Aruba Aloe: Proud Sponsor of Miss Universe Aruba 2021 Thessaly Zimmerman

Thessaly sported her national costume as she beautifully represented the island of Aruba at Miss Universe 2021 in Israel on December 12, 2021.

On Wednesday, December 22, 2021, Thessaly paid a special visit to the Aruba Aloe factory, museum & store in Hato, which is surrounded by the company’s sprawling aloe fields that were first planted over a century ago. During the visit, Aruba Aloe congratulated Thessaly for the amazing job that she did representing Aruba on the world stage and sharing the story of our “Island of Aloes” with the world.

Indeed, in every bottle or tube of Aruba Aloe, you’ll find a rich, intriguing story—the history of how Aloe put Aruba on the world map. It’s a story that begins in 1840, when the Aloe vera plant was first introduced to Aruba. In the years after 1906, Aruba became the world’s largest producer of Aloe resin, and by 1920, 2/3 of the island was covered with Aloe fields, earning Aruba the nickname “The Island of Aloes.” Later, after the demand for the resin dropped, Aruba Aloe shifted gears and became one of the first companies in the world to make cosmetic products based on Aloe’s curative gel, launching its first product line in 1966, and thereby putting Aruba back on the map.

During Thessaly’s honorary visit to Aruba Aloe, company representatives gifted her a basket with Aruba Aloe goodies to express how proud they were of her, and Thessaly also thanked Aruba Aloe for being part of her journey and taking part in making her national costume come to life during Miss Universe 2021. Thessaly will be donating the culturally inspired costume so it can be displayed in the Aruba Aloe Museum, located at the factory facility.

Aruba Aloe is very excited to have created a partnership with Thessaly for projects down the road as well. This partnership is fitting and important, as both parties represent the island and its rich cultural heritage—a representation that Aruba Aloe sums up with, very simply, “We are Aloe.”