In our June-July 2014 issue, we highlighted businesses offering the latest and most comprehensive solutions for each stage of a family’s evolution. One of those businesses was The Honest Company, cofounded by Jessica Alba in 2011. When we reported on the company in 2014, it was bringing in more than $100 million in annual revenue. By 2015, the company achieved a valuation of $1 billion, only to falter slightly in 2016 after having to recall products and being hit with a lawsuit for misrepresenting one of its products as organic. (The lawsuit was ultimately dismissed.) Since then, the company has expanded into retailers including Babies R Us and Amazon. In 2019, the company went international with new retail expansion in Europe. Here, Worth takes a look back at the natural baby and beauty company when it was just three years old.
When actress Jessica Alba was pregnant with her first daughter, Honor, in 2008, she suffered an allergic reaction to a laundry detergent deemed baby-safe. “I thought, If I had this type of reaction, imagine what it could do to a newborn,” Alba recalls. Researching other household products, Alba found that many contain untested and potentially toxic chemicals. She envisioned a brand that would deliver effective, eco-friendly and safe children’s products to families’ doorsteps. She brought retail entrepreneur Brian Lee on board to be CEO, and in January 2012 the two (along with Christopher Gavigan and Sean Kane) launched the Honest Company with 17 products. The firm now generates more than $100 million in annual revenue.
Parents can receive Honest products, which range from diapers to cleaners to cribs, three ways: Through Honest product bundles, which are delivered once a month; by purchasing individual products via honest.com; or through a physical retailer such as Whole Foods, Costco, Nordstrom, Buy Buy Baby and, as of this month, Target. “But we don’t consider ourselves just a retail brand,” adds Lee. “We consider ourselves a way of life—you can choose the honest life.”
Contact: 888.862.8818, honest.com
