Malin i Ratan's Sustainability Policy
The foundation of our sustainability work is the 17 global goals from UN and ISO 26000 – the world's greatest standard for sustainable businesses.
A declared goal of the company is to actively work for sustainable consumption.
A declared goal of the company is to actively work for sustainable consumption.
Malin i Ratan AB would like to convey the message of the many benefits of solid artisanship for health and the environment. Knowledge and genuine products provide the end user with a positive experience with links to their health and environmental impact. True soap bars are good choices for skin, hair, environment and climate.
We think sustainability in all stages in our company. Environmental issues such as organic farming, reduced use of packaging, recycled interior design and reduced chemicals in our everyday lives are all important aspects of the company's sustainable development. We are knowledge providers within these areas and have local roots in the area.
We display the whole journey, a knowledge transfer from our own artisan production in the tourist village of Ratan to the use of a popular and versatile end product. With us you can experience soap - we are part of a sustainable hospitality industry. We want to encourage our visitors to sustainable consumption and protection of the locality.
We believe in the strength of women's entrepreneurship and networking that create developing and fun jobs and contribute to rural development. Collaborations drive our work forward for a vibrant Norrland. We help other genuine companies to convey their handmade eco-soap to their customers.
Examples of how we work with the sustainability goals in our daily work:
The cultured ingredients in our own manufactured products meet the requirements for eco-certification. The main ingredient is cold-pressed Swedish rapeseed oil, which will undergo saponification with other organic vegetable oils and fats.
True soap is alkalic and no parabens need to be added. We have actively chosen not to use palm oil, an otherwise common cheap oil in soap. Our soaps do not contain mineral oils, animal fats or synthetic perfumes. Our raw materials and finished products are not tested on animals. With few ingredients and an INCI list that is also translated into Swedish, it is easier for consumers to make a conscious choice.
Our suppliers are mainly Swedish wholesalers for natural cosmetic ingredients, but we also cooperate with smaller suppliers with KRAV-labelled rapeseed oil, and smaller companies that have direct contact with foreign plantations and cooperatives with ethical production. Direct transparency spurs these collaborations.
One example is our collaboration with Nordic Chocolate in Umeå, which buys organically certified cocoa butter that is imported directly from a cooperative in Ecuador, “Direct trade". The cocoa butter is classified as “Single origin" and is harvested from the same plantation as the cocoa beans in Jenny's good chocolate. The cooperative cold presses the cocoa butter out of the beans without deodorising, allowing the cocoa bean's nutrients, the amazing scent and colour to remain in the final product. Through the direct work with the cooperative, cocoa farmers receive both training in fermentation techniques and more. More than if they certified cocoa as fair trade. Few chocolate producers trade directly with cooperatives without intermediaries, making concepts like direct trade unusual within the cocoa industry. We are so happy to have the collaboration with Jenny who has both solid knowledge and good relationships with the cocoa farmers.
Malin i Ratan works actively to use all soap that is made, including remnants and edge pieces. These are processed and sold as soap flakes, soap remnants or wool felted soaps. This minimizes waste from manufacturing.
A good soap bar reduces the customer's packaging consumption and provides good opportunities for getting plastics and chemicals out of their bathroom. We have chosen a minimised packaging for the soaps - mainly just a label. It is printed at a small local printing firm in Umeå with environmentally friendly ink. The label is made of paper consisting of 100% recycled fibre and twig pulp. No added bleach and no environmentally harmful chemicals are used in the production of the paper. You can discard the label as paper.
To our e-commerce customers, we mainly deliver with PostNord, which actively works towards their own environmental goals within the transport industry. Shipping boxes and packaging materials are reused. Other packaging is recycled at a recycling centre. We prioritize plastic-free deliveries but reuse plastic that has arrived at our facility to protect packaging of glass.
To our store customers, we offer digital receipts primarily to minimise paper consumption. We stand for good logistics and inform our visitors about other sustainable destinations in the surrounding area.
Malin i Ratan is a member of the branch organisation NOC Sweden, which works for natural, organic, and sustainable products, and we are proud to be an honest partner of Rekokollen.
This sustainability policy has been developed in collaboration with Västerbotten Experience. Each year we review the business and customer reviews to improve ourselves with this sustainability policy as a starting point.