About

Our Story

It’s difficult to work hard and stay healthy. Long hours. Convenience food. Stress. Sound familiar?

When I moved to London with my job, my health deteriorated – I developed IBS, “leaky gut” and chronic fatigue. I come from a long line of Senegalese women who have to stay strong to work hard – if you don’t eat well, you can’t work well. I felt like I had let them down.

I sobbed down the phone to my grandma in Senegal, trying to explain why working in an office is so stressful. Soon a box of ”emergency” supplies arrived with the traditional superfoods that I grew up with and that my family has been harvesting, drying, grinding, cooking and eating for generations.

Guess what? I got better. I now have a tasty, colourful and mainly plant-based diet, full of the healing powers of ancient African superfoods. I introduced Moringa, Fonio and Baobab to my busy friends, and their friends, and their friends… sharing delicious recipes that help heal sadness, tiredness, gut and indigestion problems, in a city that is full of people suffering from stress and burn-out.

You will love the comforting new tastes and textures of our easy-to-use SoA products – interesting, sweet, tangy, nutty, herby and juicy flavours that you just don’t get from other roots, leaves and grains. And you can feel good knowing that I source these superfoods directly from the African women that harvest them. Just like my grandma and great-grandma.

Our Vision and Mission

Our vision is to create a community that understands, values and trusts authentic African superfoods and enjoy them every day to feel healthier and happier.

Our mission is to simply and authentically bring you the superfoods of Africa, grown by the superwomen farmers that we partner with, to provide you with a healthy alternative for your everyday meals.

With SoA, you know where the products are from, why they are so good for you and how you are impacting the world.

We are small but we think big!

Our values: Authenticity, Purpose, Health and Curiosity

Products

All you need to know

Baobab Powder

– straight from “The Tree of Life”

Vitamin C • Organically grown • Antioxidants • Prebiotic fibre • Calcium • Magnesium • Potassium

Baobab is the happiest fruit you will ever taste – packed with antioxidants, tang and sweetness – it makes any meal or drink zing with flavour. It tastes so comforting and reminds me of my grandma and the delicious treats she makes for me – like this rice pudding with Baobab and sugar, topped with yoghurt.

Comes as: a powder that you can mix into smoothies, cereals, porridge and desserts. Also good mixed with water and honey or juice as a fresh and healthy drink

Good for: sadness! And gut problems. Vitamin C helps boost your immune system, controls slow release energy and promotes healthy skin and hair.

Grown as: a wild tree! Baobabs are not farmed; they grow wild in very arid conditions and miraculously sustain the ecosystem around them. The fruits drop off the branches after drying naturally in the sun (or can be shaken off) and our superwomen farmers separate the powder from the seeds by hand.

Known for: being a big, strong and spiritual desert tree that never dies! They have been around for 1000s of years – as have the generations of women who harvest the fruit and the ancient medicines and recipes that are made from it. In the Baobab everything is good!

FONIO

– “the seed of the universe”

Iron • Protein • Amino acids • Gluten free • Low GI • Zinc

Fonio is a grain like no other – a super-grain! Full of protein and loaded with nutrients, it has a mellow, nutty taste that goes with any stew or sauce. It’s perfectly filling, but light on the stomach, with no heaviness or bloating after you’ve eaten it. High in energy, but low in sugar, it’s a brilliant substitute for pasta, if you are gluten intolerant. Fonio is so versatile that you can have it every day in different forms; a porridge, a salad, a side accompanying a sauce and stews (link to the blog& recipes)

Comes as: a dried packet of grains – cook it like couscous in your microwave for 5 minutes, adding water and 1 tbsp. of olive oil or in a pot on a stove or steam it

Good for: your health! Fonio is a gluten-free and low GI grain that is packed with protein, iron and everybody’s friends – amino acids. It helps digestion, is low in sugar (good for diabetics), helps keep muscles strong and beats fatigue.

Grown as: a hardy grain! Fonio is climate-resilient – it keeps growing against the odds, flourishing in infertile soil with little water. As our climate changes and rain becomes less frequent, fonio is one thing that we can keep growing and eating. It is an important crop for our farmers and for our future.

Known for: being over 5000 years old! The Egyptians liked it so much, they were buried with it. In Mali they call fonio “the seed of the universe”. Farming fonio has been passed down through generations. It has always been a staple food for strong, hardworking farmers and entrepreneurs like my grandma and great grandma.

MORINGA

Iron (more than spinach!) • Vitamin C (more than in an orange!) • Vitamin A • Vitamin K • Calcium (more than in milk!) • Protein

There’s a lot to say about Moringa – the herby, healthy powder that brightens up any food or drink. It’s a natural boost for your immune system, that is traditionally used as a medicinal “miracle tea” to keep people healthy and fight disease. Its striking green colour makes it a fun and fashionable addition to any meal – fabulous in cocktails and mocktails (link blog blog & recipes). It has a distinctive, herby flavour, not unlike green matcha. So. Hot. Right. Now.

Comes as: the most vividly awesome green powder that turns everything emerald! Moringa leaves are dried then ground to powder, which is super-easy to use in drinks – smoothies, teas, mocktails and juices. Or you can sprinkle it in stews and sauces, on Fonio, pasta, rice or couscous. I recommend you try it instead of basil in pesto…

Good for:  boosting the immune system and fighting inflammation and chronic diseases, or just helping energy levels. In Africa, moringa is also used by breastfeeding mothers to aid lactation.

Grown as: trees! Moringa are fast-growing “drought-proof” trees that are farmed and harvested for SOA by independent women farmers. The leaves are taken inside to dry, to retain as many nutrients as possible.

Known for: being a good alternative to matcha – without the caffeine. Moringa keeps the doctor away – grandma, who is now 86, drinks it in tea every day with her friends and uses it as a natural remedy for hypertension and diabetes.