China’s market shows potential
Posted - April 1, 2009
China’s pretty face
By Adriana Michael - As printed in O.W.N. Winter 2009
When people think of China from a business perspective, probably the last thing to come to mind would be high-end, certified organic cosmetics, but Jasmin Skincare has broken the perception barrier. Run by Gordon Chalmers and Lihua Song, an Australian husband and wife team, the company has launched itself into the Chinese market with great success.
Jasmin Skincare opened its first retail counter in a high-end shopping centre in Guangzhou in October 2008, with plans for seven more points of sale next year.
“Significant sales have kicked off this year with our products now becoming available around China and at counters in the major department stores,” Chalmers said.
With the beauty and lifestyle industry booming in Asia, Jasmin Skincare is ready to tackle it head on, but theirs is not an overnight success. It took the company three years to go through China’s stringent product testing.
After setting up in an old bio-dynamic fruit orchard and jam factory at the top of Mount Tambourine, in the beautiful Gold Coast hinterland of Australia, Jasmin Skincare has focussed since 2005, on foreign rather than domestic markets.
“China does offer amazing market potential,” said Valerie Bell of Bell Alliances, a Canadian based consulting firm that assists Asian and North American companies in the natural and organic food and health care sectors, “but interested parties need to be aware that there is need of strong commitment, perseverance and a readiness to make serious investment”—something Chalmers and Song were definitely willing and able to do.
Bell also explained that the best type of person to navigate business challenges particular to China would be someone with a dual upbringing, perhaps Chinese-American or Chinese Canadian, who was also perfectly fluent in the language and customs of that country. Given that Australian citizen Lihua Song was born in China and is fully bicultural, tapping into the Chinese market seemed the logical choice for Jasmin Skincare.
Though there are no official systems in place to secure a national distributor and gaining national media coverage is notoriously difficult for foreign companies, Song’s bicultural advantage opened many doors. Amazingly, most local and national TV stations in China and Hong Kong have offered Jasmin Skincare major coverage. There was also a program about her life story on national TV during the Chinese New Year celebrations.
“This is obviously a huge thing for a small company,” said Lisa Tristam, spa and aromatherapy business development manager at Jasmin, “and we hope it’s the start of something big.”
Queensland Trade Minister John Mickel said Jasmin Skincare was making the most of the booming luxury markets in China, and have to be commended on being the first certified organic skincare range to pass the strict Chinese Government import certification.
“The Chinese are traditionally tough negotiators ,” said Bell. “They want imported goods, but as much as they are willing to pay for organics, they also want low prices.”
Responding to customers’ needs, Jasmin is committed to helping people by having nutritionists and skincare professionals available to educate people about the importance of organics. In fact, education is how the idea for Jasmin Skincare germinated. Several years ago, Song’s father was diagnosed with cancer, and she started looking into natural medicines. What she found inspired her to delve deeper into natural healing alternatives and natural skincare products. A mere seven years later, Jasmin Skincare is poised to go national across China, a country whose sense of organics is not highly spread yet.
“In Hong Kong the organic sector is much more developed than in mainland China,” said Valerie Bell. “Therefore it is a much easier gateway to enter the giant tiger. Hong Kong has a bilingual workforce, lots of people who have travelled the world, a better mix of west and east. There are also large distribution chains based there to serve not only China, but also other Asian markets.”
These challenges notwithstanding, Jasmin Skincare’s strategy for China is to open more upscaled skincare outlets, holistic lifestyle and well-being stores, and Jasmin spas.
Riding high on the crest of their success in China after only four months, Gordon Chalmers said, “If we got a 12 million dollar order on our first sale, don’t tell me there is no market in China for high-end organic products.”
Surya Brasil Introduces First Brazilian Organic Body Care Line for Men
Posted - December 8, 2008
Male Cosmetics with Essential Oils, Healthy Proteins and Mild Cleansing Agents
Surya Brasil, premier supplier of organic and natural cosmetics from Brazil, recently launched Sapien, an exciting new organic body care line for men, featuring the products at BioFach America Latina and Expo East.
Formulated for male skin and hair, the line features pure essential oils, gluten-free amaranth proteins and mild cleansing agents gentle enough for a man’s sensitive side yet effective enough to do the job. Each of the six formulations is certified organic through EcoCert and is cruelty-free.
“Concerns about persistent bioaccumulation of toxins in our environment have heightened our awareness about the chemicals we use in our personal care products,” says Clelia Angelon, President and Founder of the Surya Brasil brand. “Because of this, we have not included synthetic fragrance, artificial color, GMOs, artificial preservatives, sulfates, phthalates, silicone or petroleum by-products.”
Distinctively different, Sapien is a luxurious way for men to groom naturally. Using ethically-harvested plants and fruits from the Amazon, these body care products provide the elements necessary for healthy, radiant hair and a beautiful complexion. A subtle, woody aroma comes from a blend of essential oils such as cedarwood, lemon, bergamot and clove.
For more on the 2-in-1 shampoo, shower gel, facial scrub, shaving cream, after shave and hair styling gel with ingredients such as acai and acerola, visit Surya Brasil’s website.
Surya is a member of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and PETA. Surya Brasil products are available at health food stores, pharmacies, beauty supply outlets and other fine stores throughout the world.
Bring on the Lipstick!
Posted - November 6, 2008
Economic crises prompt up-turn in small, feel-good luxuries
Smart cosmetics firms stand to benefit from the world’s current economic troubles. While female shoppers may be pinching the pursestrings on big-ticket items, many in the industry agree that more money is spent on small luxuries like lipstick during recessions.
Feeling down? Spend a bit to brighten your lips and look your best.
Mr. Leonard Lauder of cosmetics giant Estee Lauder told Magazin, the magazine offshoot of German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, that the “Lipstick Index” rose after the now-infamous date of Sept. 11, 2001. The article in the October issue of Magazin says Lauder’s US lipstick sales doubled that year!
With more conscientious consumers seeking organic options, lipsticks that are healthy for the lips, the land, and the looks are a choice more ladies looking for a little luxury may make. Organic Monitor estimated in May that organic and worldwide natural cosmetics sales would reach $7 billion by the end of 2008 – fully $1 billion more than last year’s total. Forward-thinking Germany, meanwhile, saw that category reach 5% of the total German cosmetic market in 2007, a portion valued at 613 million EUR.
Amongst the many events confirming the continued success of this industry, Vivaness stands out as one that brings the whole world of natural cosmetics together. The annual event has been held since 2006 and is co-located with BioFach Nuremberg.
With Europe’s leading certification agencies for cosmetics developing a harmonised standard for natural cosmetics, to be available later in 2008, it could be time for consumers to step up to the plate and try more of the organic beauty products that are now available to them when they really want that little treat.
Sources:
http://sz-magazin.sueddeutsche.de/texte/anzeigen/26877
http://www.biofach.de/de/press/ars12/ars25/?arspageid=25.pm.4682
Australian Organic Skincare
Posted - November 1, 2008
Jasmin Skincare: Facing the challenge of organic beauty
By Adriana Michael - as printed in O.W.N. Fall 2008
Imagine a laboratory at the top of a mountain, surrounded by virgin forests, and supplied directly with medicinal herbs, extracts, and essential oils from its own organic biodynamic farm. Such a mountain is called Mt. Tamborine in the beautiful Gold Coast hinterland of Australia, where Jasmin Skincare has developed its 100% organic certified line of skincare and cosmetics.
Founded in 2002 by Lihua Song and Gordon Chalmers, the driving force behind Jasmin Skincare has been the desire to offer people a natural and alternative range in an industry dominated by multi-nationals peddling synthetics. The company’s entire operation is vertically integrated, ensuring complete control of production, from farming of the active ingredients all the way to the end product delivered to the consumer.
Conventional wisdom in the beauty industry claims that the inclusion of a few ingredients are as far as organic cosmetics can go. They point to the sometimes poor performance of natural shampoos and deodorants as an indicator that truly natural beauty products will never sell as well as their synthetic counterparts. Fortunately, dynamic firms like Jasmin Skincare are proving those naysayers wrong.
It took this company three long years of research and development, and an investment of around eight million US dollars but, in the end, Jasmin Skincare launched its own organic line. A claim not easy to make, as water is the main ingredient in most cosmetics and water can not be certified as organic.
With Jasmine Skincare, Song and Chalmers replaced the traditional water phase with ingredients such as shea butter, aloe vera gel and beneficial plant extract.” If we use water in any product it is in the form of certified organic rosewater and limited below 10% of the total formulation”, says Chalmers. The only exception to this are the five floral hydrosol mist sprays (rose, jasmin, neroli, chamomile and lavender). The lipsticks are only produced under the category of “cosmetics”, which as such contain no water.
With the boom of the green movement, it’s all too common to see cosmetics touted as all-natural when they’re anything but natural. Some brands may even have some organic certified ingredients. However, a careful look at the labels may reveal that the formula hides the usual cocktail of toxic chemicals.
Preservatives, in particular, are often not natural, may be petroleum derived, such as parabens, known to be harmful.
Finding organic solutions that would offer the same performance as traditional cosmetics has not been easy, but Song and Chalmers are dedicated enough to their ideals to practice what they preach. The company has paid great attention to emulsification issues, preservation and efficacy of the final product. One of their best finds has been a natural citrus based preservative by UK firm Citrox Ltd. “Using proprietary ingredients such as (those from) Citrox with a range of essential oils and extracts that have known anti-microbial functions allows us to increase shelf life to near comparable levels with our ‘chemical swill’ brethren.”, says Chalmers. Testing these mixes with various blends of our own, we are getting results that far outperform even the traditional parabens”.
Many cosmetics and skincare preparations have a pH problem, not with the formulation Jasmin got from Citrox. “A secondary benefit from using the Citrox natural formula is that it pulls the pH level down to levels that match normal skin, thus making the products easier to work with”, adds Chalmers. The results have been far better than Song and Chalmers expected. “We are launching our new Migaloo mid-priced certified organic range, with Citrox as the base preservative.”
Jasmin has proved it is possible to develop 100% natural cosmetics with organic certified ingredients that perform well. The line of over 100 products is selling at selected spas and salons in Australia , China, Hong Kong and other Asian countries. Jasmin follows the Soil Association standards and has Australian OFC certification. According to Chalmers Jasmin is among the first, certified organic companies to ever pass the strict Chinese Ministry of Hygiene and CIQ import certification.
Over the past three years Song and Chalmers have developed a “show and tell” farm and manufacturing facility. Last year they hosted over 7,000 visitors. “We have given everyone a ‘first hand’ experience of both fresh organic produce and understanding how it is possible to manufacture skincare and cosmetics in an environmentally friendly way”, says Chalmers.
But the project does not end there. This year the firm undertook USDA certification and, once finalised, it plans to certify for the new EU organic standards.
The next stage is to move totally to wind and solar power generation, pay attention to a new concept of Jasmin’s themed stores and to focus on Europe, North America and the Middle East. A busy agenda ahead for an energetic duo and a lab sitting on top of a dream mountain.
Organic Cosmetics Standards
Posted - July 15, 2008
Varied Requirements, Little Regulation Bring US Lawsuit
Organic-branded cosmetics and personal care products are coming under legal question in the US. A lawsuit was recently launched by soap and cosmetics firm Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps.
The firm filed a claim that says the many organic labels and messages on personal care products that do not meet the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program (NOP) standard are overly confusing to consumers.
Dr. Bronner’s makes various products that meet those strict standards. Its own packaging shows the green USDA organic seal.
Mislabelling through generic, non-NOP “organic” claims is “creating all kinds of organic noise,” said company President David Bronner. What “organic” means is unclear to consumers, he said: “In the personal care aisle, chances are it does not correspond at all to your basic expectation of what an organic label should be.”
Bronner’s filed the suit in California under a state law that considers what a “reasonable consumer” would expect a product claim to mean.
Petrochemical ingredients can slip into personal care because companies claim products are “organic” without certification. Little regulation exists. These firms place the word “organic” as large as they like on packaging. Certified firms must follow their standard’s packaging guidelines.
For now, the NOP is a reference point for companies wanting to do organic cosmetics “right”. Bronner’s and US natal-care products firm Earth Mama Angel Baby are two companies currently producing personal care products to that standard.
“There’s a huge controversy about the standards by which organic personal care products should be certified,” said Earth Mama founder Melinda Olson.
The NOP standard is meant for food, and thus bars some common personal care ingredients and processes that most manufacturers agree are safe.
“Asking personal care products to be certified to the NOP standard is like putting them against the wrong yardstick,” said Olson. Still, she said, Earth Mama will be following the NOP standard until a better one is developed.
Such development has been going on for years under NSF International. Bronner and Olson have both participated in the NSF process. Many insiders expect it to lead to a NOP personal care standard.
“It’s more or less done. The standard should be out the door later in the year,” Bronner said.
However, the OASIS standard recently announced by several firms (see story in OWN Summer 2008 print edition) raised alarm bells for Bronner. “OASIS is basically a breakaway from the NSF effort,” he said. Fearing this could create “organic” standards that allow ingredients and processes that Bronner feels should be barred, his firm eventually sued companies it felt were relevant.
Even firms named in the Bronner lawsuit are launching NOP products, suggesting demand for this category is growing. US Nature’s Gate launched a NOP Rainwater Lotions line late this Spring, with the 95% organic ingredient levels NOP requires.
“The line was developed for our customers who are increasingly seeking personal care products that mirror their commitment to organic agriculture and sustainable living,” said the firm’s Laura Setzfand.
The company “strongly supports the need for standards governing the use of the terms organic and natural,” she added. “We are currently evaluating the proposed standards.”
Brazilian Cosmetics
Posted - May 1, 2008
Beyond Raw Ingredients
By Adriana Michael - as printed in O.W.N. Summer 2008
The bounty of Brazil’s rainforests provides many healing ingredients for everything from functional foods to jewellery. In the past, indigenous peoples have been often left out of related success stories. Raw ingredients are shipped off with no added value for the local economy.
Now the growing market for eco-friendly goods stimulates sustainable ways to preserve the forests and knowledge native experts have used for generations.
Brazilian cosmetics firms Florestas Organic Botanical, Surya Nature Inc., Reserva Folio and newcomer Maté Therapy chose to break the mould by processing in Brazil. Florestas capitalizes on local Brazilian expertise, says founder and managing director Fernando Lima. Working with Brazilian labs to test its naturally rich plant ingredients, the company offers fair prices to local producers and processes in Brazil.
“Florestas realizes advantages over large, foreign firms through its low-cost structure, production flexibility and access to exotic and effective organic certified products,” says Lima. “By eliminating the middleman with direct purchasing, Florestas cuts cost and pays higher prices to local families.” Besides Brazil, its Ikove-brand line is now in major US retailer Whole Foods, as well as in Japan.
Capitalizing on the richness and beauty secrets of India and Brazil is Surya Nature. Founder Clelia C. Angelon, an animal-rights and environmental activist, sources from both countries to produce her beauty products, exported to 20 countries, fifty percent of total sales.
Amazonia Preciosa, Surya’s certified organic personal care line, features the scent of the preciosa tree which grows only in the Amazonas. “This kind of smell, you can’t copy in the lab,” Angelon says.
“In Amazonas, people know the plants, but they don’t know how to classify them scientifically,” she adds. Surya funds a school to help locals formalise their knowledge of useful plants and a cooperative that creates jobs for the graduates.
A delicate collection of handmade jewellery made from Amazonas golden grass will soon be added to Surya’s offerings, a move to preserve more of the region’s forests. This grass grows only in the southern Amazonas. Nowadays, many locals burn these forested fields to raise cattle. “We are showing them that they can make more money by preserving and working with the golden grass than by raising cattle and destroying the environment,” Angelon says.
Founded in 2003, Reserva Folio also makes optimum use of Brazil’s environmentally-sound resources. Founder and managing director Simone Valladares embarked on the challenging mission to develop her Apicultural, Aromatherapy and Amazonic organic and natural personal care lines. “It is very difficult to develop new formulations and ensure the peformance consumers are used to from conventional brands”, says Valladares. Reserva Folio offers soaps with a strong natural fragance, making one think of sweeet rainforest airs. Brazilian crops featured include andiroba oil, cupuacu butter and Brazil nut.
The youngest Brazilian natural cosmetics firm made its debut at Expo West this Spring: Maté Therapy has an attractive line of toiletries in deep blue containers. Yerba maté is the key ingredient in the young firm’s products, so far body lotion, antiseptic soap and room spray.
The firm sources and processes in Brazil and has already found interested US distribution partners. “Working with local maté producers and then a local factory is not too difficult”, says company President Denise Vieira de Souza. Yet few firms opt to process locally due to the additional investment needed, she adds. In organics, strict manufacturing regulations must be followed - an effort that can cost a lot of money. “Most firms prefer only to export the ingredients,” she says.
Still, if native crops are harvested sustainably and in partnership with local growers, any way to share the Amazonas bounty deserves support. Brazilian Forest Natural Products sells high quality Brazilian produce and herbs in freeze-dried, extracted and tinctured forms, mainly to Asia, with Europe and the US as near-future markets.
“Brazil has a lot to offer”, says the firm’s international operations manager Reindert Dekker. “The quality and, in particular, the variety of natural products present in Brazil is amazing”.
According to Dekker, “the most exciting part is working with products that are completely unknown now, but, that in two years time may be on every breakfast table or in a new top perfume,” he adds. That’s a familiar feeling for the many firms now working for sustainability with Brazil’s natural bounty.
OASIS
Posted - May 1, 2008
OASIS: New US Cosmetics Standard
By Adrian Larose - as printed in O.W.N. Summer 2008
A new industry-based organic cosmetics standard is attracting attention, and criticism, with respect to the question of how to define what qualifies as an “organic” personal care product.
The clear, legislated organic standards that exist for food are rarely used to certify personal care products (including cosmetics). According to some in the organic industry, the food standards are inappropriate for such use.
The draft OASIS (Organic and Sustainable Industry Standards) private cosmetics standard for US personal care products is already backed by about 35 firms, including large conventional companies such as L’Oreal and many small American organics firms. The draft standard is available for comment on-line at www.oasisseal.org until June.
A phase-in period beginning with an 85% organic requirement - counting water, a major ingredient in most cosmetics - to end at 95% just 4 years later is part of the draft, with restrictions on allowed ingredients in the remaining 5%. That has some groups insisting OASIS present itself as a “made-with organic” standard, not simply “organic”.
“We want a tougher list of allowed ingredients,” says Ronnie Cummins, co-founder and national director with the grassroots US Organic Consumers Association. “Certain preservatives and hydrogenated and sulphonated cleansers the draft allows are of concern “, he says.
But some chemicals are obviously necessary in cosmetics, counters OASIS. “You have to use chemistry,” says group chairperson Gay Timmons, with American ingredients firm Oh, Oh Organic. “We felt that the only way you could really do that was to identify those chemical processes and those chemicals that are environmentally responsible.” The OASIS standard follows US Environmental Protection Agency guidelines on green chemical processes, notes Timmons.
The phase-in addresses hard-to-find organic ingredients such as surfactants. The group hopes OASIS participant purchases will support and increase organic production of these, allowing products to reach higher organic percentages over time.
The Organic Consumers Association insists the US National Organic Program food standards can be applied to personal care products. About a dozen companies currently have NOP certified organic personal care products, Cummins noted . Timmons advises that the number includes a few OASIS members , but the particularities of the NOP regulations do not work for all personal care categories.
A cease and desist letter has been sent to OASIS by the consumers association, asking the group not to make organic claims until its plans satisfy certain criteria. According to Timmons, such demands only undermine the standards-creation consensus process - she noted that the NOP food standard only developed after many diverse private standards were created.
“To suggest, or to demand as has occurred in this cease and desist letter, that this is something we shouldn’t do, I think it undermines the very process that has given us a fantastic law in the case of the NOP,” she says. “The federal government’s not going to regulate something so controversial that people are constantly screaming at each other.”
OASIS members are also participating in an on-going national process aimed at creating a USDA-regulated standard Timmons says, and in the meantime, OASIS makes sense. “How are you going to get 360 million people to agree? It takes a while.”
Shea
Posted - May 1, 2008
Shea Butter Organic Gem for Africa
By Henria Stephens - as printed in O.W.N. Summer 2008
Shea butter is booming. Better known as the tree of life or Karite, it is a unique tree that is changing the lives of smallholder farmers across Africa. What was once solely a product for local consumption now has a growing niche in the international organic cosmetic and sweets market, and helps to rehabilitate war-torn communities and empower rural women.
Scientifically classified as Vitellaria paradoxa, the shea tree is slow growing and fire resistant. It is found in over 16 countries across the dry savannah woodland belt of Africa. An estimated 5 million rural households across Africa depend on the nutritional and economic resources of the Shea butter tree.
What makes shea butter an organic gem is the tree itself.
Situated in woodlands and forest, the shea tree is often far removed from the fertilizers and pesticides that can compromise organic integrity. One of the greatest challenges facing producers is not the cultivation, but the processing, where producers are forced to refine Shea naturally - without solvents or synthetic chemicals. Several certifiers, including Ceres, IMO Switzerland and EcoCert, have standards for the certification of shea butter and shea nuts.
Shea trees only begin to produce fruit after 20 years, and only at 45 years does shea reach full production. This continues for more than 200 years after maturation.
The butter is derived from the shea nut, which is dried, stored and processed. The nut extract is used as food oil and in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and confectionaries. It can be used as a cocoa butter substitute.
KFP Uganda Managing Director Klaus Fehling , who works with East African shea trees mainly in Uganda and Sudan, explains the difference between East and West African shea butter : “Their (West African) butter is different in composition apparently because of a genetic watershed between East and West. East African shea butter has a higher oleic content and is softer,” he says. “It is suitable for cosmetics. Organic certification has helped (me) to introduce the product into the market. It will help to protect the Shea tree as a resource for the organic cosmetics industry.”
Processing the nut requires pulp removal after fermentation or boiling, oven- or sun-drying, and shelling. The nuts are then crushed, toasted, and finely ground. The mixture obtained is churned and strained until a white, buttery paste forms. Most of the work is done by women.
Female shea butter producers can now control their own income and better support their families. According to Mr. Fehling, “the shea trade is a unique opportunity to add substantial household income for the people of one of the poorest regions in Uganda. Women earning revenue from the sale of shea nuts afford to pay medical bills and school fees for their children.”
“The project provides additional services, including sensitization on tree conservation, provision of shea and fruit tree seedlings, best practices in organic farming and health awareness,” he adds.
In parts of war-ravaged Northern Uganda, the shea tree has been a rare resource for farmers returning to villages after displacement during continuing civil strife between the Lord’s Resistance Army and the Ugandan government. Over 5,000 households now benefit from new producer cooperatives headed by rural women.
The popularity of shea butter is due in part to its high vitamin A and E content, amongst its other healing properties.
Some organic shea producers include; the Union des groupements de productrices de produits de karité de la Sissili et du Ziro (UGPPK/S-Z) of Burkina Faso; the Northern Uganda Shea Processors Association (NUSPA); Chambre d’Agriculture du Bénin; Projet de Promotion des Micro-Entreprises Rurales (PROMER) in Senegal; and Ideal Providence Farms of Ghana. Other producer countries include Bénin, Nigeria, Sudan, Mali, and Niger to name a few.
More than just a skin lotion, organic shea butter is used in body salves, soaps, hair care products, and sunscreen, as well as an anti wrinkling agent. Especially important to producers, demand is increasing. As organic shea butter’s popularity grows, so too will the livelihoods of those who produce it.
Yerba Mate
Posted - May 1, 2007
Yerba Mate Booming as Healthy Alternative
By Tatjana Schulz - as printed in O.W.N. Summer 2007
The latest trendsetting drink isn’t Latte Macchiato, not chai - not even Paris Hilton’s prosecco so handily presented in a can. No, it’s none of those: according to People magazine, the new ‘in’ drink is Yerba Mate (Ilex paraguariensis).
What is this concoction? Unlike many think, it is not derived from the ordinary tea plant. Instead, it comes from a perennial South American shrub that can grow up to fifteen meters in height. The leaves and stems were long brewed by the Guarani, an indigenous group in Uruguay and Paraguay.
Like coffee, the ever-popular hot beverage, mate stimulates alertness. However, unlike coffee it does not disrupt sleeping or digestion. Even though it contains caffeine, it also contains more minerals than black and green tea. The list includes calcium, iron, magnesium and potassium, vitamins A, C, E and B-complex - not to mention plenty of anti-oxidants.
As an emerging food, yerba mate is far less studied than green tea. Still, a flurry of research has been published recently. In test tubes, yerba slowed the growth of some cancer cells. Several small studies found it aided weight loss. Preliminary work suggests the South American brew may also fight atherosclerosis, and last year, Brazilian scientists found the tea slowed rabbits’ growth of arterial plaques.
At the moment, the world’s main yerba consumers are the Argentineans. 80% drink the herb at least once a week. The Middle East is the major market, in countries such as Syria and Libya.
“With consumers looking for healthy alternatives to coffee and soft drinks, more people travelling and learning about customs and traditions in different countries and easier access to exotic and sometimes forgotten or marginal products, yerba mate has found a great moment to become more than just a trendy drink”, says Ricardo Avalos of Canopy Foods, one of the first firms to introduce yerba to the United States,under the name Aviva Ltd.
The company introduced a successful program for coffee and tea retailers - shops that sell prepared drinks as well as stores that retail drink mixes - to introduce yerba alongside coffee and tea.
Mate has other uses beyond drinks hot and cold, though, says Susana Manzur, with Paraguayan mate producer and exporter Rio Itambey S.A.. Medicine and personal hygiene products are some examples. Chocolates and gum could also benefit. A perfume called Misiones has been launched recently in Argentina. The plant has great properties for natural cosmetics. An Iguazu spa applies yerba as part of an antioxidant skin mask.
“Creative entrepreneurs aware of changes of consumer tastes and expectations have developed yerba mate drinks that go beyond the traditional hot infusions to offer a growing line of healthier alternatives to conventional soft drinks”, says Avalos. Companies like Guayaki in the United States and Sol Mate in Canada have developed unique, ready-to drink mate that have done well in the direct-to-consumer market.
An important aspect is yerba’s connection to environmental issues. The way yerba is grown and harvested greatly affects the final product’s taste - and not only that. A recent study suggests shade-grown yerba contains more nutrients than plants cultivated under the spicy hot sun. This is great news for organic yerba mate grown as part of diversity conservation projects in the South American forests.
The increasing demand for healthier drinks is a great opportunity to innovate and explore alternative markets while introducing added value products, says Avalos. His partner Dan Garcia has introduced over 20 yerba flavours and presentations. Avalos, who launched a brand of traditional yerba from Paraguay, will re-launch his and Garcia’s brands under Canopy Foods. “We aim to join efforts and to work with yerba mate producers in Paraguay to enter the foreign and domestic market with better merchandising concepts and promotion like some importers and distributors have done in the United States”, he says.
But it is not an easy task, says Paraguay’s Manzur. “Over 80% of the yerba mate sold to the United States comes from Paraguay”, she says. Most producers do not care about added value when the main market is already growing.
Certainly, organic certification offers mate growers some incentive. “But in today’s market structure, the producer just makes 10% of the profit, while the exporter and importer share 15% each, the distributor and broker 25% and the retailer adds another 35%”, says Avalos. “To talk about sustainable development, the producer would need to be more directly involved”.
Still, some growers are organic certified and they get a premium. One is Brazilian Cha Mate Triunfo Ltda. It has collected yerba in eco-friendly ways for almost half a century. The company, certified by Ecocert, is located in the Iguazu Valley where conditions are great for wild shade-grown yerba. The company exports to the United States one of the finest yerba mate in the market.
From its South American origins, yerba is growing into a familiar international drink. Its diverse applications in everything from food colourings to cosmetics will only become more obvious as more and more consumers adopt yerba as a healthy - and very tasty - alternative to their morning cup of coffee.
Celebrity Beauty
Posted - September 1, 2006
How Celebrities Discover the Beauty of Nature
By Adriana Michael - as printed in O.W.N. Fall 2006
In an age where getting Botox injections is almost as common as taking the family dog for a walk, there remains an assured population of prestigious actresses who won’t use any synthetic products to make themselves “beautiful.”
Silver screen goddesses, such as Susan Sarandon, Alicia Silverstone and Reneé Zellweger, demand natural-based products.
When these women prepare for movie roles or red-carpet paparazzi gauntlets, they turn to Germany’s Black Forest. Based there is a company that has found a steady niche delivering goods to some of Hollywood’s most beautiful and popular actresses including Lauren Bacall and Nicole Kidman.
The company, called Annemarie Börlind, is a manufacturer of high quality beauty and body care products with active nature-based ingredients. The company does not test its products on animals.
Zellweger has written to thank founder Annemarie Lindner for the company’s products. The Texan actress is fervently devoted to using products with natural ingredients.
The company says that Alicia Silverstone uses Annemarie Börlind Rose Dew, a product that stimulates and strengthens skin. An animal-rights activist and a vegetarian, the Californian actress is known to be careful to avoid cosmetic products that contain animal extracts.
“The woman who tamed Humphrey Bogart does not show her over 80 years”, the company says. And seeing her still active at Natexpo, BioFach and other fairs it is definitely true “she still glows with an inner beauty”.
