Glass talks to Amy Christiansen, founder of luxury fragrance company Sana Jardin, to learn more about her brand, her unique and empowering Beyond Sustainability™ business model and the steps companies should take to protect the environment.
FORMER social worker American, London-based Amy Christiansen has combined her passion for perfume with her powerful sense of social justice and founded Sana Jardin in 2017 which, as well as being a gorgeous perfume collection, support the female flower harvesters in north-west Morocco who pick the high-quality floral ingredients for the scents. IFF Master Perfumer Carlos Benaim is the nose behind the range.
Amy Christiansen (centre) with some of her team in Morocco
Since then, Christiansen has developed The Beyond Sustainability™ movement which aims to create social change and justice through business rather than charity.
“We create fragrances to transport and seduce, but also give the wearer a role in this cycle of change, empowering all women in its circle, from harvester to consumer,” Christiansen says. “Our collection of Eaux de Parfum exude nature’s most exotic scents, harnessing the healing life force of plants, with a high concentration of naturally perfumed essential oils.”
Sana Jardin’s bestseller – Tiger by Her Side fragrance
What advice do you have for others who want to be more ecologically aware in business and in their personal lives?
I think people in business who want to be more ecological should look at their supply chain and the waste created in it. Ideally, businesses can upcycle the waste for the benefit of the people at the start of the supply chain in an effort to encourage more humanitarian values into the supply chain and reduce waste at the same time.
If we look at this waste differently, we may be able to convert it to something the people sell, enabling them to be micro-entrepreneurs and have more economic stability. On a personal level, I think one of the most important things an individual can do is vote for change with their wallet, and when purchasing something they should try to support companies that are actively working in an eco-friendly or humanitarian way.
The full range of Sana Jardin fragrances
How has Sana Jardin been going?
It’s been an amazing journey. Through Sana Jardin, we wanted to prove that social change and luxury do not have to be mutually exclusive. Our Beyond Sustainability™ business model has made a substantial difference to the lives of the Moroccan women we’re working with and it’s something we’re extremely proud of.
The brand launched at Harrods in 2017 and we are now stocked at 80 stockists worldwide including Liberty, Net-a-Porter, Harvey Nichols and Cult Beauty. Seeing the brand grow and launch globally has been such an achievement; I love how our fragrances can transport, seduce and support positive change on a global scale.
The Chant candle
What challenges and successes has the Beyond Sustainability™ experienced?
Our Beyond Sustainability™ model empowers the floral harvesters with the skills and materials they need to increase their wages through commerce, not charity. The model is based on “flower recycling” within a circular economy; the local women develop and sell their own products – candles and orange blossom water – from the waste of the perfume production, receiving 100 per cent of the profits. After just six months of operations, the founding cooperative members saw a 250 per cent increase to their income.
Through this business model, we are thrilled to contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for 2030, to empower women (goal 5), promote sustainable economic growth with full, productive employment (goal 8), and ensure sustainable production practices (goal 12).
We have experienced some challenges along the way; as a former social worker, learning a new skillset has proven testing at times. Location has been a challenge as well; we are based in London, and managing the day-to-day overseas operations in Morocco can be difficult. This is something we are addressing and working hard to put more efficient practices in place. At Sana Jardin, we feel strongly about evolving, refining and improving as a business.
Our vision is also to take the Beyond Sustainability™ movement beyond Morocco into countries around the world, and to empower women to build sustainable business for themselves in areas where fruitful female-focused economic opportunities are hard or impossible to come by. I want to inspire other businesses to engage in a language of Beyond Sustainability™ and look at ways they can be creative with their use of waste in the supply chain and give back to their low-income employees.
Some Sana Jardin female flower harvesters in Morocco
How has the Covid-19 crisis affected Sana Jardin as a business?
This ongoing crisis has naturally affected our business, as we adjust to the new normal and try to stay as healthy as possible. While all our retail partners remain closed, we have been focusing on our website and other means by which we can retain and acquire new customers. We are using our online channels to engage with our customers and exploring new methods by which we interact with them. We recently held a series of calming, strength-giving workshops on Instagram with some of our favourite healers as well as a series called Conversations of Note where I interview notable figures in philanthropy, fashion, authors and female entrepreneurs. The response was brilliant. We have launched fragrance consultations online to give our customers a more unique and personalised service.
As a business, we had to make the difficult decision to cut our overheads by over 50 per cent which sadly meant we had to take advantage of the current government aid programme and reduce staff hours. We are a small team, so whilst we all work from home, we are in constant contact to ensure the business runs as smoothly as possible.
How has this pandemic affected the women in the co-operative?
The female harvesters at our co-operative in Morocco have sadly been affected by this situation, as the whole country is under tight lockdown too. Currently we are in the process of training the women remotely to make masks as it has recently become mandatory for people to wear them outdoors. We will be applying for a Nest grant to support this so that the masks can be donated throughout the community.
Are you hopeful for the future of the planet?
Absolutely! I think we are witnessing a very fast paradigm shift at the moment on a global scale. Not since the 1960s have we seen citizens of our planet being so active, vocal and unified about demanding change. I think it is an incredibly unstable but exciting time to be alive as I think we will witness colossal changes in the way human beings treat one another (with greater empathy, compassion and understanding) and also our ecosystem.
by Caroline Simpson