São Paulo – A group of women from the Brazilian state of Alagoas is making bath soap in the style of Cleopatra, the ancient Egyptian queen known for her beauty. Cleopatra, who rose to the throne at age 17, used to bathe in goat’s milk. And the women from Alagoas make goat’s milk soap. There are 20 of them, affiliated with the Maravilha Handcrafted Cosmetics Association (Natucapri), and they want to increase domestic sales of the soap and then export as well. The target? It does not matter. “Our dream is to export,” says the CEO of Natucapri, Angelina Barreiros dos Santos.
It all started around 2006, when the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebrae), which coordinates a local cluster for the goat and lamb industry, invited women from the municipalities of Maravilha and Ouro Branco, both in Alagoas, to a course on goat’s milk soap making. The women from Maravilha became interested in the subject and kept on taking courses in how to manage associations and also in price formation. And thus they established the cooperative.
Angelina, a leader at the rural community in which she lives, jumped on the bandwagon halfway through the journey, after she took the course in association management. She wanted training in order to improve her work within the community. There she met those who are now her work colleagues. It was also there that she was invited to work with them and to establish the association she now presides. Presently, they work at headquarters rented by the local city hall, in the urban area of Maravilha. The affiliates take turns doing the various tasks required. They all do everything, from producing and packing the soap to cleaning up the premises.
Produce, according to Angelina, varies much. It ranges from 200 to 300 units a month, but may reach 800. The largest volume is traded when Natucapri participates in fairs with the assistance of the Sebrae or if it goes to family farming fairs, for example. This is so true that profits are not shared among the associates on a monthly basis. It all depends on the volume of funds coming in. It may take place twice in a calendar month, if there is a fair, for example, or just once every two months. But, apart from the sale at fairs, Natucapri sells in the city and also receives orders by telephone or e-mail, according to Angelina.
The group is awaiting inspection by the Sanitary Vigilance to get the sanitary seal and expand sales in Brazil and then abroad. Some soap, according to Angelina, has already been shipped abroad, to the United States, sent as gifts by Brazilians. The product, according to Angelina, is extremely moisturising. “Goat milk has vitamin A, the closest PH to that of human skin, making dry skin tender and oily less oily,” said Angelina. According to her, the product is also sought by men interested in reducing hair loss.
The soaps are produced in several scents. They include, for example, oats, honey, passion fruit, camomile and cinnamon. Passion fruit, for example, is soothing. Camomile is soothing and relaxing, and cinnamon is energising and an aphrodisiac. “They are all moisturising,” said Angelina. The suppliers of goat milk are the owners of small farms in Alagoas. The goat milk baths of queen Cleopatra used to be mentioned by the producer of Natucapri soap to advertise the product.
Contact
Natucapri
Telephone: (+55 82) 3625 1422
E-mail: natucapri@oi.com.br
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum and Mark Ament
