new organic marula ingredient launched

We're really excited at PhytoTrade Africa, because our commercial partner Aldivia has launched a new cosmetic ingredient using organic marula oil from our members.

It's an organic marula surfactant (the stuff that makes your shampoo bubbly) in Aldivia's new Viatenza range. Surfactants help to break down oil and are used in all sorts of foaming cleansing products such as face washes and shampoos. The exciting thing about this one is that it's organic!

All Aldivia's Viatenza surfactants are made using 'green chemistry', meaning that no petrochemicals or solvents are used. The whole process leaves behind a limited carbon footprint. They have been certified organic by ECOCERT and also in line with the requirements of Cosmos, the soon-to-be-launched European organic standard.

"We Marula" x 3...

Check out Swazi Indigenous Products on You Tube
You will be singing along - repeat after me... We Marula x3 rula rula rula!

Baobab flavoured wellness packs?

Hi Phytotraders, my first ever attempt at a blog. Here we go. I'll be honest and admit this is as much for my benefit as yours. It's 2007 and we can't be luddites forever. Time to get with the programme! Given that I'm the CEO of this motley crew, I suppose I should be leading by example.

(Interestingly my 2003 version of Word doesn't recognise the word "blogging" in its internal dictionary and helpfully suggests that I perhaps meant to type "slogging" or "flogging". Perhaps I did.)

Not quite knowing where one starts with a blog, I thought I'd begin by simply sharing what's on my mind today - the latest issue of South African Pharmaceutical and Cosmetic Review (over which I ate my lunch today!). Although it's not actually dedicated to naturals, this issue could easily be, given how much coverage there is of naturals in it.

In amongst articles on Bioharmony (a PhytoTrade member), Enaleni (a BEE shareholder in Bioharmony), nutritional supplements for HIV management and one on African hair care, there was a piece about a new "wellness nutritional pack" that has been launched in SA for immune boosting. The basic ingredient is a corn-soya blend porridge mix, which is the same stuff that is commonly used in supplementary feeding programmes around Africa. However, in this instance it will be selling on the open market rather than being distributed freely by relief organisations. Meaning, in other words, that it will actually have to taste good enough for people to fork out their own cash and buy it.

The target market is obviously rural areas, as one of the ingredients is a water purifying agent (often a problem with a porridge).

From what I could read, though, there isn't any flavouring added to the product. Anyone who's eaten a corn-soya blend can tell you that it tastes like cardboard. If you're going to sell it on the open market, you'll probably need it to taste just a little more exciting than that.

Which, of course, brings us to baobab. This is a fruit powder that is a natural source of minerals and vitamins, is widely available in Africa, is already known to most rural African consumers, and is flavourful and tasty. If I was the one trying to sell this product, I'd definitely be looking for something to add to the mix to help it sell, and I'm very sure baobab would do the job.

Mark my words - one day they'll all have baobab in them. (Or marula, of course!). You read it here first...

There, my first blog. How was it?!

Gus