Country Life Acquires Leading Aromatherapy Brand Aura Cacia

Country Life has acquired Aura Cacia, the leading aromatherapy and natural air care brand, from Frontier Co-op. This acquisition is part of Country Life's strategy to build a portfolio of beauty and wellness brands with roots in the natural channel and ambitions for broader market expansion.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Aura Cacia joins Country Life's existing portfolio, which includes the Country Life vitamin brand, the Biochem protein brand, and the personal care brand Desert Essence.

In addition to the brand, Country Life is acquiring Aura Cacia’s 60,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Urbana, Iowa. This adds vertically integrated essential oil production capabilities to Country Life's existing 150,000-square-foot supplement manufacturing operations in Hauppauge, N.Y.

Acquisition details

> "With this acquisition, we will be well over $100 million. That’s an important milestone in the private equity world. We continue to work on profitability, and this will accelerate our profit efforts," says Rob Robillard, CEO of Country Life. "Our plans are to drive growth in all four brands, ideally acquire a fifth, get to hundreds of millions of dollars and eventually look to find an exit for Lion Equity and the shareholders."

Aura Cacia was founded in 1982 by aromatherapy enthusiasts and acquired in 1993 by Frontier Co-op, a 50,000-member-owned cooperative that reported sales exceeding $235 million in 2023. Despite Aura Cacia’s leadership in aromatherapy, Frontier Co-op’s main business is herbs and spices through its namesake brand and Simply Organic.

> "After stewarding Aura Cacia’s growth for more than 30 years, we believe this decision allows both organizations to focus, scale and thrive," says Tony Bedard, CEO of Frontier Co-op, in a statement. "Country Life has the expertise and resources to help Aura Cacia fully capitalize on the growing consumer demand for high-quality essential oils and aromatherapy products. We are proud to entrust this mission-driven brand to a partner that will build on the values that have made it successful, while we remain focused on our herbs and spices business."

Growth strategy

Robillard, formerly chief merchandising officer at HSN and CEO of Sensible Organics, became CEO of Country Life in 2024. His initial focus was to strengthen the brands' omnichannel distribution, manufacturing capacity, procurement operations, and marketing before pursuing acquisitions.

For instance, Country Life and Desert Essence recently launched on TikTok Shop. Last year, both brands experienced double-digit sales growth, following approximately a decade of stagnant growth. Currently, e-commerce contributes about half of their revenue, a significant shift from when the natural channel generated the majority of sales. International markets have also become a key area for expansion.

Robillard anticipates Aura Cacia will follow a similar growth trajectory to Country Life and Desert Essence. Aura Cacia's essential oils and aromatherapy products, generally priced from about $8 to $30, are sold at retailers such as Whole Foods, Target, Sprouts, and The Vitamin Shoppe.

According to NIQ rankings cited by Country Life, Aura Cacia is the No. 1 brick-and-mortar aromatherapy brand and the No. 1 natural air care brand. The company also references SPINS data, which places Aura Cacia as the No. 3 beauty and personal care brand in the natural channel, behind Dr. Bronner’s and NOW.

> "Aura Cacia was similar to where we were two years ago," says Robillard. "It is very dominant in the natural channel. It doesn’t have a very large e-commerce or international business, which is an area we’re focusing on now. We can fill that in and drive the same kind of growth."

Brand portfolio

Country Life focused on acquiring brands that complemented its existing distribution and product portfolio. Aura Cacia's long-standing heritage and consumer trust made it particularly attractive.

> "It has a very strong connection to our vision and the mission we have as a company," says Robillard. "We have internal wellness with Country Life, topical wellness with Desert Essence, and now we have aromatherapy to impact your overall wellness and how you feel." > He adds, "They are the highest quality essential oils. They source from the best farms possible, and they have incredible quality testing to ensure materials coming in and going out meet the same standards. That’s akin to what we do at Country Life on our supplement side."

Country Life's diverse brand collection across beauty and wellness reflects the increasing synergy between these categories in both retail strategies and corporate mergers and acquisitions. On a larger scale, Unilever has built a portfolio encompassing personal care, beauty, and wellness. Similarly, at a smaller scale, venture capital firms like True Beauty Ventures have broadened their investment focus from beauty to wellness.

> "We’ve had marginal success at trying to bring the whole thing together," says Robillard. "Consumers are either into supplements, aromatherapy or topicals. Of course, there are customers that overlap between them, but it’s less that we are going to provide a head-to-toe solution for people than we want to create capabilities, a culture and a vision around serving our consumers broadly."

Country Life is retaining 30 employees from Aura Cacia—10 in back-office roles and 20 in production—bringing its total workforce to approximately 150 people. The company largely manages its brands as distinct businesses, and this separation is expected to become more defined with the establishment of dedicated beauty and personal care and supplement business units.

For its next acquisition, Country Life plans to focus on the supplement sector, particularly a brand that could leverage its manufacturing capabilities. Desert Essence will begin production at Aura Cacia’s Iowa manufacturing facility. Robillard explains that Country Life favors in-house manufacturing because it reduces costs by eliminating third-party production markups and provides greater control over inventory and flexibility to respond quickly to demand spikes.

> "As we launch TikTok Shop, we feel comfortable that, if one of our brands goes viral and we need 10,000 units in three days, we have the ability to make that happen," he says. "I like the control that it provides. The downside is that you have to be well-utilized."