Elevating the dream: Alaffia succeeds with body-care products

The American Dream is alive and well, a dream taking place inside a 75,000-square-foot facility in Olympia where raw ingredients, imported from the West African country of Togo, are transformed into body-care products and sold throughout the U.S.

Eight years ago, the business that would eventually become known as Alaffia was simply two people living in a mobile home on Steamboat Island, transforming raw shea butter into a hand cream, their first finished product.

The business name Alaffia, which means peace and health, now sells 200 fair-trade products to 2,000 natural food stores in the U.S., including the two co-op locations in Olympia, Marlene’s Natural Foods Market & Deli in Tacoma and the big one, Whole Foods, which began selling Alaffia products in 2006.

Co-founder and managing director Olowo-n’djo Tchala, who started the business with his wife and co-founder, Rose Hyde, said he hasn’t had time to step back and admire what Alaffia has become. “I don’t think we’ve really begun,” said Tchala, 36, about Alaffia’s potential to grow.

Tchala was born and raised in Togo, one of eight siblings who later dropped out of school in the sixth grade, just like so many children do in one of the poorest countries in the world, he said.

His education didn’t stop there, though, because he was later able to attend the University of California, Davis, where he studied organizational theory and had a vision for a business with a moral component – one that would give back to the country he was from, but also empower the people – mostly women – to work and create and to break the cycle of constantly being dependent on foreign aid.

With a nod to his mother who raised eight children and others like her, Alaffia’s co-operatives in Togo and Ghana – shea butter, coconut and hand-woven basket co-ops – employ more than 700 women. Shea butter and coconut, for example, are then imported through the Port of Tacoma and transformed into body care products, such as soap, shampoo, body washes and lip balm, at its warehouse near Olympia Regional Airport.

Sale proceeds also are invested into community projects back in Togo, including schools, maternal health, reforestation and bicycle donations. The company’s next bike drive is set for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 25 at downtown Olympia’s Fish Tale Brew Pub, the collection site for donated bikes.

But Tchala said it’s not just about helping Togo; he also has his eyes on this community, wanting to purchase supplies, such as bottles, boxes and labels, from companies in the U.S. to keep Americans employed.

Downtown Olympia’s Radiance Herbs and Massage also sells Alaffia products, co-owner Karin Seabert Olsen said, adding that Alaffia’s business values are in line with Radiance’s values.

“It’s an amazing product that feels good, smells good and also is creating a better world,” she said.

Alaffia

Owners: Olowo-n’djo Tchala and Rose Hyde

Location: Deschutes Industrial Park, across from Olympia Regional Airport

Years in business: Eight.

Service: Manufacturer and distributor of body care products.

Employees: 60.

Online: alaffia.com

Did you know? Co-founder and managing director Olowo-n’djo Tchala is from the West African country of Togo, a country of about seven million people. The country was colonized by the Germans in the 1880s, then the French took over after the end of World War I. Togo finally gained its independence from the French in the 1960s, but has been ruled by one family ever since – first the father and now his son, Tchala said.

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