U.S. Entrepreneurs Use Beeswax, Honey in Products

West Mayfield Firm Builds Healthy Business on Organic Products
Stephanie Waite, Beaver County Times (USA), 12/19/2005

In 2004, the small West Mayfield-based manufacturer of body and skin care products introduced the nation's first U.S. Department of Agriculture-certified organic full line of body and skin care, called Nourish. . .

The Nourish line is set to do $1 million in business this year, and triple that amount in 2006, Lynn Betz said. The Nourish line will appear next year in major grocery stores including Whole Foods, Wegman's, Harris Teeter and Price Chopper. Sensibility Soaps also won contracts to make its product under private-label brand names. . .

Nourish meets exacting standards to merit the label. Strawberry products must contain actual strawberries, with no chemicals to enhance the smell. Fruits, vegetables and even beeswax must be purchased from organic farmers. . .

Nourish's biggest seller is the deodorant, Melia said. The wild greens variety contains cocoa butter, coconut oil, beeswax, corn starch, shea butter, vegetable protein extract, essential oils of lavender, patchouli and oakmoss. And it works. . .

Granola & Brown Sugar Body Smoothie, 10 oz., $11.95

Raw cane sugar, soybean oil, shea butter, apple flavor, almond oil, oatmeal, beeswax, almonds, olive oil, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon leaf pure essential oil, oregano leaf extract, olive leaf extract, rosemary leaf extract, lavender flower extract, golden seal root extract.

Woman's Soap Business Takes Off With Help of Feisty Goat
Christina Cooke, Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tennessee), 12/19/05

LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, Ga. -- Jill Wyse bought three La Mancha goats last year to eat the brush that was overtaking her 14-acre farm atop Lookout Mountain, but she soon discovered the animals were more than just weed eaters. . .

Since June, Ms. Wyse has been making and selling goat milk soap to shops across North Georgia and Tennessee. She calls her business Sassy Goat Milk Soap, after Ruby's brazen attitude. Brown's Ferry Nursery and Market, Flintstone Farm and Garden, Greenlife Grocery, The Little Market and Tootie's Treasures carry the soap, and Ms. Wyse sells it online, too. . .

She milks her goats twice a day, usually at about 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Then in her kitchen, she heats lye and the fresh goat milk in one pot and olive oil, safflower oil, coconut oil, castor oil, beeswax and honey in another. . .