Living Magazine Fall 2016 | Page 6

Cō-Impact

Co- Sourcing

Sourcing ® ®

Rebuilding Bulgaria

Arborvitae & Nootka

British Columbia, Canada

At one time in Bulgaria, you would have driven through the Dobrich area and found an area bustling with industry. In fact, before the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Bulgaria was a key industrial area for the Soviets and also home to some of the world’ s most preeminent essential oil research, development, and production. But today, as you pass empty factory after empty factory in many areas of Bulgaria, you quickly realize that Bulgaria’ s past is not reflected in the present.

This is not for lack of expertise in the country or lack of ideal farming conditions for many aromatic plants. The sandy soil and climate all contribute to a land that is rich in potential. Seasoned experts are also skilled in the art of farming and distilling some of the world’ s highest quality essential oils. To this day, the country remains an agricultural haven for growing a variety of aromatic plants, among them lavender, melissa, chamomile, and yarrow. However, without the support of the state to back essential oil farming, many Bulgarian farmers have abandoned essential oils to grow crops like wheat and corn, which are the focus of government funding and vast European Union subsidies.

Knowing the history of essential oils in Bulgaria, dōTERRA chose the Black Sea Town of Varna with a production center in nearby Dobrich as the location for new world-class headquarters. This new dōTERRA-owned farming and distillation company called Esseterre is helping begin a new chapter for the country.

The Pacific Northwest is home to the largest temperate rainforest on the planet where more than 40 indigenous tree species grow, including the Giant Arborvitae and the Nootka coniferous trees. Both trees are an important part of the aboriginal First Nation history in British Columbia, Canada. In 2015, dōTERRA introduced Arborviate( Thuja plicata) as a single oil and the recently reformulated dōTERRA TerraShield ®

Outdoor Blend introduced earlier this year, both Arborvitae and Nootka essential oils are featured as key oil ingredients.

A Unique Facility

For years, brokers have mostly managed the distilleries that remain in Bulgaria, which means they determined how much and when the farmers would get paid. Many farmers are not paid what they should be, and some are not paid for months or even years until the brokers have sold the oil.

What makes the Esseterre distillery unique is an on-site, stateof-the-art laboratory, including a gas chromatography – mass spectrometry( GC / MS) machine and a lounge where farmers can watch and wait while their crops are being distilled.“ Having this technology on-site at the distillery allows us to not only confirm, while the farmer waits, that their plants produced the highest-quality oil, but also to pay farmers fairly and timely— in this case the same day or the next day,” explains Tim Valentiner, Director of Strategic Sourcing.“ We also are enabled to reward bonuses to farmers that are doing the best work and growing plants that result in the highest quality oil. No other distillery in Bulgaria has this capability or priority like we do.”

Other exciting developments have taken place at the distillery since completion just a few months ago. Not only was it ready for this year’ s lavender harvest in record time, but it has already had an impact on small-scale farmers. Before the distillery even had a chance to officially open, a melissa farmer came to Esseterre in a panic. He had taken his crop to be distilled at a different distillery nearby, but they had been unable to get a single drop of oil from it. Knowing that there was a new distillery with state-of-the-art equipment, he talked to the management team at Esseterre and begged them to do something. While they had not yet distilled any oil, the team fired

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