As Essential Wholesale & Labs continues to strive to be better every day in all that we do, sustainability is a key focus. Not only through our carbon neutral program that we entered into with UPS but also through our ingredient supply chain. Being as close to the source as possible and if that is not an option, having preferred vendors that we trust and can rely on their source. This week we are happy to present Natural Plant Products, our neighbor & friends in Salem, Oregon and also the supplier of both our amazing Meadowfoam Seed oils & our Daikon Seed extract. We asked NPP to talk about sustainability because we know how much it matters to you too. If you have any questions or comments, please let us know.
Thank you, Laura Badcock – General Manager
Guest Blog by Aaron Reber: Sustainability in Raw Materials Sourcing
(Natural Plant Products, Inc. (NPP) is the manufacturing and marketing subsidiary of OMG, a farming cooperative comprised of over 50 farms in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, USA dedicated to sustainably growing oilseed crops for the personal care and cosmetics industries. We have grown crops like Meadowfoam for over 30 years and hold regular, comprehensive grower meetings to ensure that all members understand and support the cooperative’s mission. Additionally, our cooperative dedicates a staff agronomist to support, monitor, and maximize sustainable crop production.)
Sustainability can be a difficult topic to cover with unlimited time due to its uniquely complex nature. On a personal care product label, it is nearly impossible. For this reason it is important to us, as a farming company, to build long-lasting transparent partnerships with manufacturers and brands around the world. We aim to be a supplier that brands know, recommend, and leverage for our exceptionally sustainable farming and business practices.
Beginning in 2011, we have pushed to be leaders in the agricultural sustainability conversation in the personal care industry. Given our unique cooperative structure, we have unprecedented access to the farms and growers who grow our oilseed crops, Meadowfoam and Daikon Radish. We regularly speak at conferences around the world such as the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit and SCS Formulate on wide-ranging topics concerning sustainability in personal care and agriculture in the Willamette Valley.
We look at sustainability in the traditional sense of the three-pronged approach of environmental, social, and economic sustainability. Given our cooperative nature, the farmers have a vested interest in the environmental impacts of their farming practices from generation to generation. They work hard to minimize the environmental impacts of farming practices for example, by using no-till planting. Our structure as a cooperative is inherently socially responsible. NPP exists to bring value to our member farms through market penetration and research and development of new crops for their rotational farming.
Our cooperative system fundamentally changes our operations. The three primary areas that are impacted are:
- Our farmers are shareholders, which allows us to have deep conversations about short-term crop profits versus long-term equity gains. Given the multigenerational nature of the farms, our members know the importance of planning for decades and generations.
- The cooperative system changes how we view our role. NPP is not strictly about profit maximization. Rather, our role is market access. The cooperative members need profitable meadowfoam and radish crops to help make their farms thrive. We strive to link those farms with the personal care and cosmetic manufacturers.
- Our cooperative structure makes us nimble. In such a small organization, transparency can be readily achieved. Our field department inspects fields weekly and keeps close tabs on crop production practices. It also provides a rapid channel for making market-driven changes to our crop production practices. As ‘natural’ and ‘sustainable’ are becoming better defined, we have become uniquely positioned to address those matters within our supply chain.
When we look at the environmental impact of our vegetable oils we know that 80% of environmental costs are driven by farm activities. We used a model created by the likes of Cargill, BASF, Dow, Unilever, Wal-Mart, and the World Resources Institute to try to measure some key environmental impacts. We found that our no-till rotational system (System 2) of farming showed decreased soil erosion and energy usage as compared to other cropping systems used in our valley.
We understand our place in the supply chain, our duty to our customers and the planet, and our ability to make a difference. We’re excited to show the world our way of doing business. Why? Because Sustainability Matters.