How refillable deodorant startup Wild scored a sale to Unilever
When Unilever first approached refillable personal care brand Wild at the end of last summer about a possible acquisition, co-founder Charlie Bowes-Lyon said the team’s biggest concern was whether they were established enough to move to a corporate owner. Though established in U.K. retailers like Boots and Tesco, the startup had yet to launch physical sales in the U.S.
“We were only four and a half years old and still refining our margins,” Bowes-Lyon said.
But after some deliberation — and a tedious four-month due diligence process — the acquisition was finalized and formally announced on April 1.
Terms of the deal were undisclosed, but Bowes-Lyon called Unilever “an ideal strategic partner” as Wild seeks to grow its presence on U.S. shelves.
“They acquired us because we’ve successfully created a sustainable brand that resonates with consumers,” he said. “Our goal is to prove that Wild can be a mainstream brand, helping to drive sustainable packaging adoption across the industry.”
In 2020, Wild began selling natural deodorant that comes with a refillable aluminum container. The deodorant itself comes in a solid form wrapped in compostable packaging that pops into the container. The stick lasts for about four to six weeks with regular use, and then a new one can be popped in. Refills come in nearly two dozen scents, including sensitive formulas and limited editions. Wild has since expanded into other personal care staples like hand soap and lip balm, with the goal of eliminating virgin plastic from packaging. It launched its deodorant in all Target stores and online earlier this year.
For Unilever, which saw 5.2% growth in the personal care space in 2024 per its annual earnings report, owning Wild helps it play a bigger role in the sustainable personal space. Unilever’s personal care president Fabian Garcia said in a statement that “the brand’s innovative approach to formulations and packaging, and social-first marketing, has made Wild an unmissably superior brand, and a perfect complement to our Personal Care portfolio.”
Bowes-Lyon said the company is particularly focused on how to use Unilever’s support to make refillable packaging mainstream. “If we succeed, this type of packaging could roll out across more brands and become the norm.”
Bowes-Lyon spoke to Modern Retail after the acquisition about how the deal came to be and what’s ahead for the brand. This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.
When did Wild start thinking about selling or speaking with Unilever?
“In our heads, we had pinned maybe the end of this year as a time where we’d start to [look into selling] if the numbers looked right and we were doing a good enough job. But Unilever came to us at the end of summer last year. They asked for a kind of casual call, and we spoke for a little bit back and forth, and it was clear that they were looking to build out the space and acquire someone ideally within sustainability and also the premium product placement zone. Chats went from there and then very quickly moved to more official due diligence, and everything and took about six months to the end.”
Does the acquisition mean any changes for the existing team or operations?
“We’re still the same company, with the same team, in the same office. If we hadn’t told people that we’d been acquired, they might not even notice. Unilever’s approach is to support us rather than make drastic changes. They have extensive experience in areas like packaging innovation, distribution and formulations, which will help us mature as a brand. But ultimately, our team is still driving the mission. Unilever has acquired many brands over the years, and they’ve learned that the best approach is to enable those brands to grow rather than overhaul them.”
This year, Wild debuted in the U.S. in Target stores and online. How has the rollout been going, and have you made plans to expand further?
“We have an exclusive deal with Target for this year. So far, it’s going really well. We’ve got some exciting in-store activations, end caps and custom case designs lined up, which we’re really proud of. The reception has been fantastic both in-store and online, and we’re hoping to build on that momentum. Now that we’ve proven we can sell, we’re hoping to deepen our relationship with Target by expanding our shelf space and potentially introducing more products next year.
Next year, we plan to expand our retail footprint in the U.S. But for now, we want to focus solely on Target and ensure we have a solid U.S.-specific strategy before rolling out to other retailers. The U.S. market is very different from the U.K. and Europe, so we don’t want to assume that what worked there will automatically work here. We’ve had conversations with other major retailers — probably the ones you’d expect — but no deals have been signed yet.”
Will being owned by Unilever help grow your retail footprint?
“One hundred percent. Not only does it provide credibility, but Unilever has a massive presence in the U.S. They sell something like 40% of all deodorants here. The difference between a small brand like us trying to get a meeting with the right people versus Unilever calling the CEO of Target or Walmart is enormous. Their distribution network gives us access to every city and every store, which is a huge opportunity. We see retail as the future of this business, not direct-to-consumer, so leveraging Unilever’s connections is incredibly valuable.”
What will you work on with Unilever from an R&D side?
“In terms of formulations, nothing major will change. The biggest benefit is access to Unilever’s R&D expertise. They have vast knowledge in areas like fragrance and formulation, so we can work with them to improve our products and develop new ones. But overall, our product offerings will remain the same.
What most people don’t realize is Unilever has actually been leading on sustainability for a long time. That doesn’t mean they don’t produce a ton of plastic — they do, because half the world’s population uses their products. But they’ve tested over 3,000 types of packaging to find alternatives to virgin plastic. They launched Dove’s refillable concept, for example. That said, it was easier for them to acquire us because we had already built a successful, sustainable brand that resonated with consumers. Our goals align with theirs, particularly their commitment to eventually eliminating virgin plastic.”
Any other lessons learned from the process of getting acquired?
“One of the biggest lessons we learned was during the due diligence process, which lasted around four months. It was incredibly detailed, with around 100 people reviewing every aspect of our business. A major takeaway was the importance of having all legal and operational details in order, from day one — things like securing patents, ensuring IP ownership, marketing properly and keeping data safe.
When you’re starting out, you don’t necessarily think about those things because you’re focused on making the business work. But if you can take the time to do them early on, it can save a lot of trouble later. We were fortunate that we had most of it in place, but honestly, some of that was just luck. It made us reflect on decisions we had made years ago — some of which we had only thought about for a few seconds at the time but turned out to have major long-term implications. It was tiring and long, but ultimately useful.”