Nunaïa Wins Award For Best Sustainable Luxury Brand In South America

New Irish beauty wellness start-up Nunaïa, (pronounced [noo-nigh-ya]), has won the prestigious ‘SUSTAINABLE LUXURY AWARD IN LATIN AMERICA’ in the wellness category at the Seventh Edition of the Sustainable Luxury Awards in Latin America hosted by the Center for Sustainable Luxury Studies in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The Sustainable Luxury Awards recognise brands that are driving innovation and the development of sustainable luxury products in Latin America.

Nunaïa Founder Nicola Connolly spent over a decade living and working with local communities on the Galapagos islands, in the Ecuadorian Amazon and the Andes Mountains of Peru, helping them to develop sustainable business models for their unique heritage. She was fascinated by how this enabled them to protect their incredible natural resources and culture, as well as experience a better standard of living.

These pristine environments and communities with an incredible quality, abundance and knowledge of medicinal plants and natural health inspired her to create Nunaïa. This ancestral wisdom combined with modern green beauty technology has led to the creation of this luxury, high-performance, organic beauty wellness range which is built from a ‘Soil to Skin’ ethos that takes sustainability into account at every stage along the supply chain.

Nunaia Winner of Sustainable Luxury Awards Latin America

Ligia Gomez, Threads of Peru, Fashion Category Winner. Veronica Soto, Tierra Atacama Hotel, Hospitality category Winner. Nicola Connolly, Nunaïa, Wellness category Winner. Jerry Toth, Transformational Leader Award Winner.

Nunaïa was selected as a winner by the jury of international luxury and sustainability experts including Dana Thomas, author of the New York Times Best Seller "How Luxury Lost Its Luster", María Eugenia Girón, Director of the Mastercard Observatory of Premium Products, from the IE Business School; Alexandra de Royere, CEO of Solantu, a sustainable luxury accessories brand, Susana Saulquin, specialist in the sociology of fashion in Latin America; and Miguel Angel Gardetti, founder and director of the Center for Studies for Sustainable Luxury.

“It’s a huge achievement for Nunaïa to receive this prestigious award in Latin America as sustainability is a core part of our DNA. We carefully consider each element of our products and only use sustainable, certified organic farming practices, ingredients and materials that don’t damage the earth, and which empower our growers to preserve their cultural traditions and build sustainable futures for their families.

Through our Nunaïa Fund, a percentage of the profit on every product sold goes straight back into the rainforest and Andean communities to support education scholarships for girls and women. It’s a real honour to see our work in this field recognised internationally and by such a prestigious organisation in the field of sustainable luxury.” Says Nicola Connolly.