Avivir

Avivir is a Danish skincare and personal-care company built around a single plant: aloe vera. Founded in November 1989 as Aloe Vera Group ApS, it took its present name in 2008 [2]. The company is still owned and run by Susan and Jesper Hummeluhr, with its headquarters in Søborg, near Copenhagen, and operates under the parent company Retail Partner ApS [1].

The brand sits in the drugstore and health-store segment rather than at the premium end, and its reach is regional: products are sold across Denmark and Sweden through pharmacies, the retail chain Matas and health-food shops. Avivir describes itself as a "humane and environmentally friendly" venture organised around aloe vera "from plant to finished product"; the name derives from the Spanish verb meaning "to live".

The company traces its origin to a personal episode. According to Avivir, founder Jesper Hummeluhr first encountered aloe vera while travelling in Australia, where the gel helped treat a severe sunburn. He went on to research the plant, brought specimens from Thailand back to Denmark, and concluded there was a gap in the local market. In its own telling, cuttings were handed out as gifts to friends and acquaintances, who reported good results. The business was formally established as Aloe Vera Group ApS in November 1989 [2].

Its first products, an Aloe Vera Gel and an Aloe Vera Naturel, launched the same year. The company states that its drinkable aloe vera was the first aloe vera product sold in Denmark, a claim echoed by the Danish health retailer Helsam [11]. In 2008 the company was rebranded from Aloe Vera Group ApS to Avivir to set its products apart as the aloe vera category grew.

Avivir's range is unusually broad for a single-ingredient brand, spanning skincare, hand and foot care, hair care, sun care, men's grooming, dental care and dietary supplements, alongside its aloe vera drinks. Recurring products include the Aloe Vera Gel, marketed for first aid on sunburn, insect bites, frostbite and minor skin irritations; the high-concentration Crème Xtreme for very dry skin on hands, feet and elbows; a women's shave mousse intended to reduce razor bumps; and a fluoride-free toothpaste. Sun care features prominently, including a Sun Lotion SPF 30 and an After Sun Lotion that the company describes as having a high aloe content [11].

The technical centre of the range is ACTIValoe, an aloe vera ingredient the company licenses from the American-Mexican supplier Aloecorp and says it has used since 1989 [8]. According to Avivir, ACTIValoe is made from the inner leaf gel of the aloe barbadensis plant, with the leaf skin removed quickly so the gel is not contaminated by the plant's irritant yellow sap. It is produced through a patented method Aloecorp calls the MAP process and a flash-pasteurisation step, and carries a guaranteed minimum of 10 percent acemannan, the polysaccharide the company identifies as aloe vera's main active compound. Avivir states that the processing makes the aloe roughly three times more bioavailable than the raw plant and that several clinical studies support the ingredient's efficacy and safety, with every batch laboratory-tested for content and purity.

Beyond aloe, the formulas draw on ingredients such as baobab oil, shea butter, glycerin, panthenol and sodium hyaluronate, held together by plant-based emulsifiers and a mild preservative system. The company says its products contain no parabens, no artificial fragrance and no alcohol, and that it also avoids substances such as titanium dioxide and octocrylene.

Sustainability and ingredient transparency are central to how Avivir presents itself. The company lists environmental responsibility, natural ingredients, health and safety, social responsibility and eco-friendly manufacturing among its core values. It holds several certifications, including vegan certification from The Vegan Society — covering all products except the Crème Xtreme — together with ECOCERT COSMOS organic certification, the Nordic Swan Ecolabel, EU organic labelling and allergy certification [3].

On packaging, the company says it has moved toward recycled plastic, committing that from late 2020 new production would be filled in packaging containing at least 30 percent recycled plastic, with its one-litre aloe vera drink already using recycled PET. It also states it deliberately avoids sugarcane-based plastic, citing concerns over deforestation and farmland use, and limits the use of double packaging. Avivir uses food-approved plastics that, it notes, contain no bisphenol A or phthalates.

Aloe is sourced from Aloecorp in Mexico, and Avivir presents the supplier's labour practices as part of its social-responsibility position. Because mature plants are harvested year-round, the company says, supplier staff can be employed full-time rather than seasonally; it also points to above-average wages, a 40-hour working week, paid holidays, medical insurance and transport as evidence of the working conditions behind its raw material [4].

Avivir's products have received Danish industry and consumer recognition. Its After Sun Lotion won a Danish Beauty Award in 2011, and its aloe vera capsules were nominated for the same award in 2017 [11]. The company's Aloe Vera Sun Lotion SPF 30 received "Bedst i test" (best in test) ratings from the Danish consumer council Forbrugerrådet TÆNK in 2020 and again in 2021 [3].

The same sun lotion later performed poorly in a more recent assessment. In a June 2025 sunscreen test by Forbrugerrådet TÆNK, the product scored only 9 percent on measured sun protection relative to its labelling, against a top result of 76 percent among 56 products tested [10]. Avivir continues to cite the 2020 and 2021 awards on its certifications page [3]. The two results are not necessarily contradictory, as they reflect different test cycles; whether the gap stems from a reformulation or revised testing methodology is not documented in the available sources.

Avivir is active. Its founders remain in charge of the company, and its products were still in retail distribution across Denmark and Sweden as of 2025, including the sun lotion that featured in the June 2025 consumer test [10]. Having been founded in 1989, the company has been in operation for more than three decades.