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There are many companies that supply science-backed patented ingredients for the millions of consumer products for health rejuvenation and maintenance.

But – what else do they do?

“Giving back” is not just a phrase to use to appeal to a group of people who prioritize altruistic behavior. In fact, it’s really not about words at all – it’s about action.

HP Ingredients founder, Annie Eng, and her team believe in showing gratitude for good fortune – and that that good fortune springs from hard work, ethics and a touch of humility in the goal of helping millions of people they never met to live more fruitful lives.

There are certainly divisive lines – the haves and the have nots. When it comes to the ability to be healthy, the “haves” have funds and wherewithal at their fingertips; while the have nots don’t. As we all know, most diseases are indiscriminate, and all lives matter.

And everyone can agree that the most vulnerable are children, babies and pregnant mothers who only want to give birth to healthy infants.

In April, HP Ingredients donated $10,000 to Vitamin Angels to support its new Global Prenatal Campaign, whose goal is to “eliminate newborn mortality around childbirth due to vitamin deficiency disease by 2030.”

We achieved an unprecedented 65% growth for first quarter 2018 over first quarter 2017, and a 22% growth in 2017 over 2016. With the obvious support and trust the industry has in us and our ingredients, allowing us to achieve this dramatic growth, it made tremendous sense to give back to the renowned charity that promotes goodwill throughout the globe and actually saves lives. We are humbled to be part of Vitamin Angels’ efforts and its goals.

And, we cannot be who we are without the people who are in the fields growing, tending to and harvesting the raw materials for our ingredients. They are pretty amazing! And we ensure that our gratitude towards them is shown by supporting them.

For example, in Malaysia, we support the Orang Asli communities by hiring only the Orang Asli to collect Tongkat ali (the source ingredient for our LJ100®) from the rainforests, and we likewise continue to employ the Mapuche Indians in Chilean Patagonia to collect maqui berries (the source for our MaquiBerry) for us.

We work closely with the government of Malaysia to prevent exploitation of the Orang Asli by requiring a license to harvest the herb, and only the Orang Asli are allowed to collect Tongkat ali in the rainforests. Further, in a concerted effort to preserve the interests of local business, we work with the Malaysian government to prevent export of the raw Tongkat ali root to other countries, especially China.

We practice fair trade by paying the Orang Asli, Mapuche Indians, and organic farmers in Italy and India (other locations where the material for our science-backed ingredients are cultivated) fair prices for their efforts.

For instance, once processed, the Tongkat ali root can fetch a higher price than raw (unprocessed) root on the market. Therefore, a post-harvest facility was set up within the Orang Asli village to accommodate the processing of collected Tongkat ali roots by drying, grinding and packing to prepare for transport. This setting creates a mutually beneficial eco-system as the Orang Asli will be able to supply the raw material at a higher value, and benefit from a secure and steady demand; it also allows us to obtain raw materials with consistent standards — crucial to the extraction and manufacturing of LJ100®.

We ensure sustainable harvesting is practiced by planting seedlings in the rainforest.

In the Chilean Patagonia region, we train the Mapuche Indians how to use pruning techniques during harvesting.  We support the Mapuche Indians by donating computers that are equipped with Mapudungan language to their schools.

At HP Ingredients, we will continue to seek out opportunities to help others, to give back, to support.

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