Strategy, Business Model, and Value Chain

With a portfolio of global brands, Beiersdorf has developed into one of the world’s leading companies in the consumer goods industry over the past 143 years – with over 190 international subsidiaries and more than 22,000 employees worldwide. Our business is divided into two separate, independently operating business segments: Consumer and tesa. As a wholly-owned subsidiary of Beiersdorf AG, tesa SE has been operated as an independent subgroup with its own management and corporate strategy since 2001.

In the Consumer Business Segment, our focus is on skin and body care for end consumers. We are represented in three market segments with our worldwide brands NIVEA, Eucerin and La Prairie: the mass market, dermocosmetics, and the premium segment. Our products are sold in 180 countries, with Europe representing our main sales market. Information on changes during the reporting period regarding sales market developments and the product segments offered can be found in the chapters “Results of Operations – Business Segments” in the management report and “Regional Reporting” in the consolidated financial statements.

In the tesa Business Segment, we concentrate on developing innovative adhesive tapes and self-adhesive solutions for industry, craft businesses, and end consumers. In the Industry division, tesa supplies specialized product and system solutions directly to industrial customers, especially in the automotive, electronics, printing and paper, and building and construction industries worldwide.

The tesa Consumer division encompasses those markets in which retail partners or retail-like channels supply end consumers with market-driven products. These include product ranges aimed at private consumers and craftspeople. tesa also uses e-commerce business to offer products for sale directly to end customers. The Consumer business is focused on Europe and Latin America. It sells both long-established and innovative product solutions intended for various applications, including for daily use in offices, at home, and in crafts.

In total 22,678 employees had an active employment contract with Beiersdorf as of December 31, 2024.

Consumer

Consumer

Our updated corporate strategy for the Consumer Business Segment “Win with Care” was announced in 2024. The aim of the strategy is to build on the growth of recent years in terms of both sustainability and profit. The strategic pillar “Performance with Purpose” sets out our objective of continuing to advocate for sustainability, with a particular focus on climate change mitigation and an inclusive society.

Beiersdorf aims to expand its climate action ambitions through this updated strategy. The new targets for 2032 are to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 30% by 2025 and by 50% by 2032 (vs. 2018) and to carry out an additional comprehensive product transformation. At present, the most important product groups in terms of our sustainability targets in all global markets are deodorants, soaps, body care, cream, and shower products. This is where we see the greatest leverage for emissions reduction. We have therefore set ourselves the following targets for our global product portfolio by 2032:

Packaging

• 100% of our plastic packaging made of recycled or renewable materials
• 100% designed for recycling 

Product formulations

• 100% of soaps free from tallow
• 100% of cosmetics free from synthetic polymer microparticles
• 90% of ingredients biodegradable

These targets are aimed at achieving the company’s Net Zero target by 2045, which was validated by the “Science-Based Targets initiative” (SBTi) in February 2024. For more details on our specific targets and actions for the sustainable transformation of our products, please refer to the chapters “ESRS E1 – Climate Change” and “ESRS E5 – Resource Use and Circular Economy.”

Our CARE BEYOND SKIN Sustainability Agenda remains an integral part of Win with Care. It comprises seven focus fields that concentrate on the impact of our activities throughout the value chain: from the climate impact of our products and processes, the circularity of the resources we use and their influence on land and water use, through to the health and safety of our employees and consumers, and our commitment to an inclusive society. We have set ourselves ambitious targets in all areas, which we aim to achieve by 2025 and 2030, respectively.

CARE BEYOND SKIN Sustainability Agenda

(Consumer Business Segment)

tesa

tesa

At tesa, sustainability is firmly enshrined in the business strategy. Our ambition is to use our technological know-how and passion to develop more sustainable adhesive solutions and products. The framework for this is formed by five strategic action areas for which tesa has defined the following long-term targets for the period through 2030:

Reduction of emissions

• Climate-neutral production (Scope 1 and 2) and a 20% reduction in Scope 3 emissions vs. 2018.

Responsible sourcing

• We aim for full supply chain transparency, with the goal of at least 80% of our purchasing volume sourced exclusively from suppliers who have an EcoVadis assessment of at least 45 points and meet our responsible supply chain standards overall.

Use of recycled and bio-based materials

• 70% of product and packaging materials made from recycled or bio-based materials. We also aim to halve the use of non-recycled fossil-based plastics.

Circularity and reduction of waste

• We plan to offer sustainable end-of-life solutions for selected products. In production, we aim to further work on solvent-free processes and full solvent recovery.

Enable sustainability at our customers

• We plan to offer customers innovative adhesive solutions that contribute to the sustainability of their processes and products, and to make the joint work results measurable.

The strategic action areas extend across the business segment’s entire value chain. As a production company in the chemicals sector, we see the greatest leverage for achieving our targets in:

• increased use of recycled and renewable raw materials for our adhesive solutions;
• close cooperation with suppliers; and
• use of renewable energy in our own production and in the supply chain.

An important product group in the context of sustainability targets is our adhesive solutions in the industrial sector in all global markets. By developing more sustainable products, we support our customers in achieving their own sustainability goals and underpin our own emissions reduction ambitions. The sustainability agenda, which is based on the Ten Principles of the “United Nations Global Compact” (UNGC) and the “Sustainable Development Goals” (SDGs) of the United Nations, continues to be an additional cornerstone of the strategy. It now reflects our aspiration to view sustainability holistically and thus also includes topics that go beyond the strategic action areas – such as occupational safety.

Sustainability Agenda

(tesa Business Segment)

We see the three main challenges to the future realization of the sustainability strategies of the Consumer and tesa Business Segments as the availability of renewable energy for the existing supply chains, particularly in the chemicals industry, and the increasing digitalization of internal processes and supply chains to generate transparency. The increased transparency for consumers, including the supporting regulations from the legislator, will also play a key role in achievement of sustainability targets. The main solutions and projects for these challenges are set out in the topic-specific chapters below.

Value Chain

Beiersdorf relies on extraction of raw materials for the production of its products. The raw materials used are associated with the following activities: cultivation and harvesting of agricultural raw materials (primarily palm oil, soy, coconut, wood, and natural rubber), animal husbandry (tallow), and mining and extraction of fossil and mineral raw materials. These raw materials are processed and refined to produce emulsifiers, surfactants, oils, adhesives and other substances, as well as packaging materials. We procure these raw materials from our suppliers via multi-tier supply chains and use them at our production sites. The intermediate products that we procure directly are primarily chemical products and packaging materials comprising plastic, aluminium, glass and paper.

Beiersdorf manufactures a wide range of products in its own operations. The Consumer Business Segment focuses on development and production of skin and body care products, and the tesa Business Segment makes self-adhesive product solutions for industrial customers and consumers. There are 15 production centers for the Consumer Business Segment, located in Europe, North and South America, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region. These centers focus on mixing and filling activities and produce primarily for their local and regional markets. tesa has seven production centers in Germany, Italy, the USA, China and Vietnam. The production network is supplemented by selected third-party manufacturers (3PMs).

Our production sites and 3PMs deliver the goods to our customers via a network of warehouses and distribution centers. Most warehousing and transportation services are purchased externally. Two warehouses are owned and operated by Beiersdorf. Individual adjustments to products shortly before dispatch (last minute adjustments and co-packing) are largely integrated into warehouse operations. Products are largely distributed to customers by truck and sea freight, increasing also by rail, and in exceptional cases by air freight.

Products in the Consumer Business Segment are predominantly delivered to food retail partners, who sell our products to the end consumers. The tesa Business Segment primarily supplies industrial customers, and to a lesser extent retail partners from the food and building materials sectors.

We rely on agile supply chains, and perform ongoing analyses of our production and supply networks and update them as necessary to ensure procurement of our most important materials and address the needs of our customers and consumers.