“I regard it as my vocation to take Logocos forward into the future”

Mr Grieshaber, when did you turn your attention to natural cosmetics?
 

That was quite some time ago. In 1998, we sold our firm Win-Kosmetik to the Dalli Group. Normally you leave a firm at this point as others take over. But it didn’t happen like that, and I worked for the Dalli Group for ten years and did various jobs in management. However, before handing over my business I was already pondering what I should do. I came across Logona and became interested in the firm. A few years later, in 2006, I got to know Hans Hansel at Vivaness, and from the word go we got on well together. Eventually, Dalli took over the Private Label business of Logona-CEP, and I had every reason to immerse myself in the subject of natural cosmetics. I came to appreciate the sector and the people in it and realized that natural cosmetics were the right way to go in the long term. It became obvious to me that in the future environmental protection and nature are going to play a much more important role in the conventional sector as well. That was my initial serious contact with natural cosmetics and with the company Logona. (Picture: Talk with VIP at the Logocos anniversary)
 

Did you imagine in those days that you would become the managing director of one of the most important natural cosmetics companies in Germany?
 

(Laughs) Not at all! The way Hans would put it, the pair of us sat round the camp fire – I can say we developed a deep friendship and at some point he said to me: Uli, you’re predestined to be my successor. My decision to accept this offer was based ultimately on the huge basis of trust that we had built up and on the feeling that Logocos is a great firm with a remarkable history, good prospects and wonderful people. We had lots of discussions and I got closer and closer to the firm, because to run a business like this you’ve got to be totally committed and convinced that it is doing the right thing. It’s not a job – for me it’s a vocation that I want to do justice to. This firm is a jewel and, together with my employees, I want to maintain these values and take it forward in a commensurate style.
 

While you had your own company and when you were in the management of Dalli, you had a lot of experience of cosmetics and personal care products – and natural cosmetics played a part too. What was it in 2011 that induced you to switch from a private label manufacturer to the natural cosmetics pioneer Logocos?

I’ve experienced quite different decades in my career – from my own company to industry with 2,000 employees and then back again to a medium-size business where I’m in contact with all our 330 employees. You see, here I can be creative. In this last decade of my career – I’m 50 – I again want to do something that is meaningful and is linked to sustainability. Building something up, managing people, shaping the future – all those things give me pleasure. At the heart of Logocos and its brands lie huge vitality and potential. That’s what spurred me on to become an entrepreneur again. Not forgetting, of course, the friendship with the natural cosmetics pioneer Hans Hansel that sustains everything else.
 

What is for you the core characteristic of Logocos?
 

There are big differences in the cosmetics industry. If a large company plants 300,000 trees in Brazil, it does so to soothe its conscience. In contrast, we live natural cosmetics, authentically and sustainably. This corporate culture has always been rooted in our company, starting with our products, then our man management and also in our organic catering in the canteen. We work together and we enjoy our breaks together too. The people behind the brands, the credibility along the whole production process - those are fundamental features of Logocos. That’s what the firm means for me.
 

The company is growing, and in expansion phases you have to be careful not to lose the authentic core, the experience of belonging together and the family atmosphere in a company.
 

You’re absolutely right. That applies to me personally, because for me it’s very important to maintain and cultivate my connection with people. This solidarity has developed over time, and it’s my job to see that it continues. Of course, we’re facing new challenges and issues, but the core stays stable – I’m quite sure of that. It is incumbent on new employees to acknowledge these values and to put them into practice. I enjoy this family atmosphere a lot, and I’ll do my utmost to make our employees feel at home here – after all, they’re our greatest capital.
 

For the founder of the firm, Hans Hansel, ecology and values like fairness and social commitment have the highest priority. He has passed on to you the responsibility for taking this corporate culture forwards.
 

The gamut of values that Hans Hansel has created ranges from ecology and fairness in raw materials projects and fair relations with suppliers along the whole value chain to fair prices on the shelves of the specialist retailer for the end consumer. That’s the business side of things. A core social concern for us is, however, the right to education. We regard it as an existential issue. The future depends on education, and that’s why we support projects of our cooperation partners that deal with education, irrespective of whether it involves children, young people or adults in Germany, Europe or the world. Our guiding principle is that every individual has a right to education. It is the focus of our social involvement. Examples are our well established cooperation with the Christoph-Metzelder-Stiftung (“training for life”), that we are supporting in the context of our thirty-fifth anniversary with 35,000 euros. Or “Made in Veddel”, a project in Hamburg in which women who have come to Germany as migrants produce designer fashion. It is sponsored by the designer Sibilla Pavenstedt. Regina Burton, our model for our Heliotrop brand promotes education in India, and in her case as well we provide support. Of course, we’re involved at a local level too – all this is a cause close to my heart.
 

What is your business motto? What focal points do you want to create for Logocos?

Logocos is one of the leading and innovative firms in the field of natural cosmetics. We’re tasked with continuing to be so in the future, i.e. we’ll continue to develop our brands innovatively both nationally and internationally, to create a distinctive profile and to communicate this to the consumer. We have provenance, and with it comes obligation plus huge potential for the future. In short, I see my job as moving forward with branding.

We now see a whole range of celebrities associated with Logocos - Ursula Karven, Michael Michalsky, Christoph Metzelder, Regina Burton. Does glamour provide the big opportunity to draw natural cosmetics further out of its niche?

Consumers are responsible citizens who decide for themselves what to buy. If we want to persuade them to opt for real natural cosmetics and not for greenwashing, we have to make people more aware of our quality and we have to get our philosophy across to the public. We’ve got stories to tell – about our raw materials, our projects, our innovations, our commitment. Well known individuals, standing in the limelight, who are convinced by our products and who are at the same time socially involved – these people are the perfect ambassadors for our cause. By the way, I’ve made some real friends, and the celebs we work with are 100 percent behind our products – they don’t just let us use their faces for our brands but come here in person and help with our product development, like Michael Michalsky or Ursula Karven, who call themselves “Logonista”. I’m proud of the fact that these people stand by us and love our products. On the other side, it also shows that today natural cosmetics mean glamour and are in no way inferior to big conventional brands. No longer are we a niche product! In Cannes, Ursula Karven took our message onto the red carpet, as did Michael Michalsky’s models onto the catwalk at the Berlin Fashion Week. I have to say, it’s important to find people who accept us for what we are when they advertise our products. And the celebs don’t only take our Logocos brand world out into the wider world but also the philosophy and the idea of natural cosmetics per se.
 

The pioneer firm Logona is one of the market leaders with its extensive product range under the brands Logona, Sante, Fitne, Heliotrop and Neobio and it stands for innovative new products. How much innovation does the market demand, and what were in your estimation the top products in the recent past?
 

We’ve got a whole bunch of products that are based on proven raw materials and formulas. This is where we need consistency and continuity, and we do indeed put them into practice. On the other hand, there is demand for innovation – we mustn’t ignore the market and the wishes of consumers. We go our own way, have principles like, as far as we possibly can, not using foodstuffs from the primary food chain in our products and in packaging. There are opportunities here for real innovation, as you can see with our sea buckthorn project. In packaging too we’re trying something new. For example, for Santé we’re using polywood, artificial materials made with wood chips from our region. With innovative products, we can give prominence to natural cosmetics. My favourite innovations are the B12 dental cream and lash extension. Thank you very much, nature!
 

Where is the journey taking you – what medium-term aims have you decided on? Where do you see the greatest challenges and where the greatest potential?
 

Clear positioning in the domestic market is for me our major task, and at the same time it’s a huge challenge. The specialist trade is our home base - that’s where we come from and that’s where we still feel at home. We’re one of the few brands that have remained loyal to the specialist trade. However, for our high-value brands it’s time to show that we’ve got the right products for all the sales channels. There’s a big need for quality as an alternative to classic products – that’s where we want to position ourselves. Our aim: to ensure that natural cosmetics cover everything and to show that the consumer doesn’t need conventional cosmetics any more; to raise our brand recognition and our market volume – which also means creating the basis for communicating loud and clear our standpoint via our professional associations in Berlin and Brussels.  On the international markets, we have confidence in our partners in nearly 50 countries worldwide. The Asian markets are very keen when it comes to natural cosmetics, but they demand high standards too. Tradition is extremely important, and tradition is precisely what we’ve got.

Many thanks for this conversation!

Links:
http://www.facebook.com/LogonaNaturkosmetik
http://www.logona.de/en/ 
 

International brand ambassador Ursula Karven/ Cannes Video:
http://www.logona.de/en