L’Occitane is almost solely responsible for the growth and financial stability of a women’s co-op in Burkina Faso that supplies the shea butter for the company’s lotions and cleansers. Baussan discovered the co-op accidentally while on a business trip to Cape Verde. He was so fascinated by a reporter’s story about the co-op that he went to Burkina Faso to see it for himself and became passionate about supporting it.