Suhartono Raharjo
Azimah Subagijo
Endang Darajat
IPMI International Business School
Amelia Naim Indrajaya
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The impact of environmental pollution through the use of chemicals in personal care product compositions has become a very significant issue since 2000 in Indonesia. Many personal care products are labeled natural, but only as branding.
Starting with an interest in the concept of using truly natural ingredients in personal care products, Nadia Saib, then a student majoring in pharmacy, began to test the composition of apple soaps that are labeled as natural. The result of her testing proved that the soap did not contain extracts of apple, but did contain many chemicals less friendly to the body. In addition, she found that there are no regulations governing the use of chemicals or discerning when a product can use the word natural on the label.
Nadia Saib, now CEO of Wangsa Jelita, was inspired to create a business making personal care products that really are natural. 100% of the ingredients in the product are not harmful to the body and are instead, beneficial for customers, the environment, and society. In addition, they created Wangsa Jelita to empower rose farmers in the Lembang and Sarongge communities in Cianjur.
There are many so called natural products available in the market yet there is no regulation on the use of the term natural. This makes it very difficult for people to distinguish natural products from chemically laden ones containing only a few natural extracts. Wangsa Jelita discloses every single ingredient it uses and educates the market about the real benefits of using natural personal care products.
Along the way, Nabila realized the potential of this enterprise to benefit the local community, especially farmers. "Ever since, we changed the core of our business from the profit maximizing business to the business with social impact," Nabila explained.
When Nabila Saib formed Wangsa Jelita, it was kind of a hobby investment. Since then it has grown into something where she can live her ideals about what a business should be. She didn’t know about social enterprise, but now she is one of the young social entrepreneurs in Asia taking proven action to create business sustainability and support a flourishing social community.
In 2008, based on the experimental results of her final graduation project, she was curious about the health properties of green tea and began to create 100% natural soap with green tea as the major ingredient.
She recognized that personal care products are a promising market. She originally wanted to make a strawberry soap, but she discovered that roses are more beneficial than strawberries because they are chemically very suitable for use as a body cleanser.
Nabila Saib was inspired to create a social enterprise called the Wangsa JELITA, which literally means "the Beautiful Dynasty," committed to helping the marginalized farming community produce natural ingredients, such as roses, to produce world-class quality natural beauty products. "We committed to purchase their crops at a fair trade price and find ways to incorporate their crops in our product lines," explained Nabila during our interview. "Also, we give back 10% of the profits from the sale of each product to fund the development of a processing facility allowing farmers to process their crops to create higher-value, more sustainable products."
Wangsa Jelita demonstrates how we can combine local wisdom and back to nature principles with innovative business practices that provide benefits to the community and protect the environment.
Wangsa Jelita provides education on how to do business and remain aware of the environment and earth while changing the consumer's mindset about the benefits of using natural personal care products.
Starting in 2008, Wangsa Jelita has grown into a profitable business by creating a beautiful house of shared value. They produce a natural product that is good for people, good for the environment and their communities. From year to year, more and more product variations are developed by Wangsa Jelita generating greater business volumes. They are now subcontracting to a few small factories that meet their standards to help other businesses flourish.
Rose Farmers and the Sarongge community provides evidence of how Wangsa Jelita is a social enterprise that adds value by creating a more profitable market for roses and other natural ingredients. This creates a win-win; a win for the "beautiful dynasty", community, and environment.
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Nabila Saib, CEO and Founder of Wangsa Jelita
