The last couple of decades have brought numerous terms into our conversation about product labels that are used inconsistently such as all natural, organic, and bio-based. Because Katarina Naturals uses “biobased” in our labeling and descriptions, we feel we should first clarify what biobased means to us and what we believe it should mean to consumers.

What does “biobased” mean?
“Bio-based” means that all or a high proportion of the ingredients are from biological or plant sources. Some bio-based labeling will designate what percentage of the materials are natural. The US Department of Agriculture offers a label to some manufacturers for use to show this percentage. Katarina Naturals uses the USDA biobased product label on most of its products. It is more specific than the term all natural because you can test the product carbon content to know whether the carbons are from plant sources or from petroleum sources. This is a quantifiable approach in certification which some retailers, such as Whole Foods, appreciate.

Katarina Naturals manufacturing processes are based on the fermentation of plant materials. We use corn and other crops –all renewable resources—as our raw materials. In those processes microorganisms consume sugars and starches found in agricultural products to produce the chemicals. Of course, we have high tech processing and formulas to make this happen. The chemicals are then purified and used as ingredients in Katarina Naturals products.

How is the term “all-natural” used?
“All-natural” products are made from natural raw materials—primarily from plant materials such as agricultural crops. Other natural materials such as natural minerals and nutrients are acceptable. Petroleum based products not natural.

Plant materials are renewable resources and our company strives to promote practices that help make our society less dependent on limited, non-renewable resources. It is complicated to determine which processing is completely sustainable because somewhere, non-renewable resources such as natural gas and petroleum are used, however, we can do our best to take the path toward a future of sustainability. We also use all-natural to describe our products, but on the labels we prefer to use “bio-based” because that term is more specific and quantifiable, as discussed above.

Katarina Naturals brings you personal care and household products that are made from biobased, sustainable raw materials. Sustainable means that once they are used, they are not gone forever—you can grow more!

We have designed our products to offer customers a more gentle range of products for use in day to day life. Try Katarina Naturals nail polish removers, hand sanitizers and various holdhold cleaning and sanitizing products. The active ingredients are made at our facility using proprietary fermentation-based processes and patented technologies. The goal of the company is to provide products made in a sustainable way and join a growing number of other manufacturer in delivering sustainable products while preparing for a future when renewable resources are our mainstay.