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Beauty Products Follow Organic Market

photo: courtesy malie organics

NATURAL IS NO LONGER ENOUGH. In November, Malie Organics, a maker of high-end spa products based on Kauai, began transitioning products from natural to organic.

Why go organic? Malie Organics owner Dana Roberts says more consumers today are choosing companies that are environmentally sensitive. “It’s about preserving our earth’s limited resources and taking ownership for decisions that I as a business owner make to contribute to saving the environment,” Roberts says.  

 Previously, all products were labeled as natural, but the company released its first organic line in the summer and converted three product lines to organic in November. Lindsey Noelani Fritz, director for creative marketing,  says all products will eventually go organic, with a new line in the spring and the remaining natural lines to be converted
to organic.

Beauty products do not have an organic certification or an organic regulation agency, but Malie Organics can market itself as an organic product because 70 percent of its ingredients are certified by the USDA’s National Organic Program.
 

The company tries to use local products, buying from 20 local artisans and vendors and even picking wild plants and flowers from around Hawaii in a process called wild crafting. Malie Organics even grows its own organic ingredients on land it leases from Kilohana Plantation in Lihue.

The company launched in 2004, and sales are over $1 million annually. As of November 2008, sales were up 10 percent from 2007. Malie Organics products can be found in 300 spas, hotels, resorts and boutiques around the world.

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