September 27, 2013

Raw materials: honey from Zambia

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about honey, you will find it here.  In the post you will find some historical facts about bees and honey history as well as examples of perfumes that use honey as a note. Today I got some really nice news from Lush about the honey they use so I want to re-adress this sweet theme to add some information.

A team from Lush went to Zambia to visit some beekeepers that work with traditional methods making fair trade honey that is used in the honey shampoo from Lush. The honey is made in the forest around Kabompo River and provides an important source of income for the communities in the area. The honey made here is free from pesticides and herbicides.

Photo from Lush.

Kabompo is in the northwest of Zambia and at the centre of Zambia's remaining teak forests. Beekeeping has been a tradition in the area for a long time and skills as well as hives of grass, bark and hollow tree trunks are handed down from one generation to the other. Beekeeping has turned into a thriving industry with about 3,000 traditional bark hive beekeepers in Zambia.

I like the way Lush communicate about the products, especially raw materials. Here is a film from the team's trip to Zambia. Would be very nice to see more companies highlight their raw material sources more like this, I think.