A few years ago, when I first started TrueBody, I made a promise that I would always strive to stay true to my mission of making personal care products that are affordable, all-natural, and made in ways that are friendly to the earth. Some days, it’s easy. Other days, not so much. It’s a simple mission, but the business and economics of “being green” can be far from straight forward, and I’ve found myself on multiple occasions going back to my true promise for a gut check.
Just recently I got an email with the subject line: “almost bought your soap.” The almost-customer expressed his concerns over our use of palm oil, citing an article by Greenpeace about how some palm oil plantations are clear cutting rainforests, endangering animals, and disrupting local eco-systems—not exactly in line with my mission or personal beliefs. I responded with a lengthy explanation of how we chose our palm oil supplier, which essentially boiled down to this: it’s certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and as a small company, I have no other way to verify that my suppliers are producing oil in ways that are kind to the earth other than traveling to source, which is financially out of the question. (See below if you want to read my entire explanation.)
Here’s the question this exchange raised for me: Am I being true to my mission, and by extension, to you? I make decisions every day that try to balance my eco-sense with my business sense, and I really, really do believe that my product lives up to the promise I made years ago. But, do you? Is what I’m doing enough for you? Is it important to you that all-natural products be priced affordably, and can you live with the fact I don’t have the cash to jump on a plane and check the source of my palm oil as a result? Does my pursuit of “good” make it okay not to pursue perfection?
I am challenged every day by my customers, manufactures, and retailers to think about this invisible line between good business and being green—and it’s a line that can get pretty skinny in places. So please, keep me honest and let me know: am I being true to you?
My full response on the issue of palm oil and RSPO:
Thanks for writing. This is an important subject to us. I wish there were more people like you out there who were aware of the very real problem that palm oil production creates.
First, let me tell you a little about our history with palm oil. When I was first starting this company and researching soap formulas with the soap maker who has become my manufacturing partner, I learned a lot about palm oil. Especially the big environmental issue of clear-cutting rainforests to set up palm plantations. I was really, really concerned about using palm oil because — of all the environmental issues that are important to me personally — those that involve trees are the closest to my heart. (I sometimes think it’s no accident that my last name is Shade 
At the same time, a big part of the company’s mission is to make natural products affordable and accessible to way more people. It really bothers me that most natural products are priced at such a premium that many people can’t afford them, or at best have to make tough choices when grocery shopping. It all feels very undemocratic and exclusive. I believe you shouldn’t have to be wealthy to be healthy.
But back to the soap…at the beginning, the only viable option I could find was palm oil because it’s way less expensive than olive, coconut, canola, castor, etc. So I had to make a decision: do I compromise my affordability mission or my commitment to the environment? Well, that was a no-win decision, so I went back to my manufacturing partner to find out if there were such a thing as environmentally benign palm oil production. Here’s what they told me: the palm oil that would be used in my soap was a sustainably harvested raw material and, in fact, the same palm oil that they used to make soap for Aveda, and if it’s good enough for Aveda it should be good enough for me. In other words, since Aveda is known for its very strict environmental standards (they showed me the 2+ inch thick binder of Aveda standards…) I could rest assured that they’d done their environmental homework and passed.
So we produced a 100% palm oil soap and started selling it in August 2008. Then, as luck would have it, my manufacturer discovered a problem with the palm oil formula, only a couple months after I’d launched. (It never affected my soap, but did affect another of their clients who used some of the same ingredients.) By late fall of 2008, they’d discontinued my formula and told me I’d have to switch to a new formula, but the good news was they’d developed an 80/20 palm/coconut oil blend AND they’d gotten certification that the palm oil was being sourced from an RSPO member. (This is the soap you recently considered buying.) I actually felt pretty good about this since it was obvious they’d taken to heart the big demands of a tiny start-up and were taking steps in the right direction. So even though it was a huge pain in the butt to change the formula just as I was launching (not to mention I had a ton of the 100% palm oil soap in my warehouse, now obsolete….) I thought I’d finally found a solution to the “palm oil problem”….
But since then, we’ve started to hear the same kinds of issues about the RSPO as in the article you found. I’ve found other similar articles but not this particular one by Greenpeace so thanks very much for sending the link. It is possible that the RSPO member who supplies our palm oil is a principled, upstanding company that is adhering to the spirit and (intended) high standards of the organization. But the only way to know is to go see for ourselves and we’re nowhere close to being financially able to do that, so we have to trust our suppliers when they say all is well. That’s flimsy. I know.
This is part of the challenge of being a sustainable business that tries to maximize multiple bottom lines, because if we’re not financially sustainable, then we can’t do anything to help people or the planet. To be honest, we’re not even close to financial sustainability yet and 2009 was a very tough year, mostly because of the switch in formula which ate up almost all of our start-up money to produce new inventory. But this is not an excuse! The company is starting to thrive and now that we’re out of survival mode, I can begin to think about these important issues again.
I’m not giving up on finding a real solution to the “palm oil problem.” Dr. Bronners is doing some very cool things with palm oil http://www.drbronner.com/palm_oil_from_ghana.html and I’m starting to talk with our manufacturer about possibly sourcing our palm oil from the same places. I think a lot of this kind of stuff gets easier once a company is a little more established and I really look forward to that day! In the meantime, I would really like to get your reaction to all this and continue the conversation. You are exactly the kind of caring, motivated person that we are trying to make happy with our products. And I wouldn’t blame you at all if you chose to buy Dr. Bronners or a non-palm soap.
Thank you for caring (and reading to the end of this very long email!). Have a great weekend.
Warmest regards,
Janice
You asked. We delivered. Introducing the new TrueBody facial bar! So many of you wrote to me asking if our original bar soap was suitable for the face, and i found myself delivering the same answer time and time again. It is OKAY for the face, but most skin types need a little extra moisturizer. Many of you even wrote in with suggestions for all-natural moisturizing ingredients we might consider. Well, after many months and a few trials and errors, our new facial bar is now on shelves!
One of the great things about living in Vermont is that we’re surrounded by all kinds of small, boutique companies making everything from gourmet chocolates to wooden toys. If you’re like me, there are always one or two people on your list who stump you. You know, the person who has everything and/or goes on a major shopping spree for themselves in December? For those folks, I turn to some of my Vermont friends who always have a couple of great gifts ready to ship. I’m giving out some “True Love” to a couple of my favorites:
These little 
TrueBody Soap
