"Any great ideas about how we can use more of their neem leaves?" my colleague and friend had asked, laughing but in all seriousness. And then we had both laughed some more, envisaging a truckload of gorgeous organic neem leaves arriving on my doorstep any moment....
We had been OVERWHELMED with enthusiasm, and the first batches of solar-air-dried neem leaves, after he had shared the news to the Karen refugee community along the Thai-Burmese border that there was a white chick in Chiang Mai creating a new range of natural body-care-spa products using air-dried organic neem leaves. She was paying above market price for the highest quality, and the refugee community was being supplied with custom built solar dehydrators (at no cost) so that even the poorest, destitute people could bring their foraged, wild, organic leaves to a central place, have them expertly dried and receive a cash payment for them. We knew we would be overwhelmed with leaves before we were ready, and indeed, so it was.
I am a superb manifestor. Just not always as clear about what I'm manifesting. :)
So I had to THINK. And think fast, on my feet. It was April and I had several months of product development, marketing, packaging issues etc ahead (as well as 5 months of low tourist season here in monsoonal-rainy-season Thailand) before I could confidently deliver strong, and growing, sales with my new range. [Sidebar: my new range, the Organic Frontiers Collection, is finally finished and going public this week and next, after some extra delays caused by me breaking my arm badly in a car accident. More about Organic Frontiers in the coming days.]
Neem leaves. I thought immediately of my biggest neem using product - the insect repellent. And suddenly, "they way we've always done it", didn't cut it anymore. And because of the new way we're doing it, lives ARE beginning to change. And so it has been in my little herbal world here in Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand. Big shifts!
I started making my hugely popular and successful insect repellent when my daughter was 6. She had her 6th birthday in hospital when she was seriously ill with Dengue Fever. I was unimpressed with the natural alternatives on the market here when she was discharged, which were nearly all just citronella based. I developed a formula after months of ingredient research and reviewing clinical studies from India and Africa, and started producing it here in Chiang Mai. And people started buying it. And coming back. Again and again and again. Because it works. My formula uses neem extract, basil essential oil, phlai essential oil, clove essential oil, lemongrass essential oil, citronella essential oil, a little ethyl alcohol and pure water.
So for 8 years it's worked, and worked really well, using a neem extract made locally for me by several companies who produce neem for organic garden products. Why keep tweaking something that's popular, sells itself and works? Cos I suddenly realized I could improve the organic purity AND support the vulnerable Karen refugee community at the same time.
And so I made an executive business decision to double the time and cost of one of the primary ingredients in one of my biggest selling products. Which means less $$ profit. Luckily my daughter is my Thai public company's major shareholder, and both she and the guardian who signs for her understand what I am trying to do.
I decided to use mountains of those organic dehydrated neem leaves to make tincture on a BIG scale. The leaves are collected and air dried onsite, almost in the shade of the tree they were harvested from, within hours, in our custom-made dehydrators, rather than baked in the sun. So they are PREMIUM in terms of potency and efficacy. The Azadirachtin content of the neem leaf - the active ingredient which repels insects - is reduced by heat. Our process keeps them pristine, and by making the extract myself, I am CERTAIN there is no boiling to squeeze out a little bit more 'juice' or colour. Previous batches from my commecial suppliers haven't always been consistent.
I decided to grind the organic leaves to a fine powder in small batches - only enough is ground at one time for each alcohol batch. So there is virtually no oxidization. The remaining leaves are stored in the dark, in an airtight environment.
I then steep the powder in pure (expensive) surgical alcohol for a week (minimum) and then strain it.
After that process, this neem base tincture is blended with 5 essential oils and then diluted with pure water.
It adds multiple steps and several new cost layers to our product. True. Luckily we are motivated by much more than money.
What it also does, however, is:
- provide a source of income for dispossessed refugee communities who have very few options and dwindling UN food aid support
- make the efficacy of my finished product shift from "damn fine product, works 95%" to "stellar! I can use this twice a day and NEVER get bit!"
- increase the shelf life of my product considerably, since our old neem extract was water based with alcohol added later.
- enhance the natural smell of my product and made it fresher and earthier.
- eliminate the need for all the plastic bottles that I used to buy my neem extract in. My neem leaves and alcohol steep in reusable glass preserving jars, and then go straight from there into being bottled in our new recyclable aluminium bottles.
This week, the first week of September, Chiang Mai and Thailand are changing gears. The rains are still pouring down and there are very few customers about, but EVERYONE is gearing up for the magic of October-November and the influx of the tourists when the rains stop. And suddenly I feel like a surfer paddling furiously, as I have a much greater PURPOSE in ramping up insect repellent sales. Cos I KNOW that when the rains stop, our refugee people along the border will be looking to make as much money as they can, as everything erupts with new growth. I'm excited to be drumming up insect repellent business with hotels and resorts throughout Thailand (and globally!). And I KNOW our indigenous Karen people along the border are going to be soooo pleased and relieved when I can start giving them much bigger, steady, monthly orders.
To those of you in my 'front of house' business world on facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, I'm grateful for your support. One has to put a LOT of stuff out in that world to reach the few truly interested souls who are not just numbing out over cafe latte shots or the best lighting for their lunch.
This coming week, I will start some Look-See about my Organic Frontiers Collection - a collection of body care and spa products using neem leaves, moringa leaves and banana buds sourced by displaced Karen people along the Thai-Burmese border, not very far from where we live in Chiang Mai.
But today I share my neem leaf story simply to illustrate that making changes - simple changes - CAN CHANGE LIVES - if we stop and reflect. And consider what our disadvantaged communities DO have to offer, and how we can adapt-adjust to buy-share-use that. If you ever question whether you are big enough to effect change, spend a night in a room with a tiny mosquito. Pun intended. :)
I LOVE the way my work is evolving. I love empowering and resourcing communities who have no idea of the riches they are sitting on, or how beneficial their forest products really are. And I love that the product we produce together protects people from disease and enhances their enjoyment of the great outdoors and Mother Earth.
If you would like to BUY our amazing repellent, be in touch via discord or email meat marike@purethainaturals.com Yes, I accept STEEM :) as well as all the usual paypal, credit cards etc and can ship it anywhere in the world.
Feeling blessed.
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