Ginger Ginger (KenyaMadagascarVietnamTanzaniaHonduras)

Why India, Madagascar, Tanzania, and Vietnam?

doTERRA Ginger is sourced in multiple locations where the plant thrives, produced through the Co-Impact sourcing model in partnership with hundreds of small farmers.

How does it work?

Harvest and Production Process

Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is a tropical, perennial herb with a thick, knotted underground stem called a rhizome, commonly referred to as “ginger root.” The plant grows up to about 1 meter tall. It has narrow, lance-shaped green leaves that grow alternately along the stem. Ginger rarely flowers, but when it does, the blooms are small and yellow-green with purple edges. The rhizome is the most important part—it’s aromatic, spicy, and used worldwide as a spice and natural remedy.

doTERRA Ginger oil is unique. It is composed of essential oil from steam distillation and CO2 extract for the optimal chemical and aromatic profile. The essential oil is extracted from fresh rhizomes of the plant—the subterranean stalk of the plant that shoots out the root system, through steam distillation.

Farmers usually plant ginger in the spring season and harvest it in the winter season every year, meaning it takes 10 months from planting to harvest. It takes about 9 pounds of ginger rhizome to make a 15 mL bottle.

India

India is where the CO2 extract is sourced, a gentle process that captures more of the volatile components that make ginger unique. Low temperature extraction ensures that many components of volatile oils are preserved. It preserves almost all the beneficial substances of the plant—vitamins, enzymes, bioactive properties, antioxidants, phytoncides, and other elements.

CO2 extraction process is a green, environment-friendly technology. It is abundantly available in the atmosphere, is renewable, and does not contribute to smog or global warming. The CO2 used by doTERRA’s sourcing partner is food grade. This sourcing partner maintains a CO2 extraction process for Ginger that is GRAS & REACH compliant.

Vietnam

Ginger is a native plant in Vietnam and grows nicely in such tropical weather, warm and humid climates and in well-drained soils. In Vietnam, ginger is not only a spice but also a culture and a tradition. Ginger has entered literature, poetry, and folk songs with the symbolic meaning of warmth, closeness, and faithful love between husband and wife, like the Vietnamese characters.

In Vietnam, doTERRA’s sourcing partner’s ginger farmers often plant ginger in higher altitude where it thrives. They also plant it amongst other crops which allows them to generate income from different sources throughout different seasons. This technique is based on knowledge passed on from generation to generation. In fact, ginger grows very well when planted among other agricultural crops such as corn, potatoes or cassava, as they create shade for the ginger to grow when the plants are young.

Working with a sustainable supply of ginger raw material can be challenging, as ginger sold as a spice is an unstable market. Farmers may decide to give up or reduce their ginger growing area if the spice market is unstable. Natural disasters, storms and landslides, are also more frequent putting pressure on farmers concern about the potential to lose their plantations. For this reason, doTERRA’s oil supply partner in Vietnam provides the farmer network with seeds, fertilizers, and technical guidance to optimize the growth of their crops and purchases all the ginger produced at stable prices providing sustainable income.

Once distillation is completed, the distilled biomass is given to farmers around the distillation facility to feed their pigs, fishes, chickens, buffaloes and cows as it has proven, over the years, to help prevent diseases in animals.

Tanzania

Part of doTERRA’s ginger comes from a partnership with nearly 400 small-scale ginger farmers in an underserved area of Tanga region, Tanzania. With this partnership, farmers have developed new economic opportunities by scaling up their ginger production and business. Efforts to provide climate smart agricultural training, capacity building, and inputs such as irrigation kits and seedlings support farmers in their resilience of ever-changing climate conditions and developing additional income. doTERRA has also supported the construction of a ginger collection center that also serves as a training center for the newly formed ginger cooperative. The ginger takes about 9 months to grow until harvest and 12 hours to distill. The harvest season is from May to August.

Social Impact

In Tanzania, the doTERRA Healing Hands Foundation has funded a collection center to support the ginger farmers in managing the harvesting and post-harvesting of the food grade ginger.

In addition to donations from the doTERRA Healing Hands Foundation, doTERRA has established a Community Development Fund in Tanzania. For every kilogram of essential oil produced by its farmer cooperatives, a portion of revenue is set aside in a fund overseen by the cooperatives themselves to finance larger development projects at their discretion.