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photo: Africa Studio/Shutterstock.com
photo: Africa Studio/Shutterstock.com

Especially with natural ingredients, quality but also sustainability in production plays a role if availability and price stability are to be maintained. Using the example of avocado oil, Sophia Steinmetz shows how a holistic, environmentally, and socially responsible concept for cosmetic ingredients can work.

Avocado oil is convincing both as a cosmetic raw material and for consumption, because of its high content of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D and E and because of the high proportion of the skin- and metabolism-active α-tocopherol1. The high content of the monounsaturated palmitoleic acid promotes good tolerance, even for mature, dry, or flaky skin. The natural content of plant emulsifiers such as phospholipids and sterols give avocado oil its spreadability and provide penetrability2. Avocado oil “guides” active ingredients of an oil mixture or emulsion into the skin. Therefore, this oil is used to increase the effectiveness of formulations3.

However, avocado oil is not only sought after as a cosmetic raw material. Along with a growing market for vegan and clean food, interest in avocados and avocado oil as a plant-based superfood has been increasing for recent years. However, rising demand for a limited natural product is causing prices to skyrocket, while the availability is being challenged. The global export value of avocado oil was USD 3.6 billion recently, and the trend has been rising again since 2015 after a slump in sales4. 

The availability of this super (skin) food at a stable price is not only limited by a twofold market interest. The consequences of anthropogenic climate change, such as droughts, flooding or significant parasite pressure, limit stable availability just as much as the problem of rural exodus. If smallholders families lack a sufficiently secure livelihood in agriculture, more and more families are forced to pursue more lucrative jobs in urban areas. 

How can this complex problem consisting of economic, social, and ecological challenges in the procurement of avocado oil be addressed? It is important to find economically sustainable solutions for the sourcing, which are designed to provide long-term security in terms of availability. 

More sustainability

Usually, avocado trees are grown conventionally in monocultures and regularly treated with pesticides. This reduces both local biodiversity and soil fertility. By contrast, through a supported humus build-up, as practised in organic farming, soil stability and, thus, the water absorption capacity of the soil can be increased. This makes the soil more resilient to droughts and heavy rainfall events – a synergistic effect that has a positive impact on crop resilience.

This is where projects like the German-Kenyan company ‘Limbua’ provide support. Smallholders associated here grow avocado trees in an intercropping system with, among others, macadamia trees and mango trees. They are trained by German partners regularly on site with application with biodynamic preparations and more. This work supports biodiversity and humus build-up. The resilience of the local ecosystem is, thus, sustainably enhanced. The entire value chain benefits from this approach: 

  • Kenyan smallholders address the problem of rural exodus in a preventive way
  • the marketing partner, for this part, has a guarantee of availability for ist own food and cosmetic customers.
  • fair and partnership-based business strategies ensure price stability and long-term planning despite climate change. 

Natural trend

This social-ecological commitment is in line with the trend. This not only alleviates sourcing struggles,  but sourcing challenges also turn into marketing potentials. The organic market and the market for certified fair-trade food and natural cosmetics are booming worldwide. Recently, both markets recorded new turnover heights: the global market for fairly traded products generated EUR 8.49 bn 2017, the global organic market USD 105 bn5

In addition to the three “classics” of fair trade, such as coffee, cocoas, and bananas, the global market for fair traded (natural) cosmetics is increasing. The market signal set by TransFair’s Fairtrade seal for cosmetics in 2014 speaks for itself and shows that there is a growing market for fair natural cosmetics, or cosmetics based on fair raw materials.

Consumers are willing to pay more money for this. According to a recent survey of 2,500 consumers by the consultancy firm Ernst & Young, 68% of respondents are willing to pay more for a product if it is demonstrably not harmful, but healthier, more sustainable, more socially responsible, and more durable6. This makes organic and fairly traded avocado oil the next must-have on the (natural) cosmetics market. 

References

1 Käser, H. Naturkosmetische Rohstoffe. Wirkung, Verarbeitung, kosmetischer Einsatz. Linz: Freya 2011, p. 40; Roth, L., Kormann, K. Atlas of Oil Plants and Vegetable Oils. Bergen: Agrimedia 2005, p. 114. 

2 Käser, S., Naturkosmetische Rohstoffe, p. 41. 

3 Ebd. 

4 data?code=151620&flow=e (accessed 28th September 2021). 

5 Sahota, A. Global Market Organic Imports. Willer, H. et al. (Hg.). The World of Organic Agriculture Statistics and Emerging Trends 2020. Hg. von Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), IFOAM–Organic International. Rheinbreitbach: Medienhaus Plump 2020; □ (accessed 28th September 2021). 

6 https://www.ey.com/de_de/news/2020/05/ey-nachhaltiger-konsum-2020 (accessed 29th September 2021).

Sophia Steinmetz,
Marketing & Sales, ­
Naturamus,
Aichelberg, Germany,
www.naturamus.de 

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