EKÓ Botanicals on sustainable skincare inspired by nature

Apinke Efiong, founder of EKÓ Botanicals shares insights on ensuring the values of quality and sustainability are met across their supply chain, as well as how she finds balance as an entrepreneur, and how giving back adds another dimension of purpose for businesses as well as consumers.

ESGmark®: What inspired you to found EKÓ Botanicals?

Apinke Efiong (AE): My great grandfather was a botanist, he worked at The Royal Botanic Gardens Kew over 100 years ago. I had always been drawn to nature as a young child my earliest memories where of playing outdoors with flowers and fruit trees. I grew up in a tropical climate in Lagos where everything was bold and bright. I believe this love for botanicals is something I inherited from my great-grandfather. I worked initially in banking but was lured back to nature setting up and running a successful floristry business before launching EKÓ Botanicals in 2022.

EKÓ Botanicals blends the nourishing power of heritage African and British botanical skincare rituals with the latest in natural skin science to deliver bio-active, potent, clean and sustainable skincare for maturing and darker skin.

I spotted a gap in the market for a sustainable, luxurious, nourishing, and high performing skincare range specifically targeted at maturing and darker skin. All the 3 products in the range target dryness, hyperpigmentation, dehydration, inflammation, and fine lines and wrinkles common in post 40 skin that is beginning to show signs of ageing. The products are multi-tasking, and the rituals are very simplified to just a few key steps to reduce unnecessary consumption and waste.

Using nutrient-dense, premium quality plant oils and botanical extracts, rich in skin loving vitamins and omega fatty acids, such as papaya, tamanu, moringa and Kalahari melon, they cleanse, nourish, and revitalise maturing skin, delivering optimal radiance and condition.

ESGmark®: What have been the most challenging and rewarding parts of your sustainability journey so far?

AE: The most challenging part of the journey has been sourcing all the ingredients that go into each product from sustainable suppliers. Why this is challenging is because sustainability means different things to different people. At the heart of EKÓ botanicals is using the best quality products, containing the highest nutrients grown in the best possible way for the planet and people. I wanted ingredients that were certified Organic, Vegan, Cruelty Free and suppliers who were working with local communities and farms to ensure traceability. With so many ingredients in the products, for example Nefertiti Serum has over 30 botanicals from African and British origins you can see how this can be challenging. What has also been really rewarding is the positive response from consumers, media, and press on the quality of the product and the experience of using the products.

ESGmark®: It's great to see that you're supporting One Tree Planted and CAMFED. How important do you think it is for businesses to give back, and how did you choose these charities?

AE: Giving back gives a business a sense of purpose beyond profit taking. Partnering with a cause or charitable organisation also enables consumers that use the product or service to make an impact by their purchase and has very powerful multiplier effects. We are only writing very small cheques to both our charity partners now, but it represents another reason WHY we exist and why the business should succeed.

In deciding which charities to work with, I looked for causes that are aligned to the business’s goals and mission of environmental sustainability and empowering women and girls through education. CAMFED works with young girls in Africa and has far reaching impact in how it runs and journeys with the girls through schooling and work placements, I was really impressed by the impact they are making. OneTreePlanted is planting trees around the world to offset deforestation and loss of biodiversity - two missions that are close to our ethos. Each time a customer makes a purchase from the website we plant 1 tree.

ESGmark®: As an ethical business, what has been your experience of ensuring your values are met across your supply chain?

AE: For each stage in the process of bringing a product from the farm to the consumers hands we are constantly thinking about the impact on Plants, Planet and People.

Working with suppliers across the supply chain that have recognised industry approved certifications such as COSMOS Organic, Vegan, FSC, Cruelty Free etc makes the process transparent and verifiable. It gives great assurance to know the partners we select to work with are investing in demonstrating to us and ultimately the final consumer that they have independent third parties auditing their processes and standards.

ESGmark®: How do you find balance with your own personal care and your personal care business?

AE: It is quite easy as an entrepreneur to work long hours and try and achieve everything at the cost of your own personal and mental health in the long run. EKÓ Botanicals celebrates rituals and taking time each day to slow down, breath and prioritise self-care. The products are formulated not just for elevating the body but also the mind and the spirit with the addition of ancient botanicals that have been tried and tested. I incorporate exercise, healthy eating, yoga and schedule work to fit into my family life.

ESGmark®: What are you currently working on in terms of your ESG goals?

AE: We have a few things to achieve in terms of improving our ESG standards. Currently we are looking at measuring the carbon footprint of the entire business organisation and processes to see how we can improve on this and offset the impact on the planet better.

ESGmark®: What advice would you give someone wanting to build a successful value-driven business?

AE: Just start, putting one foot in front of the other. Don’t over think it!

ESGmark®: What are you reading at the moment?

AE: I am reading a book called “From Scratch” by Tembi Locke. It is about navigating multi-racial relationships, love, death, Sicily and Italian food. I am really enjoying it, it’s written well though I have cried a few times along the way. It is set in Florence, Sardinia and Sicily and I have great memories of traveling to those cities at several points in my life.

For more on EKÓ Botanicals, head over to their website.

Speaking to our founders is central to keeping the ESGmark® community connected - read our other interviews with Disruptor London on reimagining personal care and impact-driven design, Spark and Bloom on business’ responsibility to take action, and myPTA on socially responsible business and running an app.