How Doterra Sources Copaiba Essential Oil to Ensure Sustainable

doTERRA source their Copaiba Essential Oil from the Brazilian Rainforest, Brazil occupies roughly half of South America, covering a total area of 3,287,357 square miles. This rainforest is approx 60% of the combined Global Rainforests area and has around 390 Billion Trees, some of which are the Copaiba tree.

No Middle Man Promise

doTERRA work with independent harvesters and their families to access Copaiba direct with no middle man to ensure the harvester is paid the best price possible for their essential oil.

The trees are tapped in the same way a Maple tree is tapped and you can see this in the video below. The harvester walks miles into the jungle searching for new trees to tap. The tree can grow 30 to 40 metres tall.

The harvester will look up the tree to find the first main brach off the trunk and then follows that down to around 3 feet from the ground and then taps into the vein removing sawdust and then the oleoresin is released into collection jars.

Once the oleoresin is distilled you can expect half the yield of the resin. The tree is tapped for the amount of oil it is willing to give and then it is plugged and the harvester will leave the tree for 6 months and then return to tap the tree every few weeks. It is very labour intensive and on the second tap you can expect the tree to release a litre of resin creating 500mls of essential oil.

Consistent Work + Pay

The general harvest season is January to June as outside these months the water is too high to get to the trees. doTERRA is working with lots of families in the Brazilian rainforest to help them create an income to look after their families and pay them on time. Harvester’s biggest gripe when working with middle men is the fluctuation of the price of the oleoresin and the late payments for their harvest. doTERRA pay their harvesters a decent wage plus ensure they are paid on time as agreed.