LEPSU ORGANIC; VALUE FROM START TO FINISH

September 6, 2022 12:47 am | Posted in Business Profiles | Share now TwitterFacebook

Lepsu Organic is a local business based in East Santo, it specializes in body care products made with the most pristine natural resources Vanuatu has to offer to promote Vanuatu’s copra
industry and showcase the versatile use of the tree of life.

The local brand makes soap, coconut
oil, and infused oils using other ingredients such as Moringa, Aloe Vera, Kava, Ginger, and Lilly. It is
soon to expand into making creams, Shampoo, body lotion, and laundry detergent that users can use with freshwater and seawater.

The Owner and founder of Lepsu organic, Odil Soksok shared that
he had gained his passion for soap making while he was working as a soap maker for a business that also created body care products.

There, he not only learned the process of taking natural resources and
creating handcrafted products but also the value of the natural resources Vanuatu is rich in.

“What particularly interested me was the use of copra, where we would extract oil and create many things from the pure oil. That is what gave me the passion to start my own business in 2016” said Soksok.

“ Coconut is a resource Vanuatu has that is used in every way, in every state of the coconut. It is regarded as the tree of life.”

While the brand Lepsu organic takes great pride in being 100% organic with health benefits, local, considerate to the lifestyles in Vanuatu, and directly linked to farmers, the story behind the brand is what Mr. Soksok claims to be its greatest distinction.

“My Parents were copra sellers; they were not able to continue to pay for my school fees after grade 12. With that in mind, I think strongly about creating a business that can put more value on copra and the coconut industry so there is enough money being made in that industry by farmers, and future
parents to make enough income from their plantations of coconut so they do not have to experience the same things,” said Mr. Soksok.

“It is about putting money back into the pockets of our farmers.”

Me Soksok shared that when he started out the business, he had made all his
products manually in a small makeshift factory that changed when Lepsu participated in the Vanuatu Agritourism program run by the Department of tourism in 2020.

As an operator, the program equipped him with useful tools and skills for his industry, reinforced thinking outside the box, and provided him with a fund of VT1Million.

Lepsu Organic utilized 50% of the fund to purchase the necessary machines for the production process including an oil press that compresses 400Kgs of copra a day making 100 Litres of oil that can be used to make 1,350 bars of soap.

The other 50% of that fund is going towards the Lepsu Organic Factory that
is being erected in a remote part of Santo.

“Lepsu is currently working closely with two local copra farmers. I chose a remote site for the factory so that the production site can be close to farmers, where we can get copra from them directly and give them back good income right on their doorsteps,” said Mr. Soksok.

Lepsu purchases 1Kg of copra from farmers for VT60 and despite market prices changing, I maintain a stable price of VT60. In addition, the ground coconut produced after compressing the coconut is given back to the farmers as feed for livestock.

The brand has big plans as Odil said once the factory has been established, he will be hiring workers and securing an oil press machine that can compress 7 tonnes of copra a day.

“This will allow me to work with more farmers and increase my production rate. Once that is done, Lepsu will look to export its products once more.”

The prices Lepsu applies to its products are fairly low in order to encourage the local economy to buy locally made products that have been made with the goal of adding value to the resources that have been used to passionately create the Lepsu body care products.

Mr. Soksok is passionate, innovative, and optimistic about the potential of natural resources when fully utilized.

“Lepsu is among the businesses that are trying to drive the market and our economy because it is the only road to self-reliance and we are all about adding value to our economy and to our resources.”