Happy Farm Botanicals, a company that produces high quality and all natural products for many of the beauty industry’s top brands, has been busy making those who might be less fortunate happy.
The Odenton-based company has been working with Sarah’s House, a supportive housing program that offers emergency and transitional housing for homeless families in Anne Arundel County.
“Due to our business structure and regulations, we are required to do some repetition. We have to go through a scale up and verification process and once we go through it, instead of throwing products away, we donate it to Sarah’s House to support our local community,” said Hamed Alaghebandian, Happy Farm Botanicals owner.
The company discovered an opportunity to give back when they learned about Sarah’s House after Happy Farms opened in 2013.
Sarah’s House, a Catholic Charities organization, serves around 600 individuals each year, including children. These families can stay anywhere from days to up to a year, according to officials.
In addition to housing, each resident also receives expert help from Sarah’s House staff to get back on their feet. Happy Farm Botanicals provides premium personal care products to the organization for these families to use during their stay.
Alaghebandian says that since the summer of 2014, Happy Farm Botanicals has donated close to $8,000 worth of products to the residents of Sarah’s House ranging from shampoo to eye cream.
The company is one of the few businesses that donates products to the housing program and makes an effort to do so regularly— Sarah’s House receives shipments twice a year, according to a news release.
“We don’t do this for the glory of saying we give to Sarah’s House or other charities,” Alaghebandian said. “We don’t want the products to go to waste and if there are people who can use them, it only makes sense to contribute all you can to them. I know that there are others we give to as well,” he said.
Recently profiled in local and other business publications, Happy Farm Botanicals manufactures cosmetics, skin care products, hair care products, household goods and other items.
The company’s clients range from small independently held companies to multinational conglomerates who have their products on sale at some of the largest retailers including Urban Outfitters and Target.com.
“Our story really isn’t a romantic story,” Alaghebandian said. “I was approached by one of my attorneys with an opportunity to procure a failing cosmetic lab, its assets and a few of its clients. Given my background in the agro-manufacturing industry he thought I’d be interested in the opportunity and I was,” he said.
Alaghebandian said growth and innovation helps his company stay above the competition in what’s become a globally competitive industry.
“We’re in a unique time in the beauty industry where it is becoming more evident that our clients are expecting more than they were before,” he said.
“It has to do with the way information flows. Now when I present a formula to a client, they can google every single ingredient and find out about it and they can also get a list with other ingredients and what they can be substituted with,” Alaghebandian said.
“The clients are more educated and it’s more and more difficult to do the same old thing so we have to be innovative and provide fresher ingredients. More cutting edge ingredients.”