Vitalia Australia | Causes We Support

At Vitalia Australia, we want to make a difference in the world - environmentally, socially and ethically. Where we can we choose businesses and organisations to support who are making a difference in the world. We realise we can't be out there doing all the things we are passionate about, but we can make a difference by helping those who are.

Kriayt is a for-profit social business, combining business know how with the desire to address social issues. We directly support the empowerment of women

The inspiration for Kriayt Social Business began when Annie was volunteering with two orphanages in Nepal. In her own country she was director of a charity and heavily raising funds for the associated costs of the children. She soon learnt that there are over 500 orphanages in Nepal, yet less than 20% of the children were actually orphans.

Most of the children’s parents were in their villages struggling with unemployment and poverty. Through research and contact with other children care organisations in Nepal it was quickly discovered that orphanages were the most corrupt and dishonest ways of caring for children Nepal. With her husband she decided to change strategy – find the children’s parents that were in the orphanage and reintegrate them, and if needed continue supporting the family with necessities such as food & education. As a mother, Annie asked the Nepali mothers ‘How did you give up your children?’ Their response was heartfelt, it came from love. They had sent their children away to an orphanage with hopes that their children would sleep at night with food in their bellies and days were filled with schooling opportunities. Looking for a long-term solution, Kriayt was developed with the intention to tackle the root cause of the issue by providing an understanding of legal rights, skill-training, and employment opportunities to girls and mothers so they could support and keep their children.

After volunteering with other women’s development projects in Nepal fulltime for almost 3 years, Annie noticed a need to develop a business model that empowered women by not just giving skills but offering employment. This was needed to generate a stable income for the women. The women could then meet their families’ needs, but also acquire skills that encouraged their continuing earning potential. Annie felt a passionate responsibility to implement her years of experience running an Art teaching studio & several shops in her country. To create a sustainable and flourishing platform where Nepali women create their handmade products and connect them to the global market. Kriayt Social Business invests in the development of women with the long-term vision of encouraging self-sustainable, independent women. Hear about the women’s stories, fall in love with and purchase their products. In this way they have the opportunity to directly contribute in supporting a stable future for themselves and their children which benefits the whole community.

Our method is to offer skill-training and employment to women from all backgrounds and social situations. We are devoted to reaching poor, marginalized and at-risk women in Nepal. We aim to help them avoid at-risk situations before they end up in them

You can support Kriayt and the women of Nepal by purchasing their Aromatherapy Toys and Accessories in our online store here.

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When Niulife first started out, Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) was unknown in Australia and around the world. It's because of what they have done over the past 22 years that it's become an industry.

Back then (and even today) low quality, mass produced coconut oils are made in factories overseas from copra which is dirty and badly contaminated. It can be weeks after the copra is dried over a smokey fire, and transported to the overseas mill, before it is pressed. The resultant oil has to be highly processed, often with chemicals, to make it taste and appear commercially acceptable. The only return to the farmer for his hard work is the low price paid for the coconuts.

This changed forever when Niulife founder, Dr Dan, invented the DME® (Direct Micro Expelling) coconut oil press and process.

The DME® Process enables local families to hand-make one of the world's freshest virgin coconut oils within an hour of opening the coconut without the need to leave their village and families. The DME® system is also easy enough for women, youth and even the disabled to use, providing opportunities for everyone in the village.

Now people in cash-poor and vulnerable remote island communities have the ability to make a good living in their own village. Income generated from virgin coconut oil sales flows back into the whole local economy.

Every DME® system provides a whole micro-economy of jobs and opportunities - from the farmers who pay their kindy fees in coconuts, to the local transport driver who delivers the coconut oil and goods from other small village businesses to the outside world.

Each DME® coconut oil press is independently owned by the villages. Not only does Niulife buy ALL the oil the villages produce upfront (as long as it meets export standards) but they also give back all the profits from the sale of every Niulife product through the DME® Village for Life™ Empowerment programs.

These programs, run by Niulife Village for Life™ Support Teams in partnership with individual village enterprises, equip locals with all the knowledge, skills and tools they need to set up and sustain their own independent small businesses and thriving micro-economy.

Every year the team continues to set new benchmarks and pioneer technologies, ideas, and opportunities for helping local villages create additional income streams by turning their coconuts into cashflow. Niulife teach organic sustainable polyculture farming techniques which utilise the space beneath coconut palms to grow other food crops. They show how biofuels from coconut oil can be used to run generators and machinery in place of diesel or petroleum-based fuels.

Plus they are always working to develop new ideas to create additional income, like making soap from the oil, handmaking certified organic products by local producers in the Philippines who support the empowerment of women living in the area and using the left-over coconut meal from DME® production for stockfeed.

At Vitalia Austraia, you can help to support this great cause by purchasing our Fractionated Coconut Oil and Niulife products here.