Down Under Enterprises shifts focus to China as environmental sustainability, traceability come into the spotlight

The company was aiming to develop its business in Asia from this year onwards as it believes the market is ripe with companies that have values of quality, traceability, and sustainability that align with their own.

“We’re very clear on who we want to work with. We want to find the companies and brands that want quality, integrity, sustainability, traceability,”​ said Dee-Ann Prather, founder and chief executive of Down Under Enterprises.

These firms are increasingly found in markets like China.

“Everyone says China wants cheap [products] but that is not true anymore. Whereas some other countries may say they want sustainability and quality, it all comes down to price once you start talking to them,” ​she said.

Nila Liu, global marketing manager, Down Under Enterprises, added: “In China, people really want to know where things come from, stemming from the overall concern about safety.”​

B Corp achievement

Last year, the company achieved a B Corporation certification in addition to its Ecovadis Platinum certification.

“We are very excited about it because it was an extremely difficult certification to achieve… From a brand perspective, it’s really important that they are able to understand that we do appeal to consumers as ingredients. They also have the confidence that they’re buying ingredients from a B-Corp-certified company,” ​said Prather.

According to the company, it is the first essential oils supplier in the world to achieve a B Corp certification.

A B Corp certification is awarded to companies that meet high environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards.

Companies must achieve a B Impact score of 80 points to get certified and companies must get recertified every three years.

According to B Corp, Down Under Enterprises achieved​ a score of over 107.

While the awareness of the B-Corp certification may not be as recognisable by the average consumer now, Liu believes the interest in sustainability will boost its relevance.

“Things are going to change really fast. China may be behind now, but as you know, things in China move extremely fast,” ​said Liu.

Down Under Enterprises is a grower, producer, and wholesaler of pure Australian Essential Oils and native Australian botanicals.

The company was at the Personal Care and Homecare Ingredients (PCHi) ingredients tradeshow in Shanghai, China in March.

It celebrated its B Corp certification with an event co-hosted with B Corp Shanghai to promote awareness of B Corp and its B Beauty Coalition.

B Beauty Coalition is an alliance of Certified B Corporation beauty companies committed to collectively improving the social and environmental standards of the global beauty industry