-Impact
®
Co
Sourcing
Co Impact Sourcing
®
Rebuilding
ArborvitaeBulgaria
& Nootka
up the boilers for an initial test run and were able to obtain a
good quantity of oil from his crop. Emily Wright says, “The oil
they got was just beautiful. The farmer started crying from both
excitement and relief. This story just shows the sophistication
of our equipment, and also of our team there.”
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
The Pacific
is home
the largest
temperate
rainforest
planethaven
where
more
distilling
some of Northwest
the world’s highest
qualityto
essential
oils. To this
day, the country
remainson
an the
agricultural
for growing
a variety
plants, among
lavender,
melissa,
chamomile,
yarrow.Arborvitae
However, without
support
of the
than of40aromatic
indigenous
tree them
species
grow,
including
theandGiant
andthethe
Nootka
state to back essential oil farming, many Bulgarian farmers have abandoned essential oils to grow crops like wheat and
coniferous
trees.
trees are
anand
important
partUnion
of the
aboriginal First Nation history in
corn,
which are the
focus Both
of government
funding
vast European
subsidies.
(Thuja
plicata)center
as ina
BritishtheColumbia,
Canada.
2015,do-TERRA
do-TERRA
Arborviate
Knowing
history of essential
oils in In
Bulgaria,
chose introduced
the Black Sea Town
of Varna with
a production
®
nearby Dobrich as the location for new world-class headquarters.
This new doTERRA-owned farming and distillation
single oil and the recently reformulated doTERRA TerraShield Outdoor Blend introduced
earlier this year, both Arborvitae and Nootka essential oils are featured as key oil ingredients.
company called Esseterre is helping begin a new chapter for the country.
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 li