Brandon W.
Private equity ruined them.
As a longtime customer and business owner, I’m deeply disappointed in the direction Nature’s Garden has taken since being acquired by private equity. This company was once known for its consistency, reliability, and the quality of staple fragrances that small businesses like mine depended on to create and maintain bestselling products. Now, many of those core fragrances—some of which had been offered for over a decade—have been pulled from the catalog without warning, replaced by dozens of new scents that are priced approximately 40% higher per pound. For a company that historically released one or two new scents a year, the sudden flood of new products and pricing hikes feels less like innovation and more like exploitation. The loss of consistent availability is directly harming small businesses who rely on specific oils to manufacture products, maintain customer loyalty, and avoid costly reformulations. Having to tell our customers that their favorite items are no longer available—or that we’re forced to change the scent formula every few months—is not just inconvenient. It’s brand-eroding. What made Nature’s Garden great was trust. That trust is now broken. The changes made under new ownership show a clear disconnect from the makers and entrepreneurs who built their reputation. Unless that trust is rebuilt through stable product availability and fair pricing, I don’t see a sustainable future here for businesses like mine. Shame on their parent company Cibo Vita and the private equity firm Citation Capital.