An Update.

First the good news.PETA has accepted the Maria Lani Philippines application and the company will be added to the list of cruelty-free companies that will be shown on the Caring Consumer website, as well as being shown in their Cruelty-Free Shopping Guide. I would have the bunny logo at the side of the blog, but we haven't paid for the right to use it yet, so that will go on very soon. Our acceptance is important to us because it shows that companies in this part of the world are as caring and considerate as those in the west.

I have exchanged some very pleasant emails with Poonam Modi at The British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection, because I was hoping to register with them as well. Unfortunately they do not operate in The Philippines, but are keeping us on file for when that changes. This is equally as important as our PETA acceptance, because BUAV representatives would visit the Maria Lani production plants and our suppliers, proving that we practise what we preach. I can write pretty much what I like on this blog, and the reader may, or may not, believe me. That is why Maria Lani Philippines has to be seen to be "walking the walk", not just "talking the talk".

Which brings me to Fairtrade. Those of you who followed this blog in its previous incarnations, will know that I was posting regularly about Fairtrade coconuts and associated products. It seems that there is finally to be a standard set by The Fairtrade Foundation, for minimum prices and premiums for coconuts,(both coconuts for export and coconuts for processing), in Asia. This is great news for coconut farmers in Asia. Maria Lani received the email shown below and it made our day. I am not posting it for any other reason than to show that we genuinely do try and "walk the walk".

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Hi Steve,



Many thanks for seeding your feedback. Just to be clear - do the comments represent FTAANZ’s views or those of Maria Lani?



I am going through all the feedback this week and if there is a general agreement from all parties I hope to be able to finalise the price and premium proposals and submit to the Standards Unit within the next few weeks. If all goes to plan we should have the standards approved by the end of next month. If there is no consensus then I may have to carry out another round of consultation with some amended proposals.



I will keep you posted.



Best regards,



Sarah


New Product and Standards Development Manager

Fairtrade Foundation

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This blog has been useful over the years, both with Cocovida and now with Maria Lani. However, there are obvious drawbacks to the self-deprecating humour and the awful grammar and spelling. Does this mean that people won't take the products seriously?

I have a good friend who is one of The Philippines top branding consultants. I asked her for her advice on promoting Maria Lani as a designer brand. (I have mentioned several times that the product range is of exceptional quality, but that isn't always the reason why the product sells.) Maria Lani is a genius, but she doesn't live in Paris, London or Rome. Am I sounding bitter? Nah.

The point I am trying to make is that I may well be causing the company problems by promoting it through this blog. The website will be finished soon, and that will be brilliant. However, there is little point in going upmarket on the website, when I am lowering the standards somewhat here.

To cut a long story short, the aforementioned branding expert has given us plenty of pro bono advice.(Thanks T). This means you will notice a vast improvement in this blog, or it will be gone. There is absolutely no point in me making continuous posts, which, because of the way they are written, belittle the actual products I am trying to promote.

P.S. I will be posting photographs of the Maria Lani moringa farm very soon.

P.P.S. Just had a look at the number of people that have checked on my profile. 1400!! Maybe this blog isn't so bad after all.

Moringa Presentation (Part 2).

My apologies for the delay in updating this blog. Maria has been incredibly busy working on label designs for hundreds of products, and looking at shipment options for an overseas order. I have been trying to help as much as possible, but I have also been working on the website, as well as other projects associated with Maria Lani Philippines. There is some really great news on Fairtrade and the twinning project, but please, does anybody know a cartoonist in The Philippines?

Much more on the other projects in another post. Here is a little more information about moringa, for which we again offer our sincere thanks to The Trees For Life Journal......Just click on the pictures.