REN Clean Skincare Set to be Closed Down

Popular UK skincare brand, REN Clean Skincare is due to fold later in the year as part of its parent company’s efforts to streamline its portfolio.

Unilever, who acquired the business in 2015, revealed that REN Clean Skincare will leave shelves later this year. Although a set date hasn’t been announced, it’s expected that the closure will take place sometime during Q3.

REN Clean Skincare has been a consumer favourite for the last 25 years, with its Evercalm line and Ready Steady Glow Daily AHA Toner being particularly popular among users.

In an official statement, Unilever announced that “following the conclusion of a collective consultation period, we have taken the difficult decision to begin formal steps to close the REN business. A combination of internal factors, compounded by market challenges in recent years has left the brand unable to sustain success in the long term”.

A ‘slowdown’ in the sector

The ‘market challenges’ that Unilever refer to have been well-documented. Inflation, a cost-of-living crisis, and other economic headwinds have hit many businesses hard. When questioned on the state of the industry in 2024, the then CEO, Hein Schumacher admitted that there has been a ‘slowdown’ in the skincare sector. In an additional comment that perhaps foreshadowed REN’s fate, he added that “some brands continue to beat the trend [of an industry slowdown] and obviously some brands are sort of more going with the trend”.

The ”internal factors” that Unilever cites as a reason are less clear, but it’s fair to say that the conglomerate are still in a state of flux. The last few years have seen them flip flop on where to headquarter their business, make boardroom reshuffles, announce 7,500 job cuts, sell the majority of its tea business, and reveal plans of the divestiture of its ice cream arm which includes successful brands such as Ben & Jerry’s and Magnum.

Restructuring efforts

As part of the boardroom reshuffles, June 2024 saw the departure of Vasiliki Petrou, the CEO of the Unilever Prestige division (of which REM is a part of). Petrou was behind the acquisition of REN Clean Skincare back in 2015 alongside the purchase of the Kate Somerville brand around the same time.

It’s perhaps noteworthy that soon after Petrou’s departure last year, Unilever announced plans to try to find a buyer for both REN and Kate Somerville.

2023 saw REN Clean Skincare streamline its portfolio by shedding a third of its product line in an attempt to crack the US market. If minds weren’t already made up about closing rather than selling REN, perhaps the recent tariffs imposed on American imports sealed the brand’s fate.

Focus on ‘power brands’

Taking over from Schumacher last year, the new Unilever CEO, Fernando Fernandez outlined his plans to focus on the company’s “30 power brands”. These are Unilever’s brands that generate over €1bn on an annual basis.

Within the Unilever Prestige division, there are only two brands that are close to those figures: Dermalogica and Paula’s Choice. While they have another five brands that deliver over €100m annually, REN, Kate Somerville and Garancia are assumed to make less than €50m.

Business restructuring specialist at Forbes Burton, Nicholas Troth remarked that Unilever’s changes have been “hectic over the last few years, especially at board level, but when it comes to buying and selling companies, the movement can sometimes be par for the course for giant conglomerates.

“Unilever have obviously seen something in REN that suggests that it won’t meet the potential that it assumed it had a decade ago. It’s perhaps unlucky to find itself in a sector of natural or ‘clean’ beauty that is not only experiencing a slump but has also attracted a multitude of competitors in the same period”.

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