Sauca Botanicals to expand services to new location in ’23
Puerto Rico-based organic skin care brand Sauca Botanicals expects to expand its current in-store services to a new location in 2023, to have a pick-up area, workshop, and office, as well as develop new products that may be multiuse and others that may benefit male clientele.
Sauca Botanicals was created in 2019 after an approximate investment of $10,000, and it currently has 10 nut-free and essential oil free products selling throughout Puerto Rico and the United States through some retailers and its website.
“I saw that what is worked for skin care is very handmade and of not very good quality, so I felt that I could bring something of good quality and organic,” said Karen Albors, owner of Sauca Botanicals.
“I discarded all kinds of conventional products because I wanted to lead a very clean lifestyle in terms of food and products I used and started selling my first three products to some stores and to people who knew me, until the demand continued, and I was increasing production,” said Albors.
Albors doesn’t have any employees at the moment, but wants to hire part-time people to help her manage pop-up store events that Sauca Botanicals will attend, like they have before, as News is my Business reported.
The ingredients used for product creation are mostly harvested in Puerto Rico and in the Caribbean, because as Albors explained, Puerto Rico does not produce it, or for minimal quantities and she wants to highlight Caribbean flora.
Due to this, the vetiver essential oil Sauca Botanicals uses is purchased from Haití, and more than 90% of the ingredients that the company uses, have been certified organic by the Oregon Tilth and the United States Department of Agriculture Organic.
“I consume plants that can benefit the skin, from a lady’s farm in Hato Rey, some organic beeswax from Yauco, and pennyroyal from around the island,” said Albors.
“Before, I brought one of the essential oils from Colombia, but now I will start bringing one from Bulgaria, as it is more organic,” said Albors.
Sauca Botanicals are available in stores in Puerto Rican stores in San Juan, Guaynabo, Rincón, Vieques, as well as stores in the US mainland, like Desert Moon Market in Arizona, Pure Soul in New York, and Good Sister Shop in Washington.
About 75% of the company’s customer base comes from the continental US, such as California, Texas, New York, and Florida, and Sauca Botanicals has even made international sales, although minimal.
Albors said she will evaluate staying in the metro area or moving to a rural area to plant some species that could serve use for new products and recently got a $15,000 loan from Microfinance company Kiva.
Sauca Botanicals was currently accepted on the BULLETIN and Shoppe Object platforms that serve to expose the brand to buyers or retailers in the United States, like PRoduce and UVA, which the company already has a presence in for Puerto Rico.
