"The world doesn't need another brand/product". That was my wife Frauke's first reaction when I told her about the idea of ​​founding an Ayurveda brand. She was right and thanks to her I really thought long and hard about what the values ​​of āsmi are and what is its raison d'être. Ayurveda, as I understand it, means being in balance with oneself, the society with which we share our lives and the environment in which we live.

Although we are still a long way from achieving our goals, the last three years have given me a lot of hope that a different and sustainable way of building a company is possible. We have all been bombarded with terms like sustainability and social responsibility, so I thought I would share how we implement some of these principles at āsmi.

Sustainable and regional packaging
After Dr. Sreekrishnan formulated our Ayurvedic teas and we found a 140-year-old tea manufacturer from Hamburg to import the organic ingredients, it was time to work out the packaging for the teas.

I visited several packaging fairs and spoke to dozens of suppliers who politely explained to me that it was naive to produce the tea tins in Germany. There is only one manufacturer of tin cans in Germany - Klann Packaging in Landshut, and it is almost twice as expensive as importing the tins from the Far East. After visiting Klann, it was more than obvious that they should be our partner. Not only do they make the tins from 94% recycled metal, their quality standard is so high that we could package without any plastic at all! Even the compostable refill bags and labels are made near Bielefeld.

Social Production
After the packaging was completed, it was time to find a partner to fill the teas. The choice was easy. Wertkreis in Gütersloh is known in the region for employing people with and without disabilities. Mr. Fortmann, who leads the team there, is happy to work with them because filling the teas is an easy and safe task that can be assigned to his team. Plus, they love the smell of the spices! Since everything is packed by hand, our batches are small. This means we have less in stock, take good care of each batch and feel no sales pressure. The same goes for our Ayurvedic salt. It is made by mixing salt from Italy with Ayurvedic spices in the same facility.

ProWerk Bethel, another integrative facility for people with disabilities, is responsible for storing and shipping our products. There, too, we do not have a fulfillment center where stressed employees have to pick and pack the products within minutes and where they are completely under camera surveillance. Our products are packaged by hand, without any time pressure.

Our silk scarves, made by a women's collective in India, are a non-violent silk production combined with social employment for women from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Clean Capital
Our capital should be as clean as our ingredients. After speaking to several investors and VCs, it was clear to me that the slow and sustainable growth we were planning was not compatible with the fast scaling of the VC world. We would have to automate and outsource a large part of our work. That's why we finance ourselves through a loan from KfW Bank in cooperation with Volksbank Bielefeld Gütersloh. This ensures that we do not use money earned through unfair practices in opaque structures.

None of this would have been possible without your generous support by purchasing our products. That's why this Christmas I am very grateful to each and every one of you who spends your hard-earned money. 100% of what you spend on āsmi goes to our partners - because we don't take a salary for our work and finance ourselves through other professional commitments. This means that you are supporting regional and sustainable companies in Germany. In this anonymous hyper-global world, such actions can make a difference.

This holiday season, we would like to share 10% of our sales with "Thanaal", a long-standing and trusted NGO in Kerala, India. They work on projects to protect the environment and reduce plastic consumption.

As melodramatic as it may sound, you confirm my belief that we as humanity have the chance to create something beautiful and sustainable. I would like to thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart for that.

Photo by Brian Garrity on Unsplash