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Taylor MacKay

Taylor MacKay

VP of Strategic Sourcing
dōTERRA
18 June 2025

dōTERRA sells essential oils and related natural products. What is its approach to sourcing and to environmental stewardship?

We are one of the largest essential oil companies in the world, founded on the idea of natural wellness products to support people's wellness and health journeys. We source over 180 essential oils and other ingredients from about 45 different countries around the world, many of which are low or middle-income countries. This provides a unique and powerful opportunity for us to be a force for good in the world through our supply chain activities.

We have a diverse global supply chain portfolio. Some production activities are wholly owned by dōTERRA, like in Bulgaria, Hawaii, or Pennsylvania, while others are joint ventures, like in Kenya, Madagascar, Albania, or Belgium. We also have more traditional supplier/buyer relationships in other cases. In all of these, we have an extensive sourcing team based in countries such as Rwanda, China, Australia, and Brazil. These sourcing managers spend a lot of time on the ground managing their sourcing portfolios and relationships, connecting the dots and driving our sustainability and ethical sourcing agenda forward.

Can you share some examples of company actions that illustrate that force-for-good effect?

We have taken an intentional approach to supply chain and sourcing decisions through an impact and sustainability lens. Where we have the option to launch a new product with an ingredient from country X versus country Y, if we feel we can have a greater impact in country Y, we prioritize it.

We call it our co-impact sourcing strategy, which aims to responsibly and ethically source raw materials in ways that honor the people and the planet that produce them.

A good example would be tea tree, a very important product for us that goes into many of our finished goods. Tea tree is originally from Australia, and while we do source from Australia and support the Australian tea tree farmers, we also source a lot of our tea tree from Africa, specifically Kenya. We work with thousands of small-scale farms who grow tea tree on an acre or less of land. This gives them access to a global market and economic opportunities they might not otherwise have, as tea tree is drought and flood resistant, making it ideal for small-scale farming.

How competitive is the global market for oils and why do farmers choose to collaborate with dōTERRA?

There is a lot of competition in the global market for tea tree and essential oils in general. What we bring to the table is a long-term relationship that gives farmers, distillers, and supply chain partners confidence that the partnership will be sustainable for a reasonable amount of time. This allows us to jointly make investments toward our collective future and reduces the volatility and uncertainty that often drive sustainability concerns in global supply chains. We also consider factors like competitive pricing while ensuring it is financially sustainable for all parties, which is a complex but important aspect of our approach.

Can you trace the source for another common botanical product that may surprise readers? 

A product many people are familiar with is lavender, a common ingredient in household and consumer goods. We have an extensive lavender global supply chain, with much of our lavender coming from Eastern Europe and Bulgaria. That is a facility that we own outright, and we work with an amazing team there who network with farmers locally. These farmers produce this incredible botanical, which is then distilled by our team in Bulgaria and shipped worldwide.

Bulgaria is one of the largest producers of lavender globally. This has been a result of decades of agricultural initiatives in the country. France is another large producer, and we also produce some lavender in Albania. 

Has dōTERRA experienced any sourcing disruptions due to climate changes, like water stress or extreme heat?

Yes, definitely. We have faced challenges, but we have built significant inventory reserves in some cases to weather those storms. While this can mitigate disruptions on our end, it still impacts our growers and distillers. For example, cyclones in Madagascar have affected clove farmers and trees, while in Guatemala, climate change has resulted in greater drought and flooding cycles and is pushing cardamom cultivation higher up in elevation, which brings price pressure and volatility to these commodities.

dōTERRA also has a philanthropic initiative called the Healing Hands Foundation. What environmental and social impact has it achieved?

We have intentionally decided to mirror our corporate philanthropy through our Healing Hands Foundation to impact our sourcing communities and countries. Through donations and campaigns, we work with sourcing partners and NGOs to support community needs. For example, we have funded scholarship programs for farmers' children to attend high school or beyond, and supported community water projects in Nepal, Haiti, and Kenya, working closely with partners to meet local needs.

What aspects of dōTERRA’s sourcing strategy will you develop further in 2025 and 2026? 

One of our key initiatives is our Challenge Fund, a grant program where we collaborate with suppliers to assess their sustainability and responsible sourcing activities and support meaningful opportunities for improvement. Suppliers can request funding for projects like training manuals or PPE for harvesters, such as copaiba harvesters in the Amazon. We are also working with third-party verification bodies to evaluate and consult on our sourcing practices, and to support our supply chain partners in improving their responsible sourcing practices. This is an exciting area for us to further progress along our sustainability journey in 2025 and 2026.