Quality Control
At Botanicoir we take quality control of our coir products very seriously. It is an integral part of our manufacturing process. With a dedicated quality control team, and on-site laboratories, we are able to continuously monitor quality levels and take immediate action before the final products leave our facilities. For extra peace of mind, we also send regular samples to external European labs for independent analysis.
Our in-house Quality Assurance Team are dedicated professionals with decades of experience in the coir substrate industry. For them, and Botanicoir as a whole, delivering top quality products to our customers is fundamental to our ethos, and what we all strive to achieve.
Drying coir substrate is a key part of our production process and in 2017 we were proud to be the first cocopeat producers to implement an innovative mechanical drier, designed by a team of German engineers. This ensures that we can guarantee supply to our customers, in the face of ever-changing weather patterns. To find out more, please click here.
Traceability
Botanicoir are champions of traceability throughout the supply chain, we want to know exactly where all of our products come from so we can be sure that we are not only working ethically and sustainably ourselves, but also encouraging similar practices in others.
We work closely with our suppliers to ensure that they work to the same strict ethically and environmentally responsible practices as we do. Each individual product that we produce has a unique serial number, affording us easy traceability throughout our own organisation and also our suppliers.
Our Community Projects
Our factories are based on rural Sri Lanka and India, where employment opportunities can be scarce. Botanicoir works with and for the local communities in order to improve conditions and provide opportunities for local residents.
Long term initiatives that we are involved with include improving the local infrastructure, such as roads and telephone lines which provide a basis for the local economy to expand and develop. We provide jobs for the local individuals, offering them higher, fairer wages and other employee benefits such as school books, meals, transport and regular medical check-ups.
There are 2 particular projects that are close to our hearts. One is the support of the local temple, which is an integral part of Sri Lankan culture, and who we support with activities like maintenance and community events. The other is sponsoring our local orphanage since 2005, originally set up for children left without parents after the devastating tsunami of 2004. This aids the orphanage in providing sufficient food, educational materials and maintenance, as well as special events for the children and the opportunity for work experience when they reach 18 years old and leave the orphanage.
Our People
We truly believe that our biggest asset is our people, and the “Botanicoir Family” is central to our daily behaviours with customers, suppliers and each other.
Our company culture is one of respect, kindness and consideration. We believe that people can learn a trade, but culture comes from within, so we have aligned our recruitment, training and development policies to encourage the growth of this culture.
We strive to maintain the best working conditions in our factories. We have a strict no child labour policy, set working hours and regular, ample rest periods. Supervisors are constantly present to ensure that the health and safety measures are always met. We are particularly proud of the benefits available to all employees, including a wage that is above the industry average, a healthcare scheme, meals at work for all employees, and transport to and from the factory.
Our Planet
Cocopeat (coir) is a renewable resource which is produced from the husk of a coconut. Coconuts can be harvested on average every 45 days, and there are huge amounts of research being done to increase the productivity of the existing coconut plantations, through organisations such as the Coconut Development Authority (CDA) in Sri Lanka.
One of the concerns raised about the production of coir products is over the impact that the washing and buffering processes have on the local environment. In 2015 we were proud to be the first coir substrate producer to install a state-of-the-art waste water treatment system to ensure that our growing business had nothing but positive effects on the local environment. Please click here to read more.
We have always offered recyclable plastic with our grow bags, but we wanted to go a step further in our commitment to global environmental sustainability. After years of research and trials, in 2019 we launched our first bio-degradable plastic for grow bags, which growers can simply mulch with the coir and spread on land, with zero negative impact on the local environment.
Our Certifications
SO 9001 is the international standard that specifies requirements for a quality management systems (QMS).
This certification specifies the requirements for an environmental management system that an organisation can use to enhance it’s environmental performance.
Many of our unbuffered coir products are OMRI listed, meaning that they are certified for use in organic production in the USA, Canada and other territories.- Certified in the UK, this means that our products that are unbuffered and do no include plastic packaging, are approved for organic use.