Tom and Kate Chappell

Dear friends,

When we founded Tom's of Maine in 1970, the news was full of stories about rivers, streams, and lakes being damaged by the chemicals and artificial ingredients in everyday products. As a young family, we wanted to use natural personal care products that wouldn't adversely affect the environment or our communities, but we couldn't find any. So we decided to make some ourselves!

We based our new company on two ideas: with science and creativity, plants and minerals could be used to create effective personal care products; and a business didn’t need to check its values at the door in order to be financially successful.

Nearly 40 years later, with a lot of experience and 150 talented employees working hard to further our core values, Tom’s of Maine offers more than 70 products—including the leading natural toothpaste and deodorant—available in more than 40,000 stores worldwide. Our Anticavity Fluoride Toothpastes and Mouthwash and our Antiplaque Floss are the only natural alternatives to have earned the American Dental Association Seal of Acceptance. All of our products are guaranteed to work or your money back.

We give 10% of profits and encourage our employees to donate 5% of their paid time to charitable organizations. Our Common Good Partnerships bring resources and attention to nonprofit organizations doing hands-on work in communities across the United States. Our recycled packaging has saved thousands of acres of trees from being cut down. Our green factory here in Maine is run entirely on wind energy.

In 2006, we entered into a partnership with the Colgate-Palmolive Company (read an explanation for how and why this decision was made) and are now an independently run division of that company. But nothing else has changed. Our approach remains simple and direct—we listen to what our customers want (and don't want) in their products, we learn how it can be done, and we respond with intelligent natural alternatives.

The truly exciting thing today is the millions of people who care about their community and the natural world and want their trip to the grocery store or local pharmacy to reflect the values they live by the rest of the time. The result is a more sustainable economy based on the idea that business can be both profitable and socially and environmentally sensitive at the same time.



Tom and Kate Chappell
Cofounders, Tom's of Maine