Co-founder · Operations & business
Luis Barraza
US-based. Luis runs operations, customer relationships, logistics, and the commercial side of the business — the bridge between in-country supply and buyers across the Americas.
Our Story
We don't sell oil.
We don't sell oil.
We sell verified origin.
A market growing 14% a year, 60–70% of it fake. We didn't set out to add another brand — we set out to become the one verified supplier the category can trust.
Why we built this
Batana oil has become one of the fastest-growing botanical ingredients in personal care. It is also one of the most adulterated. Lab tests of best-selling “batana” products have found more than 50% mineral oil, often cut with palm kernel and labeled “100% pure.” Most of what sells online is sourced from China — where the source palm does not grow at all.
We saw a category expanding 14% a year built on a foundation that was 60–70% fake. To us, the opportunity was never to launch another consumer brand. It was to fix the trust problem at the root: become the verified-origin supplier that formulators, manufacturers, and distributors can build on.
“The opportunity isn't to add another brand. It's to be the one verified supplier the entire category can trust.”
The founders
Two founders, two countries.
Co-founder · In-country sourcing
Tony Guzman
Based in El Salvador. Tony manages relationships with supplier communities, visits La Ceiba quarterly, and owns chain-of-custody from harvest to bonded warehouse.
Two founders, two countries, one standard: every shipment traceable, every batch certified.
The Miskito communities
Indigenous-led wild harvest in La Ceiba.
La Ceiba is one of the largest remaining tracts of rainforest in Central America, and the home of the Miskito people, who have harvested batana from the American oil palm for generations. The knowledge of how to find, process, and press the fruit is theirs.
We operate under a simple social contract: source directly, pay fairly, document honestly, and never speak for the communities we work with. Community photography and named accounts will appear here only with explicit permission.
What “verified origin” means
The receipts, not just the claim.
Direct sourcing
No brokers, no anonymous middlemen. We buy directly from harvesting communities in La Ceiba.
Chain of custody
Every shipment documented from harvest through pressing to our bonded warehouse.
Quarterly visits
Tony is on the ground in supplier communities four times a year — supply you can see.
Lab certificates
GC-MS and FTIR on every batch. A Certificate of Analysis ships with every order.
Work with us
Become a verified-origin partner.
Request a 100g sample, or open a conversation about standing supply.