Pears

How ethical is Pears?

Pears is a brand of soap and shower products which has a below-benchmark score on The Good Shopping Guide’s Ethical Soap & Shower Gel Ratings Table. Although Pears has not yet met our ethical benchmark, we hope to see the brand make progress in the future.

We would have extra confidence in Pears if it submitted itself to apply for Ethical Accreditation, whereby The Good Shopping Guide would make further detailed assessment and recommendations for ethical improvement.

Find out more about the ethical issues facing the Ethical Soap & Shower Gel sector.

What does Pears do?

Pears  is a British brand of soap first produced and sold in 1807 by Andrew Pears, at a factory just off Oxford Street in London. It was the world’s first mass-market translucent soap and is now owned by Unilever.

In which areas does Pears perform poorly?

Pears was marked down under our criteria for Organic due to a lack of certification. It was also marked down for GMOs as its parent company, Unilever, believes that GM ingredients are safe to use. Unilever also states that it does use Animal Testing where required by law.

Pears also scored poorly under our Irresponsible Marketing criteria. Its parent company, Unilever, had to rename ‘Fair & Lovely’, its skin-lightening cream, after petitions attracted almost 20,000 signatures of people shocked by its promotion of negative stereotypes around dark skin tones. Find out more about how we rate by exploring our ethical criteria.

Past Criticisms of Pears’ record

Unilever, Pears’ parent company, has come under fire for failing to deliver on its promise to scale back its presence in Russia. Unilever has also been named as one of the companies sourcing palm oil from mills controlled by the Harita Group, who are responsible for the destruction of indigenous communities in Borneo.

In which areas does Pears score well for its ethics?

Pears’ parent company, Unilever, has an Annual Report and Accounts 2022, which contains a wide range of environmental targets across different areas giving them a good score for Environmental Report.

We found no criticisms relating to Nuclear Power, Fossil Fuels or Armaments so Pears scores well for these criteria.

How can Pears improve its ethical rating?

The below-benchmark score that Pears is awarded with on The Good Shopping Guide’s Ethical Soap & Shower Gel Ratings Table is the result of an evaluation of multiple ethical criteria.

To reach our minimum ethical benchmark and qualify for Ethical Accreditation, Pears has some issues to resolve, including its use of animal testing and GMOs. If it applies for Ethical Accreditation, The Good Shopping Guide will be able to give Pears some guidance to improve on these areas.

Were you aware that your brand could benefit from Ethical Accreditation? Brands accredited by The Good Shopping Guide can display our ethical mark, showcasing to consumers that it is an ethical and sustainable brand. If you’re interested in learning more, please contact us or complete a Free Initial Assessment form.