“The responsibilities of a business owner can be significant. There is the commitment to customers of providing quality products at a fair price, the commitment to empower employee by providing them the resources to achieve their goals, and the commitment to yourself to be true to yourself.” 

“The responsibilities of a business owner can be significant. There is the commitment to customers of providing quality products at a fair price, the commitment to empower employee by providing them the resources to achieve their goals, and the commitment to yourself to be true to yourself.” 

Lily of the Desert is a company that specializes in producing and distributing a wide range of aloe vera-based health and wellness products. Founded in 1971 by current CEO Don Lovelace, the company is based in Denton, Texas, and has become a leading brand in the natural and organic industry. 

Lily of the Desert takes pride in utilizing the benefits of aloe vera to create innovative products that promote overall well-being. They own and operate their own organic aloe vera farms, ensuring the highest quality of aloe vera is used in their products. The company follows sustainable farming practices, including harvesting the aloe vera leaves by hand to maintain their purity and potency.

The company’s product portfolio includes a variety of aloe vera juices, gels, topical gellies, and supplements. These products are known for their numerous health benefits, such as increasing absorption of other nutrients, supporting digestion, boosting the immune system, promoting healthy skin, and aiding in detoxification. Lily of the Desert’s products are made from the company's own organically grown aloe vera plants, raised on the company's own certified organic fields.

Highlights from Lily of the Desert 

“Retaining the Quality that Nature Created.” That is the motto that informs every mDon Lovelace, CEO, Lily of the Desertove made by Lily of the Desert, a company founded in 1971 and owned by the Lovelace family. “The motto speaks to our commitment for producing superior, value-added Aloe Vera products,” says Don Lovelace, CEO. “Science confirms that the aloe plant naturally contains more than 200 biologically active/efficacious constituents. Our commitment is to retain those constituents from the aloe fields through our manufacturing processes to provide our customers with a finished product that contains what nature created in the original aloe plant.”

Recently, the company celebrated more than 50 years in business and WholeFoods Magazine touched base with Don to talk about what sets Lily of the Desert apart. He pointed to the company’s focus on small details. “By taking advantage of our vertical integration from growing, processing and marketing, we can control the quality of our products at every step.” Retaining aloe’s quality can be a fragile process, and the little steps—such as getting the leaf into refrigeration immediately after harvest, controlling temperature, and taking the time to ensure that the Long Chain Polysaccharides are not broken—are critical to ensuring maximum efficacy in the final product. 

“It’s the little things that make a big difference for our customers,” Don says. “Utilizing scientific evidence to support benefits and product claims has always been important to our company and something that we have put much effort into through the years. If it was developing USDA organic product, studying how the polysaccharide works and its positive effects when utilized correctly, or having our products GRAS (generally recognized as safe) certified and putting our facilities and processes through rigorous tests, it was all to give our customers a superior product to use in their daily lives.”

When it comes to the environment, Lily of the Desert is known within the health supplement world for its commitment to quality and sustainability. Don and Company cultivate their own organic aloe vera plants on farms located in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. The company carefully selects and harvests the leaves of the aloe vera plants to ensure the highest quality and potency of their products. In addition to their commitment to producing high-quality products, Don and the Lily Family are involved in community outreach and environmental initiatives. They actively support various charitable organizations and promote sustainable farming practices to minimize their ecological footprint. 

The company has gained a strong reputation for its commitment to quality and transparency. They prioritize rigorous testing and quality control measures throughout the production process to ensure the potency and purity of their aloe vera products. The company also holds certifications, such as the International Aloe Science Council’s Seal of Approval, which further validate their dedication to producing high-quality aloe vera products.

Leadership Focus

Remembering the early days, Don shares that after college, he worked for a friend in the aloe business and was impressed by the benefits of aloe vera. “I became determined to build a business bringing the benefits of aloe to American consumers.” Don opened his first aloe farm in Mercedes, TX, in 1977, then became a founding member and first president of the International Aloe Science Council in 1980. 

In 1985, Don purchased the Lily of the Desert brand and began building the brand reputation for innovation and quality. The company reports that by 2006, Lily of the Desert products could be found in 99% of natural product stores and major grocery chains across the U.S. based on SPINS data, creating a loyal brand following that the company works hard to continue to strengthen.

“I believe the responsibilities of a business owner can be significant,” Don says. “There is the commitment to customers of providing quality products at a fair price. The commitment to employees to keep your word, to empower them by providing them the resources to achieve their goals, and the commitment to yourself to be true to yourself. To face challenges and adversity head on.”

Company Differentiators

Don recalls one challenge that ended up resulting in one of his favorite accomplishments about 15 years ago. “Everyone that has ever tasted aloe knew it had a bitterness to it, mainly because of the preservatives used in all aloe. We developed a Preservative Free product that met USDA certified organic guidelines. We were the first to do so and it is now our best-selling sku and has provided consumers an all organic product that has none of the bitterness. It is one of my prouder moments when we were able to make that happen and the positive results it had on our company and our consumers.”

Reflecting on the challenges of the last few years, Don expresses his admiration for his team. “They have gone the extra mile to ensure that 2020 was a successful year. When the pandemic began, we were flooded with requests for our juice to help make hand sanitizer. Our team answered that call efficiently and safely even with increased productivity and extra shifts to make sure all of our customers were getting what they needed. We also recognized that this was an opportunity to speak to a new group of customers about the internal benefits of drinking aloe daily. Our team grew our customer base by emphasizing the benefits of Lily Aloe for Immune Health, supported by the results of our gold standard, independent, placebo-controlled human clinical study. 

Recent Developments 

What’s next? “Our company is currently producing several products through our Nutrition Division—Lily of the Desert Nutraceuticals,” Don shares. “Based on the results we have seen in clinical tests with Aloesorb™ we feel that it has potential to also increase the efficacy and bioavailability of key ingredients like curcumin, turmeric, elderberry, etc. We will continue to research and utilize Aloesorb™ to enhance products for Joint, Digestive, and Immune health to give our customers even more value-added products. We believe that Lily Aloe Vera can play a major role to support these product formulations both in powder and liquid form.”

Words of Wisdom

For businesses that are just getting started, Don has some advice: “I think it is very important that your business principles define who you are and your core values. For example: Do I really believe and am I committed to providing my customers excellent value in the products? Am I committed to ensuring that our team is constantly improving, because success is a journey, not a destination. We must constantly challenge ourselves and our team to improve.”