Why are natural and/or organic products so expensive in the Philippines?

Natural Health Questions

By Archie Armada

As a grower and manufacturer of natural and organic products (both food and cosmetics) in the Philippines, we always encounter questions about the cost of our products. Compared to conventionally mass-produced food and synthetic ingredients, the production of natural and organic goods, be they foods or raw materials used in further manufacturing, is labour intensive and the demand is currently relatively small compared to the mainstream. This is typical for most natural and organic products everywhere: more expensive natural fertilizers, pesticides, business sizes and logistical costs that are unique to natural and organic products. Natural and organic products have to be certified or self-regulated. Non-organic products could use a mass-market, chemical fertilizer that could be produced in bigger quantities by huge companies end up cheaper.

The cost of genuine essential oil (not just synthetic fragrance) for example, can significantly influence the ultimate price of natural and organic skin care and personal care products that contain this ingredients. Growing, harvesting, oil extraction, quality testing, market demand and availability all play roles in this. Essentiai oils are extracted either from roots, flowers, leaves, fruits or nuts of plants, and the process may vary according to the part of the plant from which the oil is extracted and the quality of the oil required at the end of the process. For example, Ylang-ylang fresh flowers which need to be picked in the early morning and the oil is extracted by steam-distillation, has been estimated that it takes about 1,000 kg of Ylang-ylang flowers to produce 1 to 1.5 liters of essential oil.

You may then ask, why not use artificial or chemical or sythetic fragrance which can even be modified or adjusted to an even better aroma and can be produced inexpensively? The answer is that, natural and organic skin, hair, and body care products that contain genuine essential oils are not just exerting a superficial or cosmetic effect, but also safe and have amazing and often profound direct beneficial effects on the skin, hair, and body as well as producing beneficial psychological and psychosomatic effects via their influence on the nervous and hormonal systems.

Conventional goods made of synthetic chemicals may cost lower, but investing on natural and organic products would be advantageous and beneficial on the part of the consumers. I still believe that in the near future, such products would be priced more competitively. Price declines are not impossible if supplies would rise up, if our government would provide subsidies and incentives to this industry, and natural and organic product producers and companies would be motivated enough to aim to bring their products to a wider base of consumers.