A Beautiful Business by Making a Difference
Inner Beauty - the passion behind Pure Fiji’s natural products
There is no substitute for thousands of years of trial and error, no greater laboratory than verdant Tropical Rain forests and white sandy beaches under a Pacific Sun - and no more significant result than a culture revered over the ages for its people’s natural beauty. This is truly a sustainable industry. This is a way of life and a business practice pioneered by one of the most unique natural body care products in the world – Pure Fiji.
Pure Fiji is a natural body and skin care product manufacturer that caters to the exclusive spa and salon industry. Founded in 1996 by mother and duaghter team Gaëtane and Andrée Austin, Pure Fiji began research and development of their uniquely Fijian products around the family kitchen table, based on the numerous benefits of coconut oil and the botanical curatives and remedies utilized by the Fijian people for hundreds of years – a knowledge passed on from generation to generation and which the Austins knew must be preserved for posterity.
This pioneering instinct and powerful faith in their vision has served Pure Fiji well and has provided opportunities for craftsmen and women in rural communities to provide raw materials which are then assembled with passion and care into the finished product with designs and packaging developed on site at a custom-built state of the art factory based in Suva, the capital of the Fiji Islands. The factory complex also has a Spa and Training Centre, Yoga and Fitness Studio, an Artisans’ Gallery for nurturing aspiring local artists and and in addition boasts a solariums for drying leaves and botanicals and for drying staff uniforms and spa linens for its International Spa.
3
The Pure Fiji philosophies
Pure Fiji has been built into what it is today based on the following principals - which have become the very cornerstone of the company’s local and international successes.
• Passion
• Environmental Sustainability - Dedication to environmental and socially sound practices
• Cultural and Social Sustainability - Helping communities maintain their way of life and traditional skills by giving these skills new meaning and making them valuable and useful in an increasingly moder n World.
• Aid Through Empowerment -Identifying a need in local communities, then educating these communities to use their unique skills in a marketable manner (What we also like to call proactive product development!)
• Aid Through Education - With island communities beginning to feel the pull of the Western World, it is only through education that we can give future generation the tools to protect and maintain both communities and heritage in a changing social environment.
5
Aid through Empowerment - Small Business Mentoring Program
In the true South Pacific spirit, Pure Fiji has always believed success can only be achieved if it is shared. With the knowledge and experience acquired growing up in an island culture for all to benefit from the success of Pure Fiji, it in turn needs to reach out to the wider community providing inspiration and a hand up, not a hand-out.
Looking beyond, to the greater good of the communities, local craftsmen and women can access business development and small business mentoring from Pure Fiji, delivered in a comprehensive manner, including teaching basic business practice.
A few of the longest running small business mentoring programs have been the ‘Basket Ladies’ program, ‘Kara the Flower Lady’ and ‘Handmade paper’ program: “Where there’s a hand - there’s a heart & soul.”
Basket Ladies
Pure Fiji supports a community of women basket weavers that live outside Suva.
The ladies claim to fame are the baskets they supplied for the launch of Pure Fiji at the Emmy Awards beauty event in 2002. This basket is now lovingly referred to as the ‘Emmy basket’ and has provided a little touch of gold dust in the community with the purchase of a water tank and payment of school fees for the children.
Kara the Flower Lady
A wonderful example of how networking can benefit people at grass roots level is the weekly pick-up of flowers from Kara. Every Thursday, Pure Fiji gives an envelope containing money for flowers to the DHL courier to deliver to Kara at Nabukavesi which is enroute for DHL’s courier network between Suva and Nadi. Kara has flowers ready and carefully enveloped in a long basket made from plaited coconut leaves and lined with banana leaves for extra protection. DHL then hand delivers Kara’s flowers to the Pure Fiji Boutique at the Sofitel Spa and resort on Denarau Island - where they are showcased to the international guests of the resort.
7
Hand Made Paper
Pure Fiji initiated the handmade paper project in Fiji to provide an income to villagers in isolated regions. Beautiful handmade paper is made from cellulose found in plant fibre, which is literally beaten to a pulp and dispersed in water. This fibre, the main ingredient of paper, is sourced in different forms from bark, leaf, and grass of local plants and trees. Pure Fiji uses the paper for packaging soaps and in the production of exquisite stationary items.
Pure Fiji’s paper-making project is almost entirely run by the women of these rural communities, empowering them in ways they have never experienced before. Along with training in paper making, we provide these women with some basic, essential business training. The women then took it upon themselves to organise production shifts so that while one group made paper they knew that their children, homes, and gardens were being taken care of.
Today, paper making is the major income earner for the village. With the income earned the village has been able to expand their paper making facilities with a new drying house and generator, and create an ongoing fund for improving the equipment used in making paper. Now the papermakers can also afford school fees and have made improvements to the local primary school. Additional classrooms and a library have been built for a secondary school - which means 150 children from the paper making village and neighboring villages have access to higher education.
Perhaps the greatest long-term goal the paper making community has recently achieved is the building and setting up of a village store. This is complete with a refrigerator and deep freezer that are powered by a generator also purchased by the women. The store brings in additional income from trade with surrounding villages and the benefit of being able to preserve meat and other produce. This has brought about a more balanced diet for the entire community throughout the year.
Pure Fiji is also working with the village in the establishment of a hydro electric scheme which will provide a source of electricity for the village by harnessing the power of the river that runs adjacent.
9
Environmental Sustainability: Doing Business Naturally
At Pure Fiji we are acutely aware of our carbon footprint and the need to utilise Fiji’s environmental resources appropriately and sustainably. We make every effort to minimise and where appropriate, enhance Fiji’s unique ecosystem. Pure Fiji continues to research and implement programs that reflect good conservation measures while reducing and helping negate our carbon footprint.
Raw ingredients are wild-harvested - which reduces the need for artificial irrigation, fertilization and pesticides, thus reducing the impact on the local ecosystem.
Nut oils are cold pressed, coconut oil is used to power cars and generators in rural communities, and a tree planting program is in place.
At the Pure Fiji complex in Suva, gardens and building alike have been designed to maximize insulation and reduce the factory’s dependence on air conditioning.
By-products from processing of our raw ingredients are recycled as fertilizer and mulch for factory gardens - and a massive vegetable plot supplies factory staff with a constant stream of organic produce.
Solariums
Building upon the numerous other initiatives instigated to ensure the Pure Fiji Factory in Suva is run in as environmentally friendly a manner as possible, Pure Fiji has recently built two solariums on site at the Pure Fiji Complex. One solarium used for the drying of Staff Uniforms, Spa linens while the other is used for the drying of local herbal leaves for Pure Fiji products
This solarium is engineered to focus the sun’s energy and naturally heat the inside air to remarkable temperatures – often around 48-50 degrees Celsius. In addition, humidity is decreased to almost zero percent inside the solarium – high heat and low humidity resulting in a very fast and efficient natural clothes dryer.
11
Aid Through Education
With island communities beginning to feel the pull of the Western World, it is only through education that future generations have the tools to protect and maintain both communities and heritage in a changing social environment.
Many of the communities that Pure Fiji works with to source raw materials could not afford to educate their children past Primary School level, even with the additional income.
This is because rural communities are often just too isolated and a secondary education means not only having to pay for travel, school fees, uniforms and books but also boarding.
Pure Fiji has been a national leader of providing student scholarships.
The most promising children from Pure Fiji’s village network are chosen from the local primary school, and from that point Pure Fiji funds the children from their primary through to secondary school years, with successful candidates also receiving assistance with university fees.
Children are selected for scholarships in consultation with the headmasters of the schools and with the village chief. For many communities, these children will be the first members of the community to achieve such a high level of education.
13
Coconut Oil
The coconut has been a daily part of the Pacific Island lifestyle for generations, with copra (ie. dried coconut kernel) being the Fiji Islands largest industry well before sugar or tourism. The Pure Fiji founders were intrigued by the importance of the coconut in Pacific culture. Most interesting to the was that contrary to western preconceptions of oil it seemed that the coconut was somehow the secret to the legendary beauty of Pacific Islanders’ skin and hair. Further analysis and help from some pioneering scientists in the field proved that coconut oil was indeed an untapped beauty secret.
However, with the traditional methods of extracting and storing the oil, usually in recycled soft drink bottles with a leaf cork, the oil had a very brief shelf life – long enough for the immediate needs of a typical family but not long enough to be marketable. After further research, it was discovered a novel solution that required no heat and led to the extraction of pure, crystal clear, sweet smelling and long lasting coconut oil just hours from harvesting the nuts. This process was DME (ie.-direct micro expulion). With the development of DME Pure Fiji have been able to base all their products on virgin coconut oil with all its inherent benefits. With the introduction of this process along with a growing demand for this wonderful oil coconut plantations in rural communities have been revived along with the skills associated with their care and maintenance.
Due to the revival of this industry, communities have become strengthened economically. This has provided an important opportunity for people to remain in their rural environment rather than having to seek employment elsewhere.
Dilo Oil
The people of Fiji have known for years the value of this oil to maintain and enhance a youthful, healthy complexion. With the introduction of Western medical practices many of the traditional formulations including that of dilo have been forgotten. The traditional use of this driftnut has been a hallmark of Pure Fiji, which embarked on an initiative to revive its use by including it in modern therapies. The popularity of this miracle oil has returned with an ever-growing range of applications.
As with coconut oil, the kernels are cold-pressed using a DME press after being naturally aged in a state-of-the-art solar dryer. Finally the oil is finely filtered resulting in the finest dilo oil (ie.- calophyllum inophyllum) available. This process leaves nothing to waste with the shells and pressed cake being milled into fertilizer.
The women within communities who harvest these nuts on isolated remote islands now benefit from a new source of income. This has an immediate impact on their standard of living and helps relieve the str ain of coping with payment of school fees and water and electr ical bills. The use of this oil has also been revived and traditional healers in these villages are provided with dilo oil to administer to those suffering from a whole range of skin ailments and rheumatism. While the demand on this resource increases the nuts continue to be harvested sustainably from only those which drop to the ground. There is also a planting programme in place to ensure this threatened species has a bright future.
15
Zenergy Yoga and Fitness Studio
Part of Pure Fiji’s passion is to promote total wellness and care. The Zenergy Yoga and Fitness Studio was opened in 2010 to complete the circle of total wellness and care promoted by Pure Fiji products and Spa - offering a unique oasis to the local community within the Pure Fiji complex. Zenergy complements Pure Fiji’s complete health and wellness philosophies in a synergistic offering of Zumba dance aerobics, yoga and pilates – all delivered in an air-conditioned, results driven and private oasis.
Wellness breaks are also offered throughout the year.
Art gallery
Expanding Pure Fiji’s commitment and support of local innovation and creativity, an art gallery, devoted to local talent sits within the Pure Fiji Health and Wellness complex in Suva, Fiji Islands and surrounded by lush tropical gardens.
Fiji’s local artists haven’t had a permanent venue for their art and the Pure Fiji Art Gallery is a place where their work can be exhibited and occasionally artists are able to use the venue to work on their art. Craig Marlow, a prominent local artist, is curator for the gallery - and in keeping with Pure Fiji’s environmental philosophies, the gallery uses natural light and ventilation.
Involvement in the Arts and support of creativity runs deep within the veins of the Austin family, which founded Pure Fiji.
Gaetane Austins’ father, Marius Helsen, was a celebrated French Opera Singer and Sculptor. His most lauded work was thir teen one ton panels depicting the discovery of Australia which were mounted on the QVB building in Sydney for the Sesquicentennial celebrations. His father in turn was the last artist commissioned by the Tsar (Nicholas II) of Russia to restore the gilded ceilings in the Alexander Palace before the fall of the Russian Royal Family. The family also had ar t galleries in Knightsbridge and Paris.
17
Botanical leaves and hydrosols
Fijian Medicinal leaves are collected in remote areas in the early hours of the morning and delivered to the Pure Fiji complex to be dried in the herbal solarium. This method of sourcing provides remote villages with an income as well as ensuring the leaves are grown in a pristine environment. The leaves are then compacted to make herbal compresses which are used as part of the spa rituals. Green leaves are distilled on site at the Pure Fiji Complex to ensure freshness with each batch of Pure Fiji product made. These hydrosols are the base of Pure Fiji’s high performance skin care therapies.
19
Inner Beauty - the passion behind Pure Fiji’s natural products
There is no substitute for thousands of years of trial and error, no greater laboratory than verdant Tropical Rain forests and white sandy beaches under a Pacific Sun - and no more significant result than a culture revered over the ages for its people’s natural beauty. This is truly a sustainable industry. This is a way of life and a business practice pioneered by one of the most unique natural body care products in the world – Pure Fiji.
Pure Fiji is a natural body and skin care product manufacturer that caters to the exclusive spa and salon industry. Founded in 1996 by mother and duaghter team Gaëtane and Andrée Austin, Pure Fiji began research and development of their uniquely Fijian products around the family kitchen table, based on the numerous benefits of coconut oil and the botanical curatives and remedies utilized by the Fijian people for hundreds of years – a knowledge passed on from generation to generation and which the Austins knew must be preserved for posterity.
This pioneering instinct and powerful faith in their vision has served Pure Fiji well and has provided opportunities for craftsmen and women in rural communities to provide raw materials which are then assembled with passion and care into the finished product with designs and packaging developed on site at a custom-built state of the art factory based in Suva, the capital of the Fiji Islands. The factory complex also has a Spa and Training Centre, Yoga and Fitness Studio, an Ar tisans’ Gallery for nurturing aspiring local artists and and in addition boasts a solariums for drying leaves and botanicals and for drying staff uniforms and spa linens for its International Spa.
3
The Pure Fiji philosophies
Pure Fiji has been built into what it is today based on the following principals - which have become the very cornerstone of the company’s local and international successes.
• Passion
• Environmental Sustainability - Dedication to environmental and socially sound practices
• Cultural and Social Sustainability - Helping communities maintain their way of life and traditional skills by giving these skills new meaning and making them valuable and useful in an increasingly modern World.
• Aid Through Empowerment -Identifying a need in local communities, then educating these communities to use their unique skills in a marketable manner. (What we also like to call proactive product development!)
• Aid Through Education - With island communities beginning to feel the pull of the Western World, it is only through education that we can give future generation the tools to protect and maintain both communities and heritage in a changing social environment.
5
“Where there’s a hand - there’s a heart & soul.”
Aid through Empowerment - Small Business Mentoring Program
In the true South Pacific spirit, Pure Fiji has always believed success can only be achieved if it is shared. With the knowledge and experience acquired growing up in an island culture for all to benefit from the success of Pure Fiji, it in turn needs to reach out to the wider community providing inspiration and a hand up, not a hand-out.
Looking beyond, to the greater good of the communities, local craftsmen and women can access business development and small business mentoring from Pure Fiji, delivered in a comprehensive manner, including teaching basic business practice.
A few of the longest running small business mentoring programs have been the ‘Basket Ladies’ program, ‘Kara the Flower Lady’ and ‘Handmade paper’ program:
Basket Ladies
Pure Fiji supports a community of women basket weavers that live outside Suva.
The ladies claim to fame are the baskets they supplied for the launch of Pure Fiji at the Emmy Awards beauty event in 2002. This basket is now lovingly referred to as the ‘Emmy basket’ and has provided a little touch of gold dust in the community with the purchase of a water tank and payment of school fees for the children.
Kara the Flower Lady
A wonderful example of how networking can benefit people at grass roots level is the weekly pick-up of flowers from Kara. Every Thursday, Pure Fiji gives an envelope containing money for flowers to the DHL courier to deliver to Kara at Nabukavesi which is enroute for DHL’s courier network between Suva and Nadi. Kara has flowers ready and carefully enveloped in a long basket made from plaited coconut leaves and lined with banana leaves for extra protection. DHL then hand delivers Kara’s flowers to the Pure Fiji Boutique at the Sofitel Spa and resort on Denarau Island - where they are showcased to the international guests of the resort.
7
Hand Made Paper
Pure Fiji initiated the handmade paper project in Fiji to provide an income to villagers in isolated regions. Beautiful handmade paper is made from cellulose found in plant fibre, which is literally beaten to a pulp and dispersed in water. This fibre, the main ingredient of paper, is sourced in different forms from bark, leaf, and grass of local plants and trees. Pure Fiji uses the paper for packaging soaps and in the production of exquisite stationary items.
Pure Fiji’s paper-making project is almost entirely run by the women of these rural communities, empowering them in ways they have never experienced before. Along with training in paper making, we provide these women with some basic, essential business training. The women then took it upon themselves to organise production shifts so that while one group made paper they knew that their children, homes, and gardens were being taken care of.
Today, paper making is the major income earner for the village. With the income earned the village has been able to expand their paper making facilities with a new drying house and generator, and create an ongoing fund for improving the equipment used in making paper. Now the papermakers can also afford school fees and have made improvements to the local primary school. Additional classrooms and a library have been built for a secondary school - which means 150 children from the paper making village and neighboring villages have access to higher education.
Perhaps the greatest long-term goal the paper making community has recently achieved is the building and setting up of a village store. This is complete with a refrigerator and deep freezer that are powered by a generator also purchased by the women. The store brings in additional income from trade with surrounding villages and the benefit of being able to preserve meat and other produce. This has brought about a more balanced diet for the entire community throughout the year.
Pure Fiji is also working with the village in the establishment of a hydro electric scheme which will provide a source of electricity for the village by harnessing the power of the river that runs adjacent.
9
Environmental Sustainability: Doing Business Naturally
At Pure Fiji we are acutely aware of our carbon footprint and the need to utilise Fiji’s environmental resources appropriately and sustainably. We make every effort to minimise and where appropriate, enhance Fiji’s unique ecosystem. Pure Fiji continues to research and implement programs that reflect good conservation measures while reducing and helping negate our carbon footprint.
Raw ingredients are wild-harvested - which reduces the need for artificial irrigation, fertilization and pesticides, thus reducing the impact on the local ecosystem.
Nut oils are cold pressed, coconut oil is used to power cars and generators in rural communities, and a tree planting program is in place.
At the Pure Fiji complex in Suva, gardens and building alike have been designed to maximize insulation and reduce the factory’s dependence on air conditioning.
By-products from processing of our raw ingredients are recycled as fertilizer and mulch for factory gardens - and a massive vegetable plot supplies factory staff with a constant stream of organic produce.
Solariums
Building upon the numerous other initiatives instigated to ensure the Pure Fiji Factory in Suva is run in as environmentally friendly a manner as possible, Pure Fiji has recently built two solariums on site at the Pure Fiji Complex. One solarium used for the drying of Staff Uniforms, Spa linens while the other is used for the drying of local herbal leaves for Pure Fiji products
This solarium is engineered to focus the sun’s energy and naturally heat the inside air to remarkable temperatures – often around 48-50 degrees Celsius. In addition, humidity is decreased to almost zero percent inside the solarium – high heat and low humidity resulting in a very fast and efficient natural clothes dryer.
11
Aid Through Education
With island communities beginning to feel the pull of the Western World, it is only through education that future generations have the tools to protect and maintain both communities and heritage in a changing social environment.
Many of the communities that Pure Fiji works with to source raw materials could not afford to educate their children past Primary School level, even with the additional income.
This is because rural communities are often just too isolated and a secondary education means not only having to pay for travel, school fees, uniforms and books but also boarding.
Pure Fiji has been a national leader of providing student scholarships.
The most promising children from Pure Fiji’s village network are chosen from the local primary school, and from that point Pure Fiji funds the children from their primary through to secondary school years, with successful candidates also receiving assistance with university fees.
Children are selected for scholarships in consultation with the headmasters of the schools and with the village chief. For many communities, these children will be the first members of the community to achieve such a high level of education.
13
Coconut Oil
The coconut has been a daily part of the Pacific Island lifestyle for generations, with copra (ie. dried coconut kernel) being the Fiji Islands largest industry well before sugar or tourism. The Pure Fiji founders were intrigued by the importance of the coconut in Pacific culture. Most interesting to the was that contrary to western preconceptions of oil it seemed that the coconut was somehow the secret to the legendary beauty of Pacific Islanders’ skin and hair. Further analysis and help from some pioneering scientists in the field proved that coconut oil was indeed an untapped beauty secret.
However, with the traditional methods of extracting and storing the oil, usually in recycled soft drink bottles with a leaf cork, the oil had a very brief shelf life – long enough for the immediate needs of a typical family but not long enough to be marketable. After further research, it was discovered a novel solution that required no heat and led to the extraction of pure, crystal clear, sweet smelling and long lasting coconut oil just hours from harvesting the nuts. This process was DME (ie.-direct micro expulion). With the development of DME Pure Fiji have been able to base all their products on virgin coconut oil with all its inherent benefits. With the introduction of this process along with a growing demand for this wonderful oil coconut plantations in rural communities have been revived along with the skills associated with their care and maintenance.
Due to the revival of this industry, communities have become strengthened economically. This has provided an important opportunity for people to remain in their rural environment rather than having to seek employment elsewhere.
Dilo Oil
The people of Fiji have known for years the value of this oil to maintain and enhance a youthful, healthy complexion. With the introduction of Western medical practices many of the traditional formulations including that of dilo have been forgotten. The traditional use of this driftnut has been a hallmark of Pure Fiji, which embarked on an initiative to revive its use by including it in modern therapies. The popularity of this miracle oil has returned with an ever-growing range of applications.
As with coconut oil, the kernels are cold-pressed using a DME press after being naturally aged in a state-of-the-art solar dryer. Finally the oil is finely filtered resulting in the finest dilo oil (ie.- calophyllum inophyllum) available. This process leaves nothing to waste with the shells and pressed cake being milled into fertilizer.
The women within communities who harvest these nuts on isolated remote islands now benefit from a new source of income. This has an immediate impact on their standard of living and helps relieve the str ain of coping with payment of school fees and water and electrical bills. The use of this oil has also been revived and traditional healers in these villages are provided with dilo oil to administer to those suffering from a whole range of skin ailments and rheumatism. While the demand on this resource increases the nuts continue to be harvested sustainably from only those which drop to the ground. There is also a planting programme in place to ensure this threatened species has a bright future.
15
Zenergy Yoga and Fitness Studio
Part of Pure Fiji’s passion is to promote total wellness and care. The Zenergy Yoga and Fitness Studio was opened in 2010 to complete the circle of total wellness and care promoted by Pure Fiji products and Spa - offering a unique oasis to the local community within the Pure Fiji complex. Zenergy complements Pure Fiji’s complete health and wellness philosophies in a synergistic offering of Zumba dance aerobics, yoga and pilates – all delivered in an air-conditioned, results driven and private oasis.
Wellness breaks are also offered throughout the year.
Art gallery
Expanding Pure Fiji’s commitment and support of local innovation and creativity, an art gallery, devoted to local talent sits within the Pure Fiji Health and Wellness complex in Suva, Fiji Islands and surrounded by lush tropical gardens.
Fiji’s local artists haven’t had a permanent venue for their art and the Pure Fiji Art Gallery is a place where their work can be exhibited and occasionally artists are able to use the venue to work on their art. Craig Marlow, a prominent local artist, is cur ator for the gallery - and in keeping with Pure Fiji’s environmental philosophies, the gallery uses natural light and ventilation.
Involvement in the Arts and support of creativity runs deep within the veins of the Austin family, which founded Pure Fiji.
Gaetane Austins’ father, Marius Helsen, was a celebrated French Opera Singer and Sculptor. His most lauded work was thirteen one ton panels depicting the discovery of Australia which were mounted on the QVB building in Sydney for the Sesquicentennial celebrations. His father in tur n was the last artist commissioned by the Tsar (Nicholas II) of Russia to restore the gilded ceilings in the Alexander Palace before the fall of the Russian Royal Family. The family also had art galleries in Knightsbridge and Paris.
17
Botanical leaves and hydrosols
Fijian Medicinal leaves are collected in remote areas in the early hours of the morning and delivered to the Pure Fiji complex to be dried in the herbal solarium. This method of sourcing provides remote villages with an income as well as ensuring the leaves are grown in a pristine environment. The leaves are then compacted to make herbal compresses which are used as part of the spa rituals. Green leaves are distilled on site at the Pure Fiji Complex to ensure freshness with each batch of Pure Fiji product made. These hydrosols are the base of Pure Fiji’s high performance skin care therapies.
19
PURE FIJI Discover the South Pacific secret for beautiful skin and hair