Our external auditing policies and practices

There are several areas of our business where external bodies exist that can check and verify our work. Expert eyes from outside the company can give reassurance and confirmation to customers that we are doing the things we say in our written policies and give guidance to us for future developments and improvements.  Here are some of the organisations that currently certify some areas of our work.

Ethical Consumer Research Organisation (needs updating)

Ethical Consumer conduct a review of our Buying history to ensure we are adhering to our written animal testing policies.  They have full access to our list of ingredients suppliers and all buying records.  They follow up with our suppliers to verify our written records and to ensure that the supply chain fully understand the requirements of our policy.  They do this by conducting phone interviews with our suppliers and by doing site visits to them.

Vegetarian Society (needs updating)

All our products are free of animal slaughter ingredients and Lush runs as a vegetarian company.  It therefore makes perfect sense to us to register each of our products with the Vegetarian Society, to whom we submit our formulations for them to check and certify as animal free.  So if you are vegetarian, you can safely buy anything without having to give it a second thought.

Vegan Society

Fed up of scrutinising ingredients labels? As of 2016, 85% of Lush’s all year round range was certified vegan. As well as getting the Vegan Society to certify these products, you’ll find their logo online and on the product label itself – meaning vegans can shop with ease and their friends and family can pop safely buy them presents.

Fair Trade 

Calling products and ingredients ‘Fair Trade’ is a tricky issue. Shouldn’t all trade be ‘fair?’

The phrasing itself is confusing. The word ‘Fairtrade’ is owned by a business called the Fairtrade Foundation and can only be used on ingredients certified by them. Other Fair Trade businesses, therefore, such as Fair For Life and the Fair Trade Federation, which certify that ingredients meet ‘Fair Trade’ standards influenced by international criteria use the phrase ‘Fair Trade’ instead.

Because farmers must pay to gain Fair Trade or Fairtrade certification, we work with suppliers on the basis of their ingredient quality, traceability, working conditions and environmental and cultural impact. Consequently, while many Lush products contain certified Fair Trade ingredients, such as shea butter from Ghana and olive oil from Sindyana, we do not ask our suppliers to apply for Fair Trade status if they prefer not to.

Soil Association

Organic, regenerative farming methods help to care for communities and the planet. We buy many organic materials for use in our products, including fresh fruit and vegetables when seasonally available.  Our Therapy massage bar is certified by the Soil Association and we are audited annually to maintain this certification.

External financial auditors 

For the financial year end June 2019 our Group accounts will be audited by KPMG.  These audits include the UK and Lush businesses around the world, although our non-UK entities may engage a different firm locally. The auditors check not only the figures, but the governance of the business.