Pricing in Perspective
'Why is this so expensive?'
We receive this question periodically, and we welcome it! As consumers, it is essential to question the cost of what we spend our money on for several reasons. Spending within our budget to meet our financial obligations and goals is the first cost consideration for most of us.
For some people, it ends there, but if you are reading this, there is a good chance you are concerned with more than just the price tag. Quality, longevity, sustainability, social responsibility, safety, environmental impact, and a brand's transparency in these matters are all things that thoughtful consumers also consider alongside cost.
Safety Over Savings
To become more conscious consumers, we need to consider the direct relationship a price tag has to the quality of life for everyone involved in bringing it to market and extend that relationship further to the end users, the planet, and future generations! With far-reaching goals like these, you cannot cut corners or jump from factory to factory to save a few bucks.
There are high costs associated with creating sustainable and socially responsible products. Special equipment and systems requiring more maintenance and training must be implemented, like our closed-loop system, which captures, cleans, and reuses 98% of the water used to process YALA's raw bamboo into bamboo viscose fabric. These systems are not standard for making bamboo fabric today, but we choose them to reduce our water use and to protect the water sources in our production area.
Even before a natural fiber gets processed into fabric, some choices dictate the ecological impact of growing and harvesting it for production. We work primarily with Bamboo because of its environmental benefits, but it is not the easiest plant to harvest. YALA's bamboo gets hand-harvested, stock by stock, to maintain the integrity of the soil and provide jobs in the region where it grows organically and prolifically. These non-mechanized methods are not the fastest or cheapest, but they infuse nitrates into the soil, prevent erosion, and generate financial abundance for people in the rural area where it grows, rather than simply extracting from it.
People Over Profits
YALA provides living wages, healthcare, PTO, and flexible work-life balance schedules to our Southern Oregon employees, which our customers feel good supporting.
Our Production Partners in China enjoy similar benefits because China's labor regulations ensure they are not overworked or underpaid. The government also maintains strict safety and work regulations that protect our production partners with extensive training and a safe working environment. Many clothing and bedding brands that were previously produced in China have moved elsewhere to avoid these regulations and reduce costs.
Our workers stick around because of our commitment to the well-being of everyone in our supply chain. Many of them have been with us for a decade, in an industry where it is more common for people to quickly shift from factory to factory in search of safer conditions or better pay.
Our production facilities recently achieved top marks for safety and social responsibility by OEKO-TEX STeP. Oeko Tex is a leading certification organization in the textile industry.
STeP stands for Sustainable Textile & Leather Production and is a certification system for environmentally friendly and socially responsible production facilities along the supply chain. STeP by OEKO-TEX® aims to continually improve production conditions and health and safety in all business areas.
This is just one of the many certifications we’ve achieved and maintain. Certifications enhance our transparency as a brand. They are another cost that ensures we maintain integrity with our words through actions.
Our business choices aren't cheap, and we can't compete price-wise with colossal brands that prioritize quantity, high profits, and low price points above quality, employee compensation, ecological stewardship, and worker safety. We don't want to!
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