Lotte Tisenkopfa is the founder and managing director of the eco-cosmetics company MADARA, whose products are being exported to more than 20 countries around the globe. But it all began with an idea among friends.

The idea of producing bio cosmetics made from natural ingredients was born from personal experience. „My skin was allergic to one of the products I was using at the time. I started to study its ingredients. On the internet I found out that one of its ingredients has potential carcinogenic effect. I decided to never use such a product again,” recalls Lotte Tisenkopfa.

At that time it was difficult to find alternate products in Latvian market. „When talking to my friends, I realized I wasn’t the only one looking for natural cosmetics. Consequently we, a couple of girls, got together and decided – why couldn’t we be the ones producing natural cosmetics from Latvian plants,” says Lotte.

„At first the viability of MADARA was called into question. For example banks refused to give loans. We had strong convictions of our potential though, and we made it after all.” Now, Tisenkopfa is even happy about that the banks refused a loan. „That’s probably for the best. Initially we planned to produce many different products instantaneously – there were ideas of 20 products. Then the loan was rejected and we revaluated the whole project. Everybody considered how much money they could invest themselves, how much money could be borrowed from mom and dad, counted it all together and started with four products instead of 20. The banks’ „No” reduced our risk. There would much more to lose if we had a loan commitment. We started slowly and meanwhile we have learned much from the step-by-step development.”

The first products of MADARA appeared in shops in 2006. Presently MADARA produces 22 products and they are exported to more than 20 countries in Europe and Asia. In 2009 Switzerland, Denmark, Japan and other countries have been added to the export markets already conquered. „We started to establish export contacts at the very beginning of our business. It is not a short-term process and at this point it starts to bear fruit. The portion of export grows every month, at the moment it is approximately 50%,-70%,” says Tisenkopfa.

She is proud that even in her first year of work, MADARA succeeded in several international competitions by getting accolades for its packing and design. It is even more satisfying that the products themselves are certified by the international organization Eco Cert. This license guarantees that there are no synthetic ingredients used for the production of MADARA – it contains only biologic plants, mainly from Baltic region.

From the outset it was decided to build the company around a very Latvian identity in terms of design, ingredients, and company philosophy. „The brand of MADARA is based on our own childhood experience – running through a meadow, heeding grandma’s advice to put a plant on a bruised knee, or to wash our hair and face with chamomile flowers.”

© Text: The newspaper DIENAS BIZNESS (2009)