For Jacques Pérusse, the beauty industry has never simply been a business. It has been part of his family history for generations.
Long before clean beauty became a global trend and before specialty beauty retailers transformed the cosmetics industry, Pérusse’s step-grandfather helped bring Lancôme to Canada in 1947. Years later, Pérusse himself would build a decades-long career helping launch and grow prestige beauty brands across the Canadian market, working with names such as Christian Dior, Guerlain, Roc, Bioderma, and Decléor.
Today, alongside his daughter Valérie Pérusse, he is helping shape another chapter in that story through Montreal-based Sovanic Inc., the company behind the Canadian expansion of Italian skincare brand Teaology.
What began in 2019 as a small operation run from Pérusse’s dining room following his retirement has evolved into one of the more notable clean beauty growth stories in Canadian pharmacy retail. Teaology products are now sold nationally through retailers including Shoppers Drug Mart, Rexall, London Drugs, Jean Coutu and others, along with Brunet and Familiprix locations across Canada.
Canada has also become Teaology’s top global market, according to Pérusse, even as the brand expands internationally into more than 30 countries.
“The beauty industry runs in our veins,” said Pérusse during an interview with Retail Insider.
A Family Legacy in Beauty
Pérusse’s career has closely mirrored the evolution of Canada’s beauty retail landscape over the past half century.
His father operated a beauty distribution business during an era when department stores dominated prestige cosmetics and fragrance sales in Canada. Beauty counters at retailers such as Eaton’s, Simpson’s, Holt Renfrew, Ogilvy, Woodward’s, and Hudson’s Bay introduced international luxury brands to Canadian consumers long before Sephora or online beauty shopping existed.
Pérusse joined the family business in the mid-1970s and later helped grow a portfolio of brands that eventually attracted acquisitions or Canadian subsidiaries from multinational beauty companies.
“We would build brands and bring them to a certain level,” he said. “Eventually, they would fly on their own.”
That long history in prestige beauty retail eventually laid the groundwork for Teaology’s Canadian expansion years later.
After briefly retiring, Pérusse reconnected with Italian industry contacts Paolo Bevegni and Cecilia Garofano, founders of Teaology. The conversations eventually evolved into a partnership to help scale the brand internationally, with Canada becoming a priority market.
At roughly the same time, Valérie Pérusse was returning from maternity leave after the birth of her two sons and re-entering the family business. The timing unexpectedly created a new father-daughter partnership that blended decades of beauty industry experience with a younger generation’s understanding of modern skincare consumers.
“My father has decades of experience in the beauty industry,” said Valérie Pérusse. “I bring a more modern, consumer-focused perspective, especially around clean beauty trends, social engagement, and how younger consumers connect with brands today.”
Today, Valérie oversees much of the communication and storytelling strategy around Teaology in Canada, focusing heavily on authenticity, transparency, and direct consumer engagement.
“We focus heavily on authenticity and transparency with both beauty advisors and consumers,” she said.
Teaology’s Position in the Clean Beauty Market
Founded in Italy in 2015, Teaology built its identity around a patented formulation process that replaces water, typically the main ingredient in skincare products, with concentrated tea infusions rich in antioxidants and nutrients.
The formulations incorporate ingredients such as matcha, green tea, black tea, white tea, and blue tea.
“What makes Teaology unique is that the brand replaces water with tea infusion,” Valérie Pérusse explained.
The brand’s positioning has aligned closely with broader shifts in consumer purchasing behaviour, particularly growing interest in ingredient transparency, cleaner formulations, and sustainability-focused products.
Teaology carries certifications including B Corp, EWG Verified, vegan formulations, and Yuka certification, while also using packaging initiatives that incorporate sugarcane waste materials.
“Consumers are becoming far more informed about the ingredients in the products they use,” said Valérie Pérusse. “Those certifications help reassure consumers before they even ask questions.”
The company’s growth has also coincided with continued expansion of the prestige and clean beauty categories in Canada. According to Circana, Canada’s prestige beauty market continued growing through 2025, supported by resilient demand across skincare, fragrance, and hair care categories.
Building Through Pharmacy Retail
Teaology’s Canadian rollout began cautiously.
The company initially tested the market through TSC before gradually expanding into pharmacy retailers. Early traction at Quebec pharmacy banner Brunet helped create momentum for broader distribution with Jean Coutu, Familiprix, Rexall, London Drugs, and eventually major expansion with Shoppers Drug Mart.
“We had to start slowly because we were newcomers to the market,” Jacques Pérusse said.
The pharmacy channel ultimately became central to Teaology’s Canadian strategy. Pérusse said the company intentionally pursued a prestige-oriented positioning within pharmacy retail environments rather than mass-market distribution.
“We want to be accessible in price, but we don’t want to be perceived as mass,” he said.
That strategy also reflects how beauty retail has evolved in Canada over the past two decades.
As department store beauty floors have declined, pharmacy retailers have significantly expanded skincare and cosmetics assortments, increasingly competing with specialty beauty chains and digital platforms for prestige-oriented beauty consumers.
Pérusse believes Canadian pharmacy retailers still have opportunities to evolve further, particularly around experiential beauty retail and curated merchandising.
He pointed to Familiprix as one example, noting that the retailer created dedicated “ethical beauty” sections focused specifically on cleaner formulations and certified products.
The Changing Face of Beauty Retail
Pérusse has witnessed enormous changes across the beauty industry during his career, from the dominance of department stores to the rise of specialty beauty chains, Amazon, and digital commerce.
One of the most significant transformations, he said, was the early rise of Sephora in North America.
Pérusse recalled that many major beauty conglomerates initially refused to supply Sephora when the retailer first expanded into the United States. As a result, Sephora relied heavily on smaller emerging brands to fill shelves during its early years.
“They became market leaders by turning beauty retail into a discovery experience,” he said.
He also believes the Canadian market still lacks enough beauty retail space following the decline of major department store operators.
“Consumers deserve more choice, and brands need more opportunities to connect with shoppers,” he said.
At the same time, he sees digital commerce becoming increasingly critical to the future of the beauty industry.
Teaology is now investing heavily into e-commerce infrastructure, digital growth, and Amazon expansion as consumer shopping behaviour continues evolving globally. The company recently hired new leadership focused specifically on accelerating digital business internationally.
Looking ahead, Teaology plans to continue strengthening its Canadian and Italian operations while preparing for future expansion into the United States.
For Pérusse, adapting to retail evolution has been one of the defining lessons of his career.
“You can never stop evolution,” he said. “You can only adapt to it.”
