We are conscious that a change in the way we consume is necessary. We are passionate about creating products that follow our core values: local, green, natural, and sustainable. That is why we took action with the injustice faced by Malekus, endangered for more than 10 years due to farmers and miners occupying their territory, while the rest of the country and the Government neglect them. By preserving the local in a green way, through natural ingredients and sustainable processes with the platform we created with Hiqui to spread their culture, raise awareness, and help aid in their preservation.

Costa Rica is a small country, around 5 million people, but there are smallest groups within our borders, such as the indigenous tribes. The smallest of them all has been endangered for 10 years, the Maleku tribe (around 600 people). And nor the government or the people take action into preserving them, despite being threatened by farmers and miners.

These are hard times for the Malekus, parts of their culture are being prohibited by government entities, making it almost impossible to transmit the old traditions to the Maleku children and many of them are going to be lost in time. Because of this they have been obligated to change parts of their culture like gastronomy, because a lot of animals they use to consume are now preserved by the Government, making them improvise and adapt to the land where they have been for more that 4000 years.

Costa Rica is a country known for being natural, like the Malekus; respecting nature, like the Malekus; conscious on their use of resources, like the Malekus... And yet, having so much in common, they are still strangers to us despite having thousands of years living in Costa Rica. Even the Maleku say the people that visit them the most are from other countries... Costa Ricans, not so much. And in approximately 15 years maybe no one could be able to visit them because that is their countdown to extinction… Unless we take action.

The north of the brand is guided by our core values: local, green, natural, and sustainable. The campaign followed that route from the idea of collaborating with Hiqui, to the production process, and distribution. Because manufacturing and distributing solid products as we do, represents ¼ of the volumetric size of a liquid product, as in the case of shampoos, soaps, and other products we have, the impact on carbon emissions associated with that transportation and packaging is around 80% lower.

Also, our campaign is perfectly aligned to 4 UN’s Sustainable Development Goals:

Good health and well-being. We promoted safety and security for all the Malekus making them known in every aspect of Costa Rican culture. Transmitting their main problematics to the people, for the rest of the country aid to surpass them.

Decent work and economic growth. By increasing the visits to the Malekus territory for Costa Ricans to have a first-hand experience with their culture. Sending Costa Ricans to them through our products and communication across all media. And also crafting the make up line with local products that benefits the local economy.

Reduced inequalities. The smallest indigenous tribe in the country shifted from oblivion to Costa Rican pop culture. Resulting in being acknowledged by the Costa Rican Government as Intangible Cultural Heritage.

And finally, Responsible consumption and production. Following the natural processes the Maleku have had for over 4000 years aligned with the company’s values to mitigate environmental harm.

The Maleku tribe has been endangered for more than 10 years in Costa Rica, they are the smallest indigenous tribe in the country and their culture is destined to disappear in about 15 years because Costa Ricans have no contact with them in their daily life.

Hiqui, a Maleku influencer, battles to keep their culture alive through her content in social media, showing their ancestral way of life. But more than being part of social media, she wants the Malekus to be part of Costa Ricans’ social culture.

As a brand that shares core values with the Maleku tribe, The Rainforest Lab and Hiqui created five make up products based on the Maleku’s ancestral techniques. Using Hiqui as the face of the campaign, validating the idea and making sure it didn’t feel as cultural appropriation, but instead as a platform for the Malekus to spread their culture.

Malekus are the smallest indigenous tribe in Costa Rica and they have been endangered for more than 10 years due to miners and farmers occupying their territory, and the rest of the country and the Government neglecting them. Despite having more than 4000 years in Costa Rica, they are unknown and nearly forgotten in their own country almost to the point of extinction. A culture and a tribe so rich, with so much to offer, to teach and to show is going to disappear in approximately 15 years if no one takes action.

But a Maleku influencer, Hiqui, really tries. So, as a local brand in constant pursue of a fairer economy and equal opportunities, we reached out to her to collaborate in a platform to spread the Maleku culture through a make up line guided and supervised by Hiqui to impregnate her culture into Costa Ricans’ pop culture.

How does a beauty brand make a whole country stop ignoring a disappearing culture? By inviting them to be a part of it. Turning ancient culture into Costa Rican pop culture. How? By creating a platform that works directly as a beauty asset, ancestral knowledge spreader and cultural invitation for the people at the same time.

We created five products with Hiqui in the same way which the Malekus traditions dictate, using annatto, turmeric, and cocoa. Including an invitation to visit, making it very clear that what the Malekus want is for everyone to get to know them and their ancestral way of living. And we made it, the Maleku culture was impregnated into Costa Rican culture in art, music, tattoos, literature and so much more that even the Costa Rican Government recognized them as Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The problem wasn’t simple, Costa Ricans didn't know much about the Maleku culture. The Solution? Even harder, because we had to bring closer to them a culture that was practically invisible in front of their eyes. And how did we make it attractive? By putting it on the Costa Ricans’ radar, getting them to know Malekus better.

In a country of 5 million people, we had to make those 600 Malekus known through Hiqui and the five products we created with her. Through educational content in social media about their culture, PR awareness in various TV and radio shows, and assisting to a design fairs, the products, Hiqui and the Maleku culture began being noticed by Costa Ricans.

We launched the campaign with a video posted on social media, inviting Costa Ricans to know about our products with Hiqui and letting them know that by pre-ordering it, they could help preserve her culture. By the end of the pre-order, they could purchase the products by Instagram, WhatsApp and the main shopping malls in the country.

By that time the brand's Founder and Hiqui were giving several interviews in TV and radio shows that resulted in something we didn't expect at all. Costa Rica embraced the Maleku culture as it is: their own. Restaurants began making Maleku dishes, people began tattooing Maleku art, painting Maleku nails, making Maleku toys. Maleku legends began being read at kinder garden to kids, football celebration in match days.

And then we made it: the Costa Rican Government declared the Malekus as Intangible Cultural Heritage.

• The Costa Rican Government declared the Malekus as Intangible Cultural Heritage

• 100% of profits to the Maleku Tafa Urijif Ranch

• The Rainforest Lab Production increased X3 in 2 months

• 1M impressions, representing 20% of Costa Ricans reached

• $25k collected for the Maleku community and counting

• WhatsApp direct contacts increased X5 asking for the products

• Social media followers grew by 42%

• Visits to the Malekus +380%

• Searches for Malekus on Google +800%

• Maleku art replicated in tattoos, nail designs, toys, sneakers, murals, t-shirts

• Maleku food replicated in Sikwa Restaurant, #47 Best Latin American Restaurant by The World's 50 Best

• Maleku traditions replicated in goals celebrations in football matches, music, books, and audiobooks

A Costa Rican brand collaborated with an indigenous Costa Rican woman to create Costa Rican products with Costa Rican millenary traditions. Only that, to us, is progress. Why? Because an indigenous tribe went from almost extinction to being considered a trend in Costa Rican pop culture. Aiding into visualize a problem so hard to solve, that it couldn’t be ignored anymore.

This work started as a platform to raise awareness about the Maleku culture with Hiqui as the face of the campaign, but ended up being so much more than that. It became Costa Ricans’ food, fashion, art, content, news, celebrations, music, toys, sneakers… The Costa Rican people spoke and the Costa Rican Government heard, so the Malekus were declared what they should have been a long time ago, Intangible Cultural Heritage.

We made the approach to Hiqui because we saw an alignment on the brand’s values and the Maleku values. Local, green, natural, and sustainable are 100% shared by the brand and the tribe, that was what really convinced both parts to work together. Malekus have been using annatto, turmeric, and cocoa in their daily life for more that 4000 years for different kinds of traditions and rituals, annatto mainly for body painting themselves for decoration and beautification, same principle as a make up line. Thus, being the main ingredient of our collaboration with Hiqui.

But we also wanted to respect the way in which Hiqui, and her tribe elaborates their make up, so we went to the community to learn about how the do it and why they do it. It is hand-crafted, environmentally conscious, natural so we used essential oils, sustainable by being produced ethically, plan-based, we also made solid to save 2 plastic bottles per product, cruelty free, paraben, phthalate, and sulphates free, and last but not least, our paper packaging make our products compostable. That is the shared “how”.

And the “why” is also aligned, a deep respect and gratitude for nature, because it gives us everything we need to live. So, we should honor, dignify and rationalize what nature gives, in order to not misuse or even waste the resources we have access to, because they are finite.