True Stories
Effort, dedication and pursuit of excellence: meet Prodotti Amano
Sebastian Quodt, co-founder of Prodotti Amano
Sebastian Quodt – once a director at an international software company – is part of the family-run team around Prodotti Amano. After more than two and a half years of research and investigations, Prodotti Amano Skincare was born as a brand that provides a pure, additive-free, 100% organic certified skincare product to replenish the nutrient deficit of your skin in a most natural way. When he is not busy with trying to transform the skincare industry, he is doing sports, hiking the alpine mountains or daydreaming of owning two Corgis.
NATRUE: When and why was Prodotti Amano created?
Sebastian: More or less by accident. Our family was gifted with a great number of olive trees about 8 years ago. Due to a persistent personal interest, we always cared about good health, hence also about great and healthy food. Combining this interest with an entrepreneurial spirit, we decided to make the most of our organic olives and produce great, organic, extra virgin oil.
As we dived into the requirements of how to do this, we discovered that almost no producer in the market fulfils these standards for an olive oil we would ask for – although they falsely claim to do so. Whether they were cheap or expensive, the competition did not live up to its own as well as our expectations and promises. Rather than being discouraged by this behavior, we were rather motivated to stand out with our honest, and ultimately great product. To the enjoyment of our customers and us, our organic, extra virgin – certified – olive oil turned out to be an amazing success, being sold out within less than two weeks the last years.
Having come across the positive characteristics of olive oil for the skin, we began experimenting with applying our olive oil on our skin first for inflammatory relief, but soon also on a daily basis for daily skincare with astounding results. Funnily enough, our customers approached us with the same experience and feedback – and we haven’t even asked them to test it on their skin!
With the strong hint that our olive oil is truly special, we began researching with a laboratory specialised in organic natural cosmetics to create a product that is the perfect, organic dermatological base for anyone, acting like a natural supplement to replenish nutrient deficiencies of the skin.
NATRUE: What’s the best part of this whole creation process?
Sebastian: Focusing on the best for our future users, we wanted to complement our olive oil with additional organic oils and extracts into a mutually-enforcing formula. The result is our NATRUE organic certified facial oil OliveLove!, here to holistically regenerate and activate your skin. For more than six months we are on the market, and I can truly admit that the best thing about the whole story is getting unasked feedback from customers telling us that after years and years of experimenting with all kinds of skincare products, they have finally found the right one. This is really the best.
NATRUE: What makes olive oil a unique ingredient?
Sebastian: We have a certain way of producing our olive oil. Some steps are well known, others not so much. The result is that our olive oil has extraordinarily high values of polyphenols, acidity, linol acid as well as a general fatty acid structure that catalyses rapid intake of the facial oil and its beneficial molecules. We tested olive oils from other producers, and it is just not the same.
NATRUE: What is your main market and how are you adapting to the main consumers’ demand of that area?
Sebastian: Just like when we introduced our first product (olive oil for culinary consumption), we were faced with a market that has been blindfolded about what’s important to them. We had to undertake quite a bit of market education to make people aware of how unique and great our product is.
For our second product (the olive oil based facial oil) we face a similar, albeit larger challenge. This is due to the fact that false claims are spread by the competition on many more levels in the skincare industry. We are truly happy that NATRUE exists to ensure our truly organic origin – something the wanna-be natural or organic skincare producers, naturally, cannot show.
NATRUE: You are a partner of AMM, the Academy for Human Medicine. Tell us a bit more about this partnership and how this collaboration influences your products.
Sebastian: Great you ask! Since the spirit of this collaboration is naturally woven into Prodotti Amano’s mission statement canvas. AMM and Prodotti Amano share the same commitment to contribute to a better life by exercising a lifestyle that is active and healthy, and where the healthy part focuses on eradicating nutrient deficiencies – a condition we all tend to be prone to in modern life.
NATRUE: Why did you choose NATRUE? What is the added value our Label gives to your products?
Sebastian: Literally, we asked our production and laboratory partner “Who is the strictest to get the organic cosmetic certification from?” The answer was NATRUE. Only after certification, we learned that we did not just get an important seal of trust by working with you, but great business partners, as well.
The added value of NATRUE is extraordinary. When I go to exhibitions like Cosmoproof, it is simply shocking to me how many producers claim to be organic. But a quick look at the INCI of their products reveals they are not. For many customers, however, it is not easy to separate the false from true claims. NATRUE’s role in helping the customer to distinguish the false deal from the real, true, organic deal.
For more information about Prodotti Amano, visit www.prodottiamano.com or check their Instagram!
Download the interview here.