Yonas Alemu, founder of food company Lovegrass Ethiopia
Superfoods, defined as nutrient-rich foods beneficial for health and well-being, have gained global recognition in recent years. While chia seeds and quinoa often take the spotlight, Africa boasts its own array of crops that are now making their way onto the global stage. We highlight three entrepreneurs producing superfood products from Africa for sale both locally and internationally.
1. Zimbabwe: The entrepreneur unlocking baobab’s commercial potential
Baobab powder, derived from the fruit of the baobab tree, has nearly four times the vitamin C content of oranges and is rich in essential minerals like potassium and magnesium. Zimbabwe-based entrepreneur Gus Le Breton co-founded B’Ayoba, a company that exports baobab powder to international markets.
Baobab trees grow in 33 African countries, and their derivatives have long been used locally for various purposes. These include powder from the nutrient-rich fruit pulp, herbal teas and medicines made from the leaves and funicles (the thin cords attaching the seeds to the fruit wall), and rope from the bark. However, it wasn’t until Le Breton’s involvement that these products were explored for their commercial potential.
“They all thought I was completely nuts … I’d say to rural people, ‘You know, there’s these trees, you have eaten the fruit your whole life, what about selling it?’ And they would just laugh at me and it was like, ‘Who’s ever going to buy this? I mean, they’re free. You can pick them up off the ground. Why would anyone pay money for that?’”
Today, B’Ayoba involves over 5,000 rural harvesters in its baobab supply chain. With each harvester supporting four or five people, it’s estimated that baobab production benefits between 20,000 and 25,000 people. Listen to the full interview with Gus Le Breton
2. London banker builds Ethiopian food company
Teff, a tiny grass seed native to Ethiopia, is one of the world’s oldest cultivated crops, domesticated between 6,000 and 4,000 BC. For millennia, Ethiopians have used teff flour to make ‘injera’, a flat, spongy sourdough bread that is a staple of their diet. Celebrated as a superfood, teff is gluten-free and packed with nutrients like iron, magnesium, manganese, calcium, zinc, and vitamins B and C. Even Ethiopian elite runner Haile Gebrselassie credits teff as a key factor in his athletic achievements.
Yonas Alemu, an investment banker turned entrepreneur, is the founder and managing director of Lovegrass Ethiopia, a health food company that produces a range of items from teff and other Ethiopian grains. Its offerings include pasta, breakfast cereals, pancake mixes, powdered beverages, and snacks. With a factory on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, Lovegrass caters to both international and local markets.
In 2014, he came across teff in some health food stores in London but was perplexed after discovering the teff on shelves came not from its native Ethiopia, but from the US where it was commercially cultivated. Recalling his childhood and how hard the farmers toiled, Yonas decided to start a business selling Ethiopian food products in the global market. Watch our full interview with Yonas Alemu
3. West African fonio company seeks piece of global gluten-free market
Fonio, a gluten-free grain rich in nutrients, has been cultivated in West Africa for thousands of years. This drought-resistant crop thrives without the need for fertilisers and helps restore organic matter to fallow soils. Despite its long history in the region, fonio has remained largely under-commercialised.
Sustainable African Foods, a joint venture between businessman Simballa Sylla, former CEO of Mali-based shea butter company Mali Shi, and US-based African foods company Yolélé – co-founded by chef Pierre Thiam and Philip Teverow –is aiming to change that. The company is establishing the world’s first industrial-scale fonio processing plant in Mali, which will produce processed fonio grains and flour.
“A few years back, I received a call from a contact at the International Finance Corporation. He wanted me to meet with an American named Philip Teverow who was prospecting in Mali,” Sylla recalls. “A few hours later Phil came to our office. I scheduled the meeting to be for one hour but I think we ended up talking for more than two hours. He explained what he and chef Pierre Thiam were doing at Yolélé. I have not met anyone who knows more about fonio than Phil and Pierre. They are truly passionate about it. That meeting was when and where we decided to go into fonio. We now share the same vision towards making fonio “sexy” and for it to contribute to food security.” Read our full interview with Simballa Sylla
