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- A Toad Necklace, Sanctions, and a Skincare Empire 🌱
A Toad Necklace, Sanctions, and a Skincare Empire 🌱
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Finlay Williams
October 21, 2024
2 minute wacky businesses, you can tell your buddies about 🧠
Natura Siberica is not just another skincare brand. It’s a $100 million powerhouse that built its empire on Siberian herbs, wild-crafted from some of the most remote regions on Earth. Think L'Oréal, but with a lot more edge, and a lot more chaos behind the scenes. This is the story of how one man’s vision turned into a global sensation and somehow survived political sanctions, a family feud, and even a fire. Grab your popcorn.
Global Expansion and Sanction Avoidance 🧐
Founded in 2008 by Andrey Trubnikov, a maverick with a flair for the dramatic, Natura Siberica started with the goal of using Siberian herbs to create authentic, pure skincare products. Trubnikov didn’t want to just import ingredients; he wanted to own the entire process, so he set up farms in the wildest parts of Siberia. But here’s where things get interesting, Trubnikov tried to expand into the U.S., but he didn’t exactly get the welcome he was hoping for. We’ll get to that.
What makes Natura Siberica stand out is how they built their back-end infrastructure to dominate their industry, by owning the very land where their ingredients are grown. Trubnikov set up eco-villages across Siberia, partnering with local communities to sustainably cultivate rare herbs. It gave them something their competitors couldn’t match, complete control over quality and supply, creating a bulletproof competitive edge.
"he didn’t make budgets, he didn’t work with marketing consultants, and he based all his decisions on his own intuition. “Chaos is the highest form of order,”” - Andrey Trubnikov (yes, that is a toad necklace)
What are the nuggets? 💎
🌱 Origin: Trubnikov had been in the beauty game before, but it wasn’t until a trip to a Siberian market that he realised he could scale the traditional “wildcrafting” methods. He set up the first organic farms, betting big on his niche from day one.
🌱 U.S. Expansion: Here’s where things get a little more choppy: Trubnikov wasn’t content with dominating the Russian and European markets. He wanted to take Natura Siberica to the U.S., with the clever slogan: “Born in Siberia, made in USA.” He’d even lined up a deal with a Los Angeles cosmetics company to manufacture there. But then politics threw a wrench in the works. U.S. banks refused to open an account for him, citing, you guessed it, political concerns.
🌱 The KGB Mistake: During an interview, Trubnikov joked that the New York Times misunderstood his thick Russian accent and thought he said “KGB” when he was actually talking about Procter & Gamble (P&G). So, instead of reporting that he missed out on a job at P&G, they wrote he didn’t get a job with the KGB. Naturally, this didn’t help his case with the U.S.
🌱 Sanction Dodging: Sooo, Trubnikov got creative. He opened production facilities in Estonia, sidestepping any potential sanctions by keeping his European business running smoothly. Even if things got dicey between Russia and the West, Natura Siberica could keep exporting. The move dodged sanctions and kept them alive in Western markets.
🌱 Family Feud & The Fire: Trubnikov passed away in 2021, and things got messy fast. His 60% stake fell into crisis management, and the other 40% was owned by his ex-wife, Irina Trubnikova. Cue the drama. Within months, Irina pulled licenses, shut down 80 stores, and effectively halted production. The business was already reeling, and then came a massive fire at one of their plants in 2020. It was a disaster, millions in damages, and claims from other businesses piled up. Two employees were even found guilty of negligence.
🌱 The Legal Battle Royale: Legal battles ensued, with lawsuits flying from all sides, including a few tied to Russian Oligarch •••• •••••••••. It was a corporate slugfest with claims totalling billions of rubles. Just when it looked like everything was about to collapse, a new CEO, Felix Lieb, stepped in to stabilise things. He managed to get production back on track in 2022, but the business had taken some serious hits.
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