The eco-capitalist bringing ultra-natural skincare to the masses

When Bryan Meehan - the 39-year-old Irish eco-entrepreneur and friend of Bono - started Fresh & Wild in 1998, organic foodstores in Britain were "smelly and predictable", he says. "The problem was that when you picked up the fruit or vegetables, they looked second-rate," says Meehan. "The shopkeeper would say, 'that's because they're organic - if they're bruised, that's because that's the way nature is'. The customer was always having to compromise." Meehan, along with his partner Hass Hassan, saw a huge market and Fresh & Wild became every Notting Hill-billy's dream. After opening seven stores, Meehan and Hassan sold out to the American organic giant, Whole Foods Market, in 2004, for $38m.

Now Meehan wants to do for skincare what he did for food; with Nude, an "organic, ethical" range of cosmetics that Meehan claims can compete with anything cooked up in a laboratory. His proposition was to create an appealing, commercial range of cosmetics that was free from possibly harmful products, ethically manufactured, and, most importantly, that worked. He called it Nude, after a suggestion from Ali Hewson - Bono's wife, and Meehan's "muse" on the project.

Meehan's first stipulation with his new cosmetics range was to eliminate any "baddies" - what Meehan calls "things that no one has proved are not harmful" - from his products. These include parabens, chemical emulsifiers, mineral oil, and GM products. Instead, Nude uses "active natural ingredients" to protect the skin's natural protective barrier - the acid mantle.

Natural skincare is not a new idea, but, argues Meehan, Nude is a new concept. "All the natural skincare brands that are around now look the same as they did 10 years ago," he says. "They are the equivalent of the bruised apple you used to find in organic food stores, so buying a natural skincare brand is a compromise - the packaging is archaic, it feels oily, it uses lots of alcohol. I became aware that there are a whole group of women who would maybe shop at Fresh & Wild, go to the gym, but wouldn't use natural skincare. They'd rush down to Space.NK or wherever because the glossy magazines said this stuff worked. They think they need it because they don't want to age quicker than their friends."

Given Meehan's green credentials, it is unsurprising that Nude is also ecologically impeccable. The packaging is spare and well conceived. The containers are all made from polypropylene, which is 60 per cent post-industrial recycled, and can be thrown in any domestic plastic recycling bin. The sleeve on which the legal blurb is printed (in water-soluble ink) is made from non-GM biodegradable cornstarch, which can be composted. They print and produce the packaging in the UK, then ship, rather than fly it overseas. Even the Nude sales assistants' uniforms are made from organic cotton. "The last thing I want, though, is for us to be pigeonholed as an eco-brand," says Meehan. "I don't want women to buy Nude for their ethical pat on the back. It just happens that, when I was creating this, I thought through these issues."

But this seems an odd position to take - the greenness of the product is its obvious USP. Meehan disagrees. "I'm doing this because I believe the product itself is very good," he says. "But in doing so, I would like to think I can put a message out to the cosmetics industry and say, 'if I can do it, so can you'. Yes, the packaging has been thought through, but it shouldn't just be eco-brands doing that."

Does it work? We shall find out in June, when Nude rolls out, first with a concession in Whole Foods and then in Harvey Nichols. Meehan seems confident, having used his star friends and fellow investors Hewson, and the supermodel Helena Christensen as his testers-in-chief.

Skincare is a new direction for Meehan. Having spent six years with Guinness as a graduate trainee in sales and then marketing, he left for America, where he joined the Harvard Business School. It was in America that he saw the success of Whole Foods, and decided to set up his own organic food store in Britain. But a friend, Hass Hassan, had the same idea. They bid against each other for a store called Wild Oats in Notting Hill, before deciding to join forces. Fresh & Wild was born.

The Good Life, though, is a long way from the black stuff. What converted Meehan? "My wife, Tara, is Swiss," he says. "I was a guy who was brought up in Ireland eating meat and two veg and having pints of Guinness with the boys at University. I met Tara in 1994, and she was someone who was aware of the environment, aware of recycling, and aware of organic food - all of which I'd never been exposed to. Like any good woman, she changed my outlook on the world."

After the sale of Fresh & Wild, Meehan set up a venture-capital fund called Greenmont Capital, dedicated entirely to funding innovative, and money-spinning new green projects, with Hassan and three other investors. One beneficiary, OZOcar, is already going great guns, turning over $3.5m [£1.75m] last year.

"That's an interesting company," says Meehan. "It's run in New York City by Ru Rogers, Richard and Ruthie Rogers's son. Instead of a limousine, you get a Prius with an Apple and Wi-Fi in the back."

Meehan, it seems, is garnering a fortune making green products sexy. But does he feel any pressure to practise what he preaches? "I would never act a certain way out of pressure," says Meehan. "I would do it from will. I still live my life, I still go on holiday. I'd look better if I owned a Prius, but I don't. I've got a 10-year-old Saab instead. There's more energy used in getting rid of my Saab, which I only drive once a week, and I've always bought second-hand cars for that reason.

"In five years time, who knows? I might buy a second-hand Prius."

Nude will be in Whole Foods Market and Harvey Nichols in June.

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