel with Ahava, Haaretz
- ^ From Israel with Ahava, Haaretz
- ^ Ahava turns Dead Sea Mud into Money
- ^ Ahava turns Dead Sea Mud into Money
- ^ 12th Annual Wharton Women in Business Conference
- ^ Restore and maintain skin health and beauty with Ahava’s Dead Sea mineral face and body care products
- ^ Ahava facebook page
- ^ AHAVA skincare products mine the Dead Sea for efficacy, product review
- ^ AHAVA skincare products mine the Dead Sea for efficacy, product review
- ^ Ahava turns Dead Sea Mud into Money
- ^ Mineral Magic
- ^ E.B. Solomont (2009-08-07). "'Charlotte' gets no love for Ahava". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2011-02-19.
- ^ Ahava turns Dead Sea Mud into Money
- ^ "Code Pink protest calls for Ahava boycott". Ynet News. July 30, 2009. Retrieved 2011-02-19.
- ^ "Pro-Israel shoppers defy Ahava products boycott call". The Jerusalem Post. July 25, 2010.
- ^ "The Geneva Convention". BBC News. 10 December 2009.
- ^ Pro-Palestinian activists blockade Ahava store in London
- ^ "John Lewis bans products from illegal settlements in Holy Land". Independent Catholic News. 2011-01-16. Retrieved 2011-02-19.
- ^ Sabel, Robbie (2011-01-16). "British retailer denies boycotting Israeli cosmetics". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2011-02-19.
External links
