Living Magazine Fall 2015 Living Magazine | Page 4

WITHIN REACH:
The Co- -Impact Story of
Ylang Ylang

On the island of Nosy Be, just off the northwest coast of Madagascar, the branches of ylang ylang trees
stretch out parallel to the ground. The careful growers purposefully prune them that way to make it
easier to harvest the tree’s blossoms. But even as the blossoms become easier to reach, sustainable
income from their harvest continues to be a difficult problem to solve. dōTERRA and an on-the-ground
partner are now working to empower those who produce Ylang Ylang—the growers, harvesters, and
distillers—to change their own circumstances, starting with their income.

THE HEART OF CŌ-IMPACT SOURCING
As in other places where Cō-Impact Sourcing is being
implemented, Nosy Be has its struggles. It also has great
potential thanks to our highly valued partnership we have
with the people that was facilitated through our partners
on the ground. Cō-Impact Sourcing works because of the
empowering effects of partnership. These partnerships ensure
fair treatment for growers or harvesters, which is usually
jeopardized by middlemen. The demand dōTERRA has for
quality essential oils means that ylang ylang growers and
distillers have a guaranteed buyer. Without such a buyer,
distillers sell their oil to the highest bidder, which does not
always pay that much. Price speculation hits farmers who
are not in a cooperative or who do not have a partner
committed to helping them succeed especially hard.
There are other benefits, too. Growers who create quality
product and then continue to improve it are rewarded for
their efforts. Not only do they receive a fair wage, in return
for producing higher quality oil they are rewarded with an

annual bonus. They can also invest more in expanding their
production capacity by putting in new distillation units and
getting more growers into cooperatives so they can be
better organized to reach higher production volumes.

WHY YLANG YLANG?
Since the late 1800s, ylang ylang, or Cananga odorata, has
been grown in Nosy Be, and from these trees comes some
of the highest quality Ylang Ylang oil in the world. Originally
introduced to Madagascar by French perfumers when it
was a French colony, ylang ylang has a very refined process
of distillation. As the perfume industry needs very specific
scents, a specific method was developed unique to this oil.
Ylang ylang is divided out into several different profiles:
Ylang Ylang I, II, III, extra, and complete. This means that different weighted molecules come off during differing times
in the distillation process, top notes first, and bottom notes
last. For dōTERRA Ylang Ylang, the Ylang Ylang complete
profile is used.