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Yozuna News & PR

The Mail on Sunday - Health supplement

Try the baobab - a fruity wonder - (January 10, 2010)

It is the latest - and most exotic - addition to the supermarket aisles: the baobab.

The curious sweet-and-sour flavour of its powdery flesh has had foodies at loggerheads.

'Like caramel pear with subtle tones of grapefruit,' writes one online blogger. 'It resembles a coconut, and tastes like melon,' claims another.

What they all seem to agree on is how nutrious it is. Indeed, studies have found that, gram for gram, the flesh contains three times the vitamin C of an orange and twice as much calcium as cow's milk.

It is also a rich source of iron - containing more than red meat or spinach - potassium and magnesium.

The baobab fruit comes from the tree of the same name and is native to Madagascar, where it is commonly known as 'monkey bread'.

Following EU approval, it is now available to buy, either in dried, neat powder form or as an ingredient in pre-prepared drinks, jams and yoghurts, on the High Street.

Although there have been concerns that consumption of the fruit was killing off the ancient trees (some are thousands of years old), African trade organisations state categorically that the fruit destined for import is ethically sourced.

Pharmacist Dr Sybille Buchwald-Werner, of food development company Vital Solutions, believes the baobab is unique.

'It is rich in vitamins, antioxidants and minerals - really the only fruit of its kind. It is difficult to open, like a coconut, so the flesh is commonly sold in powdered form. In Africa it is stirred into porridge or refreshing drinks.'

It is also a baking agent, helping bread and cakes rise yet stay moist. It really is extremely versatile.'

Taste Gold 2009-10

Fairtrade African baobab fruit jam - (December 2009)

Baobab has been hailed as the next 'superfruit', as it has six times more vitamin C than an orange, double the calcium of milk, more iron than red meat and more potassium than a banana.

Perhaps that's the one reason why Yozuna's baobab fruit jam has already been snapped up by Selfridges and Whole Foods Market in London, as well as numerous delis in the South West.

Based in South Devon, Yozuna is dedicated to developing fair trade with small independant businesses, farmers and co-operatives in Africa. In the language of the Ngoni people of Zambia, Yozuna mean "it's ssweet", which is apt for the first and only baobab fruit product on the UK market.

Yozuna baobab jam has a texture thicker than honey and is described as being reminiscent of apricots and lemon curd with an aftertone of passion fruit. It works equally well with sweet or savoury dishes.

By The Dart

David Jones (Manna from Devon Cooking School) discovers a new food product to excite your tastebuds (November 2009 - Issue No: 20)

It's not often that you come across totally new food products in the food world - I mean nothing you've ever come across before. Imagine our excitement (I know, sad but true) when we came across Yozuna and their Baobab Jam at food fairs this year. Like a purée more than a jam proper, it is sweet but not too sweet and tastes of apricots, citrus fruits, peaches and honey all in one mouthful. Standing at their stall can be like listening to Jilly Goolden in full flow there are so many flavour combinations springing into people's heads. We've used it on toast and with cheese and also in cooking - great for roasting veggies and in soups and also on cooked hams.

The baobab is known as the tree of life and can live for hundreds of years. It grows all around the savannahs of Africa and its fruit has been harvested for use by generations. Fairtrade is important to Yozuna as a business and they deal directly with small independent producers, farmers and cooperatives. they work out of a converted kitched in Newton Abbot and all the products are handmade in small quantities to maintain quality. Whenever I've spoken to Malcolm, his tale is similar to so many other small businesses - juggling many things at once: he'll have 4 pans on the stove cooking jam whilst discussing orders from customers and putting his orders to suppliers. However the excitement and energy are infectious and who says men can't multi-task?

Yozuna are the team of Malcolm Riley and Sophie Baxter and the name means "It is sweet". The baobab range came into being after an inspiring trip to a women's cooperative in Malcolm's family home in Zambia. He found them using the fruit of the baobab tree to make a jam the like of which he had never tasted. Now the couple import the powdered fruit and make it into jam, extra jam, and lemonade as well as selling the powder which can be used in cooking and smoothies and on your breakfast cereal.

Healthwise the fruit pulp has a lot of properties. It has more Vitamin C than oranges, high levels of phosphorus, potassium and anti-oxidants, more calcium than milk, and is packed with natural fibre. The powdered fruit can be used as an alternative to cream of tartar in baking amd as a thickening agent. In fact, it's been described as 2009's superfood.

As soon as Selfridges buyers tasted the jam, they snapped it up into an exclusivity deal which has now run it's course and can now be found in delis and their online shop. Direct marketing is important to Malcolm and Sophie so they can meet new customers and explain the origin and the health properties of the fruit. Consequently you'll see them at food fairs and markets all around the place. We met them at Avon Mill Deli's open day and at Abbfest and are delighted they were able to come to Dartmouth for our food festival.

Natural communicators and the passionate about the products, it's fantastic to see their enjoyment and their burgeoning success. They have won a 2-star Gold in the Great Taste Awards 2009 which is a huge boost from the food industry. Additionally they are in the process of becoming carbon neutral so reducing their carbon footprint and also helping with energy saving (and consequently money-saving) projects in Africa. If you want to try the baobab jam, you'll be safe in the knowledge that not only is it delicious and good for you, but it's also helping others too.

Fine Food Magazine

Fine Food Magazine (October 1, 2009)

Newly launched company Yozuna produces jam from the Baobab - an African fruit that is high in vitamin C. The jam is made in South Devon and is available in a 227g jar (RRP £3.99).

Great Taste Award

It's official! (Date)

The Great Taste Awards from the Guild of Fine Food are the acknowledged benchmark for speciality food and drink. A three-star gold is the highest level of award any producer can aspire to and is recognised as the definitive independent accreditation of quality. The awards also generate huge business for those who achieve the gold standard. Over the past five years, they have generated over £2.6 million additional sales and 19,900 new listings. Last autumn, news about gold winning foods reached a massive 35 million consumers. Reports appeared in The Sunday Times, The Guardian and The Independent. Winners featured on The Alan Titchmarsh Show, UKTV's Market Kitchen and on BBC Radio 2's Chris Evans Drivetime Show. A stunning 80 page Great Taste Awards guide to the winning foods will be widely distributed through the independent retail trade and at a host of regional and national food festivals during 2009 and 2010. Almost every other major food title covered the awards and the message was underpinned at local level by over 1000 mentions in the regional press. More and more consumers now recognise the gold and black logo as the benchmark for independently proven fine food.

The Sweet Taste of Success

Mid Devon Advertiser (September 11, 2009)

» Click article to enlarge

Yozuna jams with super-fruit baobab

The Grocer (25 July 2009)

Devon-based start-up Yozuna is introducing a jam based on the African baobab fruit, the latest so-called 'super-fruit'.

African Baobab Fruit Extra Jam, available now from Selfridges and Whole Foods Market, is made to a traditional Zambian recipe. It comes in a 227g kilner with a clasp-sealed lid (rsp: £7.50) or a standard glass jar (rsp: £3.99). The taste is said to be reminiscent of apricots, passion fruit and lemon curd.
Baobab fruit contain up to six times the vitamin C of oranges and twice as much calcium as milk.

Click here to visit website

Yozuna becomes Phytotrade Africa Accredited Partner

The aim of the Accredited Partners scheme is to recognise and promote companies that comply with PhytoTrade Africa’s principles of ethical and environmentally sustainable trade, and provide a guarantee to consumers that ingredients are sourced from PhytoTrade Africa sources. An Accredited Partner is a company that has been assessed and approved as meeting PhytoTrade Africa’s standards for fair and environmentally sustainable trading practices and that has been formally accredited by the Board. Accredited Partners are allowed to sell their finished products in the World of Good Market Place. Accredited Partners may use our Accredited Partner logo on marketing materials and finished products. (17 June 2009)

Western Morning News

Jam's made with African superfood

HARVESTED from the Tree of Life, a Westcountry firm is behind a vitamin-packed superfood set to become the most talked-about "miracle" treat since the goji berry.

Baobab fruit jam from Yozuna of Newton Abbot is about to become big news as it embarks upon a national pitch across the UK. Snapped up for an exclusive period by Selfridges when the first batches became available in December, its commercial success will put a Devon company on the map and guarantee African growers a fair price for the fruits of their labour.

Passionate about organic produce – and in his belief that Devon is the UK heartland of good food – Yozuna's Malcolm Riley is equally staunch in his belief that the only right way to do business is to give a straight deal to suppliers at source.
The company ethos is inspired by Nelson Mandela's words: "For to be free is not merely to cast off ones chains but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others."

Egalitarianism and eco-consciousness are perhaps not always associated with business flair and commercial dynamism; but then, they never did Body Shop founder Anita Roddick any harm.

For, as evocatively as Mr Riley speaks of the dusty, jolting four hour off-road journey to the Mthanjara women's co-operative where he first tasted baobab jam, and of the two-and-a-half million Africans that could see their income double as an appetite for the fruit grows in the West; he has a gimlet eye upon his product's commercial success.

Growing in abundance across the whole of the sub-Saharan continent, the pulpy fruit of the baobab tree has six times the vitamin C of oranges, twice as much calcium as milk and contains more iron than red meat or spinach. Global consumer group Mintel has hailed baobab as "the new super-fruit for 2009". Some people describe the lemon curd-textured jam made from the fruit as reminiscent of passionfruit, quince and even apricots. When Mr Riley's small nephew first tasted the conserve, he yelled in delight "Yozuna!", which in Zambia, means "It's sweet".

His nephew's wholehearted approval inspired a name for the company which Mr Riley and his partner Sophie Baxter established from home last November.
Initially searching in Africa for a source of Baobab seeds to manufacture a coffee substitute; Mr Riley came across the fruit being developed into a jam by a women's co-operative.

Impressed by the versatility of a fruit he had known since childhood, but never tasted this way, Mr Riley said: "My mind went into overdrive."
Hampered by import regulations on the seeds, which have not yet been analysed for consumption in Europe, the fruit pulp itself has had an EC Novel Foods application approved, so Mr Riley began to concentrate his efforts upon the possibilities this afforded to create a new food line.

As well as jam – "delicious eaten with cheese" – Yozuna also sells Baobab powder, which can be used as an ingredient in everything from milkshakes, to cakes and soup. The fruit is just one product from an incredible larder of natural health-giving ingredients known in Africa, but still unheard of outside the continent. Following an exclusivity period with Selfridges, Yozuna is free to sell its Baobab jam into outlets across the UK. Two major department stores are in talks and a deal has been agreed with upmarket US-owned organic store Whole Foods – which has six outlets in the UK – as well as independent stockists including Darts Farm shop.

A link to a company with a UK-wide distribution network could also see Yozuna products stocked in supermarkets and outlets country-wide. "We are just at that cusp at the moment," said Mr Riley.

The entrepreneur has come a long way since he left school as a rebellious teen with no qualifications. Undiagnosed as dyslexic throughout his years as a student, an HIV scare when he was barely in his 20s shamed Mr Riley into running away from his family and Zambian home.

He came to London with just £200 in his pocket and the phone numbers of a friend and distant family member. Riding on his bike one day, he saw a sign for London wholefood store Planet Organic. "I fell in love with it and realised, this is my niche," he said.
He landed a job and worked as the store's product manager for three-and-a-half years, during which time he gathered the courage to test for HIV – which proved negative – and met his partner, Sophie.
Eight years ago, both craving to live in the country, Ms Baxter got a job transfer to the West and Mr Riley secured a job at Riverford Organics farm shop.

"Devon is a foodies heaven, as I tell my customers," he says.
Mr Riley went on to establish his own online store, Organic Links, but was determined to set up his own brand, with support from the local foodie network, including nutritionist and cookery writer Wendy E Cook and Business Link.

Funding the Yozuna enterprise has taken Mr Riley and Ms Baxter's life savings and a business loan from Nat West. "I have a great bank manager," said Mr Riley, who has been unfazed by establishing a business in the economic slump, reasoning: "In January, we officially hit recession in the UK, but Africa has been in recession for millennia.

"It has been difficult, but you have to persevere and we are keeping our heads above water. If it wasn't for the recession, we would be swimming or flying by now."
Despite very promising commercial opportunities ahead for the brand, the firm is energetically exploiting every available opportunity to meet potential retailers.

"For now we are also hitting every event, where the jam is going down a treat," said Mr Riley. "Marketing is what business is all about. If we don't say anything, then we have nothing."
Mr Riley, who now employs a personal assistant, is also focused upon networking within the local business community to forge links through which to expand his enterprise, saying: "If you try to do everything yourself, then you are doomed to fail."

Still very much a cottage industry, the jam is currently made in the purpose-built kitchen of Mr Riley's home. Yet the business is geared-up for rapid growth to supply demand, with a nearby industrial unit in place to up-scale production and one of the UK's biggest manufacturers interested in producing on Yozuna's behalf on a major scale.

"Its exciting," said Mr Riley, "but we still have to sell and still have to recoup our investment yet."

Yozuna's Fair-trade African Baobab Fruit Jam is available at Darts Farm, Topsham and at www.yozuna.com.
Click to view website

Malcolm Riley - Gourmet Foods Entrepreneur

BaobabSuperFruit.com (May 2009)

» PhytoTrade & Baobab Super Fruit, click here for more

To see your product flying off the shelves at Selfridges Food Hall is a dream-come-true for any gourmet food maker. Malcolm Riley has achieved it with his very first product, thanks to a little-known African superfruit and a touch of serendipity.

In 2007, Riley – the son of an English father and a half-African, half-Indian mother - visited his family in his native Zambia. With plans in place to start his own food business, he was looking out for ideas for new and unusual products. By chance, he met the Mthanjara Women’s Co-operative, a group of women working to combat hunger and support AIDS orphans in the east of the country. As well as growing crops such as maize and ground nuts, the women also made food from wild fruits. One of their favourites was a traditional jam made from the highly nutritious fruit of the baobab, a tree that grows in vast numbers across Southern Africa.

‘As soon as I tasted it, I knew I had my first product,’ says Riley. ‘This jam was sensational and quite different to anything on the market in Europe. It had a creamy smooth texture like honey and tasted of apricots, lemon and lime. I was hooked.’

Armed with the recipe, Riley returned to Devon and set to work, naming his company Yozuna, which means “It’s sweet!” in the local Zambian language. He took a sample from his first batch of jam to Selfridges and their savvy buyers immediately signed it up in an exclusive launch deal. It has been so successful that Riley has added three new products to his line-up: baobab spreads made with chocolate and banana, and baobab lemonade, all of which will carry the FAIRTRADE mark.

The great thing about baobab, according to Riley, is that it’s not only delicious and nutritious – containing high levels of Vitamin C, calcium and iron - but it also helps to improve the lives of rural people in Southern Africa.

‘In remote areas, families often survive on less than $100 a year. They can’t afford seeds and tools for farming, but to harvest baobab costs them nothing and earns vital income for food, healthcare and education. The more baobab we eat in the UK and Europe, the more people in Africa stand to benefit,’ says Riley.

Riley works closely with PhytoTrade Africa – the organization representing the natural products industry in Southern Africa - to ensure that the baobab in his products comes from ethical and sustainable sources. He has also committed to return a portion of his profits to the Mthanjara Women’s Cooperative to support their extraordinary work.

‘After all, it was their recipe that launched my business,’ he says.

Riley says he also owes a debt of gratitude to the nutritionist and food writer Wendy E. Cook - former wife of comedian Peter Cook - whom he met while working as manager at his local farm shop in Devon. Riley had moved down from London to start a new life with his fiancée Sophie and explore his growing passion for natural and organic food. He and Cook struck up a rapport through their shared interest in food and Riley plucked up the courage to show her some recipes he had been developing. Cook was so impressed that she asked to use one in her forthcoming biodynamic cookbook.

'It was a massive confidence boost for me and convinced me my future really was in food,' says Riley. 'Ultimately it led to me setting up Yozuna, so I have a lot to thank both Wendy and the women of Mthanjara for!'

For further information contact:
Malcolm Riley, Yozuna
01626 200706
sosweet@yozuna.com

More about Yozuna: www.yozuna.com
More about baobab: www.baobabsuperfruit.com
More about PhytoTrade Africa: www.phytotradeafrica.com

Life Preserve

The Telegraph Food and Home Magazine (28 March 2009)

Food News by Carolyn Hart (p63)

More like a creamy apple puree than a preserve, baobab fruit jam is possibly an acquired taste but one brimming with healthy nutrients - as you might expect from something called the Tree of Life in its native Africa.

£7.49 for 227g, from Selfridges Food Hall (phone: 0800-123400; web: selfridges.com)

The London Paper Lists Yozuna Baobab Jam as Present Idea for Eco-Mums

The London Paper (March 2009)

» Visit The London Paper by clicking here to see Yozuna Baobab Jam for eco-mums.

Yozuna Launches UK's First Fair-trade African Baobab Fruit Jam at Selfridges, London

Yozuna Press Release (January 2009)

On 4th January 2009, our African Fairtrade Baobab Jam was exclusively launched at Selfridges!
Come and join us for tasters on Fridays and Saturdays at Selfridges, Oxford Street, London. Tasters available from January through to February 2009.
African Fairtrade Baobab Jam soon available in all Selfridges stores throughout the UK!

The UK's First Taste of Baobab Super fruit

Cook Vegetarian! (February/ March Issue 2009, p. 19)

The hot new super fruit for 2009, according to marketing gurus Mintel, is the African baobab fruit. And the first baobab product to hit the UK is Yozuna's Fair-trade African Baobab Fruit Jam.
This delicious jam, made from a traditional Zambian recipe, has a luxurious creamy texture and a tangy taste that has been described as reminiscent of apricots, passion fruit and lemon curd. The Jam has many applications, it works well with cheese, rich meats and plain yogurt.
The baobab tree is abundant across southern and central Africa, living for a thousand years or more and playing an important role in the culture and folklore of many African peoples.
Its nutritious fruit has been reported to have as much as six times the Vitamin C of oranges and twice as much calcium as milk as well as being rich in antioxidants and minerals.
Yozuna is a UK based company that believes trade can make a real difference. It is dedicated to developing fair trade with small independent businesses, farmers and co-operatives in Africa.
It sources its baobab from sustainable suppliers in Malawi - where harvesting baobab can double household income for poor families. The unrefined Golden Granulated sugar used in Yozuna's Baobab Jam is certified by the Fair-trade Foundation.
Yozuna's African Baobab Fruit Jam is hand made in South Devon in small batches to ensure the highest quality. The Baobab Jam costs £7.49 and has been exclusively launched at Selfridges Oxford Street.

Yozuna Becomes Fairtrade Foundation Partner

Yozuna Press Release (January 2009)

» See the Fairtrade Foundation's website food section

Yozuna Launches UK's First Fairtrade Baobab Jam

Guild of Fine Foods (November/ December Issue 2008, p. 19)

Yozuna Launches UK's First Fairtrade Baobab Jam

Yozuna Press Release (30th November 2008)

On a visit to the Mthanjala Women’s Cooperative in Chipata, Zambia, Malcolm Riley and Sophie Baxter discovered the taste and health benefits of Baobab fruit jam. They have been fascinated ever since. When Malcolm’s family tried the new product, all shouted ‘Yozuna!’ A new product range had been found and a new name was born.
Translated into English, 'Yozuna!' means ‘It’s sweet!’. It comes from the language of the Ngoni Tribe of the Eastern Province of Zambia, who are direct descendents of the Zulu tribe in kwaZulu-Natal South Africa. Yozuna trades with independent businesses and supports small African farmers and co-operatives.
All products sold by Yozuna (UK) are either made in Africa with African ingredients or include African-grown ingredients. Wherever possible products are certified organic and Fairtrade. With the launch of its own-label Fairtrade Baobab Jam, Yozuna is now entering an exciting new phase.
Earlier this year, the EU passed Novell Foods 'Super Fruit' approval for Baobab Fruit pulp, making import of the product for comsumption legal for the first time.

Food that comes with a flavour of Totnes...

The Herald (thisisplymouth.co.uk) 3rd November 2008
click here for the article

IT HAS been a great past week of fair play and fair trade.
I was at an under-15's football match a few days ago – you know, the sort of game where overweight fathers can live out their own failed football fantasies whilst hurling abuse at mirror images from the opposite team! It's also a great opportunity to study the performing midget... or referee! Trust me! In fifteen games, I have yet to meet one match official who is taller than the counter in the tea hut! In one game, the ref and the linesmen looked like part of a Russian Doll set! If we could have got another four onto the pitch and Snow White, we could have had a great start to a panto! In a quiet moment in the match – I think the ref was being helped out of some stud marks – I overheard a couple of parents talking about a teacher at their son's school. From what I could hear he looked like Catweazle and had a strong smell of vegetables about him. One of them said, 'Oh, he's a bit Totnes!'
What a lovely term. Sadly it's a little too late to be entered into the latest edition of the Slang Dictionary published last week but I thoroughly endorse the description. Lentils are a bit Totnes, collarless shirts, kaftans and moccasins are a bit Totnes. Landrovers from the 1960s with scruffy untethered dogs leaping about on the back seat... are a bit Totnes. I was just making a mental list of other things when hunger struck and I tracked down the tea hut at the back of the pitch, which I noticed had an extra low counter – the ref must have been local. There in front of me was probably the finest example of... a bit Totnes! The Fair Trade symbol.
It is something that we as a family have always supported, so I guess that makes us a bit Totnes. I ordered a Fair Trade coffee and a Fair Trade Eccles Cake. Now, I can understand the need for paying Brazilian coffee plantation workers a greater wage and ensuring that their living and working conditions are improved, but Eccles Cakes? Is the baking population of west Manchester suffering? Has the UN been into Salford lately? By chance when I got home I received an email from Newton Abbot telling me about a new product, Fair Trade Baobab Jam! Now that really is a bit Totnes.
I spoke to the owner of the company and will be getting him in for my radio show, his story is truly fascinating. Personally, I never knew the Baobab bore fruit, let alone could have jam made from it. To my mind the tree only grows in the Masi Mara, Serengeti and on the plains of South Africa. Harvesting the fruit should be interesting though, with only the fastest pickers out stripping the local Cheetahs! I put pellets down around my strawberry plants, but what gauge netting keeps Rhinos off the crop? I'll let you know what it tastes like... probably a bit Totnes!
Yours
Fitz

Move over goji berries, here comes Baobab!

PhytoTrade Africa Press Release 3rd July 2008

The fruit pulp of the African Baobab tree is set to be the latest nutritious and exotic ingredient to hit supermarket shelves, following Novel Foods approval by the European Commission.

PhytoTrade Africa, a trade organisation that promotes fair and ethical trade, and represents tens of thousands of rural southern African producers, brought the application in 2006 and now predicts a surge in demand for the ingredient. ‘Baobab fruit pulp is an ideal ingredient for cereal bars and smoothies,’ said Cyril Lombard, Market Development Manager of PhytoTrade Africa. ‘It has excellent nutritional benefits for the consumers, offering manufacturers a new opportunity to target the growing market for healthy, natural and Fair Trade foods, while being an easy, adaptable and cost effective ingredient to work with’.

The iconic Baobab – commonly known as the “upside down tree” and familiar to anyone who has watched an African wildlife documentary - is a common feature of the landscape in southern Africa. Its fruit has been shown to have an exceptionally high Vitamin C content, up to three times that of oranges; only 10 grams can supply a quarter of the recommended daily Vitamin C intake. Baobab is also high in anti-oxidants (over 10 times the level of oranges), natural fibre (pectins) and is an excellent source of calcium and iron.

African people call Baobab “the tree of life” and have long used its fruit pulp to make refreshing drinks and as a baking ingredient. It is also a traditional food for pregnant women and children due to its high calcium content. The optimum level of Baobab pulp in products such as smoothies and cereal bars is between five and ten per cent as determined by preliminary work by Leatherhead Food International.

Other uses are expected to include biscuits and confectionery, as well as fruit juices and sports beverages.

Following Novel Foods approval, PhytoTrade Africa will be focusing resources on supporting the development of the supply chain and production capacity to meet European industry demand. ‘Approval for Baobab is fantastic news for Africa,’ said Lombard. ‘Opening up the European market to this product will make a real difference to poor rural communities there, offering them a potentially life-changing source of income.’ A recent report by Ben Bennett of the UK’s Natural Resources Institute found that sustainable wild harvesting of Baobab fruit could generate trade worth up to US$1 billion a year for African producers.