Greentech: Aloin-free aloe vera from responsible supply chains

Aloe vera is a very strong plant and is basically indestructible. It can grow on the most infertile terrain. It grows up to a meter tall and has no stem, just thick rubbery grey-green leaves which fill up with a thick gel during the rainy season, which helps the plant to survive long periods of dryness. Greentech has partnered for many years with local farmers in Mexico, based in the state of San Luis Potosi.  

“Recently our headquarters has worked closely with the Fair For Life Certification Programme for Fair Trade and responsible supply chains and corporate social responsibility and has certified our aloe products, soon to be followed by a series of other fairly traded ingredients,” says Gerry Schlegel, Managing Director at Greentech GmbH. Mexico is very rich in biodiversity. Trading aloe with smallholder farmers living in Mexico provides a sustainable income for them and reduces the need for them to chop down trees or compromise otherwise on local resources on this quite infertile land.  Organic Aloe Vera Powder from Greentech is made from 100%, preservative free concentrated Aloe vera. Aloe vera leaves are made up mostly of water, so they have to be processed as soon as they are harvested before they dry up. The leaves are sent to the processing plant within a few hours of cutting, the inner gel filet is extracted by hand, and is then concentrated to a preservative free organic powder. This ensures that any irritating Aloin does not contaminate the ingredient, preserves the essential properties of the gel that make it a key skincare ingredient. This drying process has another ecological benefit, as it avoids shipping tons of water from Mexico, where the Aloe is harvested to our factory in France and further to our customers: As the gel is converted into a dry powder, no preservatives need to be added. 

The Nagoya Protocol is an international agreement which aims at sharing the benefits arising from the utilisation of genetic resources in a fair and equitable way. Rare plants are of special interest to the cosmetic industry. Brazil is one of the countries known for its richness in biodiversity. With the purchase of the Brazilian company MAPRIC, provider of active ingredients for the cosmetic industry in 2016 and the founding of a subsidiary in Brazil, Greentech gets exclusive access to the richness of brazilian plants.  

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