When we first came to Bali and announced that part of our plan was to source and sell Indonesian essential oils, many long-term residents shook their heads and declared that this was a crazy idea. “Bali is already awash with essential oils,” they said, “the market is already saturated.”

Undeterred, we looked around and found it was true that the shelves in the souvenir stores were indeed squeaking under the weight of small glass bottles of coloured liquid bearing the words "essential oil", but, on closer inspection, it was apparent that their contents bore little or no trace of the plant or flower that decorated their labels. 

We did find genuine Indonesian essential oils in Bali but the majority of these carried the names of bottling companies in France, Australia and the USA, suggesting that the oils had been shipped out of Indonesia, bottled and badged abroad then shipped back again – an evidently expensive process that was reflected in the prices.

Our mission was therefore clear: to find sustainable sources of Indonesian essential oils and to ensure that at least part of the crop remained in country for local people and visitors to enjoy at the sort of reasonable prices that you would expect to pay when buying a product from the land where it originates.

So that is what we did!

S&S