Savory Lotus – Economy of Love

Traceback your sesame

and explore your

impact on the people

and the environment

Creating a

FAIR ECONOMY

$ 8168

are invested in support of the small farmers of EoL to plant more trees.

Creating a

FAIR SOCIETY

100%

of the small farmers of EoL are provided capacity building and technical training on the methods of the biodynamic agriculture

Life Long Learning &

WELLBEING

10%

of the working time in Isis and Lotus factories is dedicated to art and self-development activities; to promote wellbeing and happiness at work.

Protecting the

ENVIRONMENT

10%

of cultivated farmland is dedicated to biodiversity, giving a home to bees, birds, and pollinators and creating a healthy farm ecosystem.

Farming

This sesame originated in Egypt, in locations along the Nile delta like Fayoum, Minia, Aswan, and more. It grows on Demeter and organic certified farms, following the holistic principles of Economy of Love for biodynamic agriculture.

The farms are treated as a whole organism in which each element of the farm contribute to its well-being. Plant waste and animal manure are treated into compost that boosts the regenerative ability of the soil and humus formation.

Following biodynamic principles, the farms use biodynamic spray and compost preparations on the crop which boosts the quality and regenerative capacity of the soil

Economy of Love builds the capacity and expertise of the small farmer in biodynamic agriculture by linking them to associations that provide the guidance of agricultural engineers specialized in biodynamic agricultural methods.

Meet the Farmers

Get to the Source of Production

Marzouq

Farmer in El Wahat El Bahareya, Egypt

Marzouq Ahmed and his brother Ibrahim are owners of the El-Rahma Date farm in Baharyais. For over thirty years he and Ibrahim are supplying Sekem with their biodynamic dates.

Waleed

Farmer in El Wahat El Bahareya, Egypt

Waleed is an agriculture engineer in Wahat SEKEM. His children study at SEKEM school, also his wife teaches Arabic there. They are living a wonderful new experience surrounded by calming beautiful places. He’s a hard worker farmer trying to cover all the herbs needed in the market.

Processing

The sesame comes directly from the farm and arrives at Lotus company. Lotus does sample tests to ensure the organic and Demeter production of the sesame. Once it passes the test the sesame is then taken to be purified, sieved, and cleaned into raw sesame.

Lotus machines are currently running on non-renewable energy, but they have a plan to replace it with renewable energy to reduce their carbon footprint.

Lotus offsets its carbon emission by buying carbon credits from local sources that guarantee the support of small farmers.

As a processor of organic raw materials, lotus generates large masses of organic waste, that are being sent to compost sites to be turned into compost.

Processing

The raw sesame doesn’t have to travel far to reach iSiS factory, being close neighbors just across the street from each other. At iSiS the sesame is packaged in 5kg plastic bags that are then vacuumed and sucked of all the air ready to be sent to Agro Sourcing in France.

The plastic bags that the sesame is temporarily packaged in are made of non-recyclable plastic bags.

iSiS sells its recyclable no-organic waste to external recycling entities while reducing its waste. iSiS was able to reduce 77% of its no-organic waste as well as reducing 25% of its organic waste.

You will find confident and active women all around you when entering the iSiS factory. iSiS empowers women through sessions that build their capacity and teach them how to voice their needs and individuality.

Packing

Now the sesame arrives at Agro Sourcing in France. As sesame is an allergen it is sent to ESAT Les Cigales Jean Paour; a specialized facility for packing. After which the Agro Sourcing sesame is ready to be distributed throughout France.

The ESAT is employing 120 disabled people, with an aim to provide the opportunity to learn and develop their skills and gain independence through their jobs.

The establishment cares about equality and having a balance between the worker’s genders as they have 37 women and 83 men.

ESAT abide by the Economy of Love code of conduct, with a special attention that goes into their employees well being.

Packaging Material

The packaging material has as big of an impact on the environment as the product processing that cannot be neglected.

The raw sesame is packaged in bags made of a mixture of paper and polyethylene, with more than 50% of it being paper. They choose this material to have the least environmental impact while also maintaining the quality of the sesame

The packaging is made from a recyclable FSC certified material, sourced from a company called Deltasacs located in france

The packaging is not only about the material but also the design. Agro Sourcing displays a beautiful appreciation towards the farmer’s hard work by showcasing a picture of one of the sesame farmers on their package.

Distribution

The sesame is distributed all over France; in organic retailers, independent shops, bulk shops and organic e-shops.

The sesame is first transported from Egypt to Marseille harbor in France using sea freight, to minimize their carbon footprint, and then by trucks to Agro Sourcing facilities.

Agro Sourcing is actively taking action towards reducing their transportation emissions through the optimization of their logistic plans. That includes having a central delivery point in France, and order preparation facilities in Lyon.

Agro Sourcing is currently working on soft mobility testing on the last kilometers to reduce their carbon emissions.

Check out where your product has been!

Eraky Farm

Abd El-Ghaffar Farm

El-Gezerah Farm

Mahmoud Rabie Farm

El Manashy Farm

Agro Sourcing

ESAT Les Cigales Jean Paour

Packaging facility

Meet the Employees

The people who processed, packaged and distributed your product

Hassan

Factory Engineer in Lotus

Hassan is in charge of the raw cleaning and packing machine in the processing facility of Lotus. Since 17 years he is working in Lotus and enjoys that work here is combined with culture program.

Marwa

Quality Manager in IsIs

Marwa has been working in the tea department of IsIs factory for more than 8 years. Together with her husband and two children she lives on the Sekem mother farm.

Patrick

worker at ESAT LES CIGALES

Patrick with a preference for sensing crunchy mixes is one of the oldest employees at Esat Les Cigales and is the right hand of Agro Sourcing being one of the people who saw all the developments of the workshop throughout the years. He controls the goods process from delivery, filling and more.

Claude Hervé

workshop instructor at ESAT LES CIGALES

Claude’s typical day as a monitor is open the workshop, make a quick observation to know the work situation, distribute the tasks, and also contact the customers on a daily basis.

What is the True Price?

Are there hidden costs that the price doesn't reflect?

True Price Comparision

Sustainably and ethically produced products add value to society and the environment. However, when comparing prices, we don’t take into account the long-term and externalized impact of the products we purchase.

When calculating and comparing the true price of the product we don’t consider the long-term impact of the product. For example, the cultivation of this sesame produces around 0.39 kg Co2-eq per kilo of sesame, costing society up to 0.044 USD/Kilo.

We encourage you to compare products based on their true price; the price that reflects the hidden costs that we and future generations eventually pay for.

This cultivation of the Sesame emits up to

0.2 Kg Co2-eq/package

Examples of Hidden Costs

Costs that are not reflected on the price tag, but are eventually paid by society

WATER

REPROCESSING COST

Society is paying taxes to clean water sources from agriculture’s chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, as well as the irresponsible disposal of wastewater from factories, in order to make it usable/drinkable water.