The European Union’s Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) requires companies to ensure their commodities—like palm oil, cocoa butter, and shea butter—are free from links to deforestation. However, traditional shea butter production methods rely heavily on firewood, leading to deforestation. This puts brands at risk of non-compliance. Set to take effect in 2025, food and cosmetics brands face pressure to address the environmental impact of their supply chains.
Forestwise, a startup from the Netherlands, offers a solution with Illipe butter— a sustainable, traceable alternative to shea butter. Harvested from the rainforests of Borneo, Illipe butter meets EUDR requirements and helps brands maintain consumer trust.
We spoke with Forestwise founder Dirk-Jan to delve deeper into their diverse range of natural products, such as illipe butter, coconut oil, candlenut oil, and arenga sugar and their impact on sustainability. The products have versatile applications in the cosmetics and food industries. This interview is part of Scouted series. In this series, we spotlight innovative startups and speak to their founders about how their solutions can be implemented to solve critical challenges and comply with industry and sustainability regulations. You can find all those interviews here.
We register how many nuts we buy from each farmer, how those nuts move from their location to our factory, then to the refinery in the Netherlands, and finally to the end consumer. So the end consumer, with the help of this app, can trace exactly where their illipe butter originated, right down to the farmer or the specific area of the forest.
– Dirk-Jan Oudshoorn, Founder and CEO Forestwise
Dirk-Jan Oudshoorn is the Co-Founder and CEO of Forestwise. With a background in technology management engineering, Oudshoorn has over a decade of experience in Indonesia, particularly in operations management within the sustainability sector in Sulawesi and Kalimantan. Under Oudshoorn’s leadership, Forestwise has implemented forest protection agreements with multiple villages in West Kalimantan, collectively safeguarding thousands of hectares of rainforest. He aims to collaborate with over 1,000 raw material collectors to expand its impact by increasing forest protection to 500,000 hectares and reaching 10,000 beneficiaries by 2030.
Overview: Forestwise’s Sustainable Illipe Butter Preserving Rainforests and Transforming Cosmetics and Chocolate
The Illipe trees in West Kalimantan, Indonesia, once had high economic value but lost it over time. This led to widespread deforestation as local communities turned to commercial monoculture plantations, such as palm oil, to earn a living.
To address this, Forestwise launched a mission to stop deforestation and create economic value for rainforest ingredients. The startup develops sustainable markets for rainforest products, giving local communities a monetary incentive to protect and preserve the remaining rainforest.
Forestwise’s illipe butter is a sustainable alternative to shea and cocoa butter. It has a significantly higher melting point than both. This feature makes it ideal for applications requiring heat resistance. For example, it works well in cosmetics with solid lotions and body butter. It is also suitable for chocolates in warmer climates, like the Middle East, where the higher melting point prevents chocolate from melting during storage or transportation.
Want to know more about Forestwise’s unique forest-based ingredients? Read this exclusive conversation with Dirk-Jan.
Highlights from the conversation
What is Forestwise, and how is it helping communities and saving rainforests?
Dirk-Jan: Forestwise started in 2018, inspired by the need to support local communities in West Kalimantan who were losing economic opportunities tied to the rainforest. By creating sustainable markets for rainforest products like illipe nuts, we aim to make keeping the rainforest standing more valuable than cutting it down for monoculture plantations like palm oil.
What makes Illipe butter unique and sustainable compared to alternatives?
Dirk-Jan: Illipe butter, native to Indonesia, is harvested sustainably from trees hundreds of years old. Its high melting point makes it ideal for solid formulations like bar soaps and moisturizing products, and it’s used by brands like Lush. Additionally, through agreements with communities, we ensure rainforest protection by guaranteeing offtake and sustainable practices.
How does Forestwise support sustainability regulations for cosmetic companies?
Dirk-Jan: We offer organic and Fair for Life certifications, ensuring fair pricing for farmers and a social impact premium. Our products also comply with the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), helping companies align with policies requiring traceable and sustainable sourcing for commodities linked to deforestation.
What challenges has Forestwise faced, and how have they been addressed?
Dirk-Jan: Breaking into the market with a new product like illipe butter and navigating Indonesia’s regulatory environment were significant challenges. Perseverance, community impact, grant funding, and legal support helped us overcome these hurdles. For example, obtaining one license took three years, but it enabled us to produce cosmetic products locally.
How does Forestwise ensure traceability and transparency?
Dirk-Jan: Using a new app, we track every step, from farmer registration to product delivery, ensuring complete traceability. End consumers can see precisely where the nuts for their products originated, including details about the farmers and the land.
Author Note: Some other startups are addressing health concerns associated with conventional cosmetics by using the maximal nature of botanical ingredients. GreyB explores how My Green creates pure, chemical-free products using traditional Ayurveda, Chinese medicine, and European monasticism that contain up to 52 natural ingredients.
Meet our Interviewer – Shabaz Khan, Marketing Manager at GreyB
Shabaz Khan, a seasoned marketing manager at GreyB, leads the Scouted By GreyB campaign. With a decade of experience, he specializes in delivering critical insights to Innovation leaders, R&D, and IP teams about evolving tech landscapes, innovation trends, and emerging breakthrough startups. Shabaz excels at aligning research data with business needs and developing strategies to solve innovation challenges. His leadership and problem-solving skills make him a valuable asset in R&D and IP research.
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