1. What was the inspiration behind Erbaviva?

We started Erbaviva back in 1996, as a result of feeling that there was a need for clean, organic solutions for use on baby’s delicate skin. Having personally embraced an organic lifestyle, we felt that what was missing was an option in personal care, especially for babies who have the most delicate skin. This was at a time that was before there was an “organic” skin care trend so Erbaviva became one of the early pioneers in paving the way for what has now become a globally accepted trend.

2. How has your view of skincare changed since launching Erbaviva?

3. What is the biggest myth about “natural” market claims?

 The two biggest myths are:

Firstly, Brands use this claim  very loosely, often they make a ‘natural ‘ claim when there are in fact many non-natural ingredients inside the formula ( whether this be food or personal care or anything else) when pressed, they may use the explanation of the fact that what they actually mean the ingredients may be derived from natural raw ingredients but they do not take into consideration the fact that the processes or additives may be far from natural, green or fitting into the way they are marketing the product in the natural arena. When I started out, I felt that there was no stone that could be left unturned, there is often a bit of a dirty story behind pretty much everything! Sad but true!

2nd myth: ….That natural is not actually natural. Even if the ingredient is actually truly a natural ingredient that has not been processed un-naturally, without adding un-natural additives, if it is farmed but conventionally then it likely has residues of chemical pesticides or un-natural fertilizers which are the very opposite of natural and have become the very fuel to motivate the organic movement.

4. What does integrity mean to Erbaviva?

We take very much pride in our 20 plus years of unwavering dedication to being truthful, transparent and meticulous in our approach to everything we do. Erbaviva is probably one of the highest level organic brands out there. We have always manufactured  (almost everything)  ourselves so that we can have full control of what we do and how well we can do it and maintain the standards that we insist on for all of our products. As a brand we were born from the motivation to bring clean products of high quality without cutting any corners - organic integrity has always been the cornerstone of Erbaviva’s DNA.

5. What is Erbaviva’s global impact?

Historically, Erbaviva has had rather slow immersion into the US market. Now that retailers like The Detox Market, Follain, Credo, Citrine, Onda and many others have surfaced, there is now finally a venue to sell high quality, high-level organic beauty products in a more prestige environment than what for the past 20 years has dominated the market - the Natural food store industry. Erbaviva has been fortunate to have a very significant presence in different retail markets abroad where cost is a lesser motivator than quality. Our most successful markets are actually the most discriminating ones for high-quality cosmetic products, namely Japan and Korea. While organic is less prevalent there, Erbaviva has I believe had some impact in making people realize that you can procure quality and yes, "effective" organic products.

Erbaviva is also a certified B-Corp, we are in business to good in the world. We are very proud to have a certified organic facility that is solar powered and continue to highly prioritize our overall philosophy of social and environmental responsibility. We are proud supporters of Blinknow.org helping Maggie Doyne in her great work empowering women and children in rural Nepal.

The other area I feel we have had an impact is that I guess being one of the early pioneers, in our own way we have helped shift world awareness of what you put on your body and then wash down the drains helps contribute to polluting our oceans and rivers less, as well as the decisions we make in what product we buy and use helps support organic farmers and therefore has less impactful environmental damage.

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