Multinationals make case for their ‘black-owned’ brands

L’Oreal and Unilever are two multinational companies that have acquired black-owned beauty brands in an effort to deliver products to those markets. The two consumer packaged goods giants have recently issued statements seeking to connect the founding stories of their brands with black consumers. L’Oreal-owned Carol’s Daughter, a beauty brand created by a black woman in her Brooklyn kitchen in 1993 and named after her mother, was acquired in 2014. The brand’s founder, Lisa Price, “is still actively involved in all aspects of the business; leading the brand’s product development and creative vision,” according to L’Oreal. Unilever’s Sundial Brands is a standalone unit within the company created to develop products for black consumers. Among its portfolio of brands is SheaMoisture, acquired by Unilever in 2017. SheaMoisture was founded in Harlem in 1991 by Liberian immigrants. Cara Sabin, CEO of Sundial, wrote on June 9, “I am a Black CEO, in White corporate America, leading a brand that exists to serve our Black consumer.”