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Palm oil is used in all of Dr. Bronner’s bar soaps. Like coconut oil, certified Fair Trade palm oil was not commercially available anywhere in the world when we started our initiative to source all our major materials from Fair Trade sources. Thus, we teamed up with the NGO Fearless Planet and U.S. company Jungle Products to develop a palm oil supply by working with small farmers and processors in the Eastern Region of Ghana, West Africa, about 60 miles north of the capital Accra. First, our agricultural extension officers screened and recruited roughly 100 small growers with 400 acres of oil palm production for organic conversion. Payment of an a organic price premium for the palm fruits, along with expertise in land improvement and organic fertilizer production, have created a strong motivation for farmers to join the project.
To improve product quality and working conditions, we have built a simple “organic-only” palm oil mill, modeled after the system used by many small local entrepreneurs, but also featuring advanced appropriate technology, such as that used for steaming and pressing of oil fruits. The mill is operated by a cooperative of women entrepreneurs. Our Fair Trade program ensures that everyone working in the supply chain — on the farm, in the oil mill and at the oil refinery — is fairly compensated.
As in Sri Lanka, Fair Trade premiums are paid by Dr. Bronner’s and other buyers into a fund that will support prioritized local development projects. In addition, a grant from the German Development Agency GTZ allows us to support growers and processors by helping them improve soil fertility, farm productivity, business skills, working conditions and market development for their oil and by-products. With global demand for palm oil surging and the realization that large palm oil plantations are not automatically “green,” our project will expand in size and demonstrate that small-scale production of such commodities can be fair, profitable and sustainable. |
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| Are Dr. Bronner’s Tropical Oils produced “sustainably”? |
Some of our customers are concerned that the palm and coconuts oils we use in our soaps may come from plantations that were established on recently cleared tropical forestland or otherwise contribute to environmental destruction. They don’t.
As with any other crop, it’s not what you grow but how you grow it. For one, all growers we purchase from are certified organic. This means that no agrochemicals are used (chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides) and soil fertility is replenished by natural means - compost, manure, mulching with crop residues. The production of our oils also does not contribute to deforestation. The palm oil comes from about 1,000 acres of smallholdings in Ghana that were established decades ago. Our coconut oil comes from some 400 small to mid size farms in Sri Lanka, most of which have been in the owners’ family for generations. We encourage the growers to intercrop with other beneficial species and supply organic fertilizer at a subsidy. This improves soil fertility, yields and profitability of small farms – and allows them to compete with plantations.
By having our entire supply chain certified organic and fair trade we also want to demonstrate that one can produce any crop - and the products made from them –sustainably. |
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