Community Trade Tea Tree

Our Tea Tree Oil comes from The Kenya Organic Oil Farmers’ Association (KOOFA), a co-operative of over 550 small-scale organic farmers around Mount Kenya National Park. Near the foothills of Mount Kenya, our farmers hand-pick and harvest tea tree leaves for our products. These leaves are slowly steam-distilled using a sustainable heat source fuelled by macadamia shells. This mild steaming opens the pores of the tea tree leaves releasing the essential oil. The gentler the heat, the better the quality of oil. Once our organic tea tree oil is cooled and condensed, it gives our skin clearing hero and the rest of the Tea Tree range its refreshing, purifying power. ENRICH OUR PLANET Our trade helps provide the smallholder farmers of KOOFA with a steady income, which means that they can develop sustainable farming systems and fund community projects in their local area. One project has focused on giving local people the tools to harvest rainwater, providing them with 1 million litres of clean water for their families, livestock and tea tree crop. This initiative will be touching 1500 people in the local community. ENRICH OUR PEOPLE By empowering the local community with initiatives like this, we are providing an alternative way to earn their livelihood, encouraging them not to engage in illegal rhino poaching. The Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Mount Kenya National Park has been identified as a keystone black rhino population in Africa. Furthermore, we are replanting 5,000 seedlings across 5 tree nurseries to restore the local river habitat, enriching the regions ecosystem and allowing wildlife to flourish.