Founder of Caudalie, she practices commitment as she created her cosmetics brand: with experience and high standards.
We know her from Paris, we follow her to New York, then to Hong Kong, for the development of Caudalie. We know less than matilde tomas grew up in the countryside, near Grenoble. “We lived on a farm with chickens, dogs, horses,” she recalls. My parents, who worked a lot, entrusted my sister to our communist environmentalist grandparents during the holidays: we participated in the collection of waste in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, in the collection of fruit for jams… When, a lot Later, my parents bought Château Smith Haut Lafitte, immediately stopped using pesticides, rehabilitated manual harvesting, and converted the vineyard to organic. So yes, there is a form of family atavism in my attachment to nature.
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his imprint
Faced with the emergence of organic brands and the environmental emergency, Mathilde Thomas decided in 2018 to go further in her conception of a clean brand. “Renewing” the formulas (today 95% of natural origin) and the packaging, now all recycled, recyclable or refillable. Also multiplying the commitments. “Caudalie, already three times carbon neutral, is the largest cosmetics company that contributes to the 1% for the planet movement, which consists of donating 1% of our turnover each year to associations for the preservation of the environment”, emphasizes Matilda Thomas. This allowed us to replant 10 million trees.” In 2020, together with her husband, she created with Tristan Lecomte, the founder of Alter Eco and Pur Project, the 100% plastic collection project. The concept: to collect the same amount of plastic used by the company on the beaches of Asia every year (more than 600 tons in 2022). Once sorted, it is recycled into urban pavers for the construction of roads and houses. “But our goal is really to achieve zero plastic,” the leader said.
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your ecosystem
For this, Caudalie is recruiting! After hiring two packaging engineers, the company is still looking for its director of sustainable development, to better measure and define clear and achievable objectives, as well as an agricultural engineer. “With us, all services have eco-responsible objectives and receive a bonus for them. Today, 90% of people come to work at Caudalie because of our commitment”.
your oxygen
The mountains in summer and winter, cycling everywhere and with the family. “To see clearly, you have to leave the office,” smiles Mathilde Thomas. My children also challenge us: they clean beaches, plant trees in Peru and China. I think everyone will choose jobs related to eco-responsibility. »