Saje Natural Wellness’s First US Retail Partnership With Ulta Beauty Fuels Push Toward $250M Goal

After more than three decades building distribution via its own website and stores, Saje Natural Wellness entered Ulta Beauty in August, marking its debut national retail partnership in the United States as it embarks on an ambitious plan to raise its profile in the country.

Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, Saje is Ulta’s first and only essential oil-based natural remedies brand. A lineup of its 48 bestsellers is available at 200-plus locations, including Peppermint Halo, Pain Release Joint & Arthritis Cream and Pocket Farmacy within the retailer’s assortment called The Wellness Shop. There are 50 additional stores in Saje’s pipeline. Ulta is becoming a key growth driver for the brand, which is on track to reach $250 million in North America sales for 2026.

Launched in 1992 by Kate and Jean-Pierre LeBlanc with an inaugural blend, Peppermint Halo, and a store in Vancouver, Saje specializes in plant-based remedies that it describes as backed by science and cruelty-free. Its formulas are 100% natural and avoid artificial fragrances and colorants, parabens and sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS). Saje initially traveled to the U.S. with a store in the Malibu Country Mart in 2016. De Laere says, “We’re the first line of defense when you don’t feel well or if you need that extra boost or pep in your step.”

De Laere shares the initial attraction to Ulta is the chain’s desire to make wellness an important category. Saje sees its partnership with Ulta as a vehicle for promoting accessible, effective wellness. “They want to be a curator for wellness, really define it and the categories within it,” says Barbara De Laere, the former global brand president at Aveda who became Saje’s CEO in 2022. “Ulta told us they were looking for brands that were excited about that mission.”

At the retail level, Saje will staff Ulta stores with wellness advisors to consult and guide shoppers to the right remedies for them. “In store, it’s all about that intimate conversation,” says De Laere. “We want to create a personalized routine for them that’s easy to integrate into day-to-day life without changing the way they do things.”

Saje expects to support 100 Ulta Beauty locations with in-store events, personalized consultations and staff training. “We are getting back to our roots,” says De Laere. “It’s part of what the brand was like back in the day. When it launched, our founder would go to stores and spend the evenings giving workshops and instructing classes, explaining the power of peppermint and fennel.”

The Ulta launch is part of Saje’s broader U.S. growth strategy. Its goal is to triple U.S. sales by 2027 and boost earned media investment tenfold. Saje is implementing a 15-fold shift in advertising and promotion allocation toward earned visibility and word-of-mouth impact. The company has already relaunched its site in the U.S. with refreshed branding, an updated homepage and greater educational content.

“What also drove us to Ulta is that a lot of younger people are starting to think of our brand,” says Barbara De Laere, CEO of Saje. “Gen Z and millennials seem to have a desire for more natural products.”

“Gen Z and millennials seem to have a desire for more natural products.”

To reach younger audiences, Saje aims to multiply content creator partnerships four to fivefold to boost visibility, brand awareness, and sales through new audiences. “We started to work with creators and influencers who authentically believe in the brand and live out the brand,” says De Laere. “In that way, people find us more easily and see us more often, driving traffic.”

Word-of-mouth marketing plays a central role in Saje’s approach. “[For word-of-mouth], we’re increasing our investment in campaigns that emotionally pull in our community members,” says De Laere. “So, it’s not just about years or product, but content that answers: What does it do for you? And why should you believe us?”

It could be a smart move to speak to younger consumers. According to McKinsey & Co., gen Z and millennial consumers are increasing their wellness-related spending over 30% year-over-year. The management consultancy finds that these generations practice wellness as part of their daily lives rather than as occasional activities and purchases, a shift that’s fueling the $2 trillion global wellness industry’s expansion beyond traditional categories.

To better its footing in the U.S., the brand is establishing a dedicated stateside team across business development, education, marketing, and community partnerships. Although Saje’s core DTC shopper is a woman aged 30 to 35, the brand is seeing rising interest from younger consumers.

At the product level, Saje is focused on three key areas: pain, sleep and stress. Sales in the categories are up over 30% in the past year. “People are not sleeping. People are stressed and people are in pain,” says De Laere. “We found that consumers place importance on finding a natural alternative, with remedies that have been around for centuries and centuries. We have their trust now.”

McKinsey data supports Saje’s focus areas. Younger generations report higher levels of burnout and poorer overall health than older adults, yet they’re more exposed to health content on social media and more likely to make wellness-related purchases as a result.

Saje currently operates 16 brick-and-mortar stores in California and around 70 total in the U.S. and Canada. “We already had a foot in the door,” says De Laere. “When thinking about expansion, we could either continue to ask people to come to us, or find a partner where consumers were already shopping and make sure we met the people where they are.”