SUPPORTING SUPPLIERS ACROSS THE GLOBE

We take great pride in our unique and long-standing supplier relationships. In fact, one supplier in particular – a village at the foot of the Usambara Mountains in Tanzania – has been working with us for over 80 years.

The Sigie Segoma story

Called Segoma, the village is situated within an old estate which was owned by a German, General Von Brandis. In the 1930s, Von Brandis planted bitter orange trees in the village. These trees are the source of the bitter orange oil we continue to buy today.

The estate itself dates back to the early 1900s. Trees were planted between 1904 and 1914 for bitter orange juice, used to coagulate with crude rubber. By 1935, the estate had 45,000 bitter orange trees. In other sections of the estate, every square hectare was surrounded by a double row of oranges, some amongst sisal, mostly overgrown with kapak, rubber and bush. Despite Von Brandis’ wealth and the huge amounts of money he ploughed into the estate, it remained unprofitable.

The then Chairman of Treatt, Mr E W Bovill, visited the estate in 1935, describing it as “one of the loveliest places he had ever seen”. He stated that it was an incredible sight with millions of oranges on the trees and rotting on the ground. “As you can imagine,” he wrote, “it went to my heart to see such a waste of fruit and then I found they had a couple of hand equelles which had never been used. I set a couple of people to work at once and they got about a kilo of oil out of 1,000 oranges. ”

Although very different now, the photos and Film here show how Segoma has retained its natural beauty.

Showing our support

During a trip to Africa in 2002, we decided to increase our support of the villagers and the workers and help improve their quality of life. Our donations of books and wind-up radios have assisted the education of the village, and at Treatt’s expense the village school has been roofed and accommodation has been built for the school teachers.

Treatt continues to help the villagers, supporting improvements for people in this remote corner of Africa and elsewhere in the world.

Treatt sources product from all corners of the globe. Treatt travels regularly to suppliers to review their facilities, production methods and to ensure continual supply as well as ensuring rules governing international labour regulations are observed.

About: Treatt USA About: Treatt China About: Earthoil