Rituals

Rituals is a Dutch home and body cosmetics company founded in Amsterdam in 2000 by Raymond Cloosterman [6]. It builds fragrance-led body care, skincare, home fragrance and related products around the idea of turning everyday routines into more considered moments, and sells them through its own boutiques as well as department stores and perfumeries worldwide.

The company remains active and founder-led, with Cloosterman still serving as chief executive. It marked its 25th anniversary in 2025, reporting net revenue of €2.43 billion for that year.

Rituals grew out of a change of direction for its founder. Raymond Cloosterman had spent 13 years at the consumer-goods company Unilever before taking a break and travelling to explore ancient traditions and beauty rituals in other cultures [10]. According to a founder profile, that period produced a central question — what if everyday routines could be transformed into meaningful rituals — which became the starting point for the business [10].

The first store opened in 2000 in a small basement on Amsterdam's Kalverstraat, run by a team of three [10]. The early years were difficult; by the same account the venture nearly failed before a second location opened around four years in, and it became profitable within about five years.

Growth was gradual at first and then accelerated. The company reached €500 million in sales by 2017, and its founder has said it took roughly twenty years to reach the first €1 billion in revenue [10]. In 2021 Rituals became a Certified B Corporation, a designation for companies meeting standards of verified social and environmental performance [13].

Expansion continued through the 2020s. Full-year turnover rose 21% to €2.1 billion in 2024, the year the company launched its 10% Profit Pledge initiative [12]. For 2025 — its 25th year — Rituals reported net revenue of €2.43 billion, up 16% year on year, with EBITDA of €545 million. In a statement marking the anniversary, Cloosterman called it "a milestone for everyone who has contributed to building Rituals into this wonderful company" [6].

Rituals presents itself as a founder-led company, and no external owner or investor is disclosed in its own materials or in the trade coverage reviewed. Cloosterman is described as founder and chief executive [6].

The company's stated philosophy is "transforming everyday routines into more meaningful moments," and it describes each product as inspired by an ancient tradition. Its tagline puts the emphasis on wellbeing rather than sales: "We're not here to sell you beauty, we're here to make you feel good." Rituals positions its range as affordable luxury; in one interview its founder described the offer as "pure luxury but at an accessible price." Trade press has characterised it as a "luxury wellness brand" built around ritualistic self-care [12].

The company's stores are part of the positioning. Rather than a purely transactional model, Rituals emphasises experience — its outlets have offered tea and hand massages alongside the products. The audience it describes is centred on younger consumers, including Millennials and Gen Z, with a stated push toward male customers and Asian markets.

Rituals organises much of its range into themed collections, among them The Ritual of Sakura, built around cherry blossom, and the spa-inspired The Ritual of Hammam, alongside lines such as The Ritual of Karma, The Ritual of Jing, The Ritual of Mehr and The Ritual of Ayurveda. The catalogue spans body care, skincare, haircare, home fragrance, perfume, makeup and a men's collection.

The company says it introduces around 200 new products a year, roughly a quarter of its total offering [11]. Recent product development has featured ingredients such as bakuchiol, a plant-derived compound used in skincare; its Bakuchiol Natural Body Booster received a Holistic Beauty Award at the VOGUE Spain Beauty Awards in 2025.

Sustainability is central to how Rituals describes itself. The company reports that it is on a "journey toward 90% natural origin formulas" and uses packaging it describes as refillable, recyclable or made of recycled material, supported by a refill programme. It has committed to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions by 52% per euro of gross profit by 2030, against a 2021 baseline [5].

Its 10% Profit Pledge commits a tenth of net profit toward causes described as improving the wellbeing of people and the planet, channelled through programmes named Sacred Forests, Super Chill and Tiny Miracles. The company says it allocated €26 million under the pledge in 2025.

Rituals products and initiatives have received a number of trade and consumer awards. In 2025 these included the Holistic Beauty Award at the VOGUE Spain Beauty Awards for its Bakuchiol Natural Body Booster, recognition at the Prix d'Excellence de la Beauté run by Marie Claire and ELLE, a Marie Claire UK Hair Award, and awards at the Men's Health Care Awards and VOGUE Poland Beauty Awards. In 2024 it was named the most customer-friendly company in the Netherlands. The company's House of Rituals flagship was ranked the second-coolest store in a Global 50 Coolest Retailers listing for 2024 [11].

Rituals is a large, growing global business. By its own 2025/2026 figures it operated close to 1,500 boutiques across 33 retail countries, supported by more than 4,500 department-store and perfumery points of sale, and reported a presence in more than 112 countries [7]. Its B Corp profile, reflecting an older snapshot from around its 2021 certification, listed a smaller figure of more than 870 stores [13]. The company's newsroom continued to publish product and business announcements into 2026, and it remains led by its founder.