• 18 April 2017

  • Customers

Meet Our Customer: One Earth

This month we hear from One Earth Organics, who make superfood blends for both adults and children.

How did your business start? 
I (Susan) had worked in international development for over a decade working with charities and international organisations both large and small. One of the most rewarding things about this work was getting to see people’s livelihoods become more secure - from drought stricken small-holder farmers growing more vegetables because of innovative irrigation projects, to women’s training in food processing, or an early warning system detecting floods. When I married and became pregnant with my first son four years ago I took a break from work and then realised a career which involved lots of travelling and late night doesn’t fit well with having children.

I started thinking about what I could do that would fit around childcare but also still be contributing socially in some way. After spending a lot of time at children’s groups and with friends with children, I started to realize the dire situation of kid’s health in the UK - especially in the snack food market. No children I knew were getting their 5 a day, instead they were filling up on baby biscuits, Nutella sandwiches, crisps and fruit shoots.

At first my son ate wonderfully- he loved fruit and veg. But then he hit two and suddenly he was far pickier with what he ate. I had to become inventive and hide it in stews, soups, veggie lasagnes and homemade banana yoghurt ice-cream. But one of the best and easiest sources of goodness was making smoothies.

After a while a smoothie a day became routine. I loved them, he loved them and I found that I could easily pack 3 portions of fruit and vegetables in them and really increase nutritional intake by adding superfood powders. The seed of One Earth began to grow. Making superfood blends to save time and money, giving people ways of improving their nutrition whilst also making sure the farmers and gatherers supplying them were treated fairly. My husband came on board with me and we started to find ways to make this budding idea a reality.
 
What is unique about your company? 
We are all about making nourishing and fresh food for all. Young or old and no matter the social background. We are a family company and want to encourage eating more fruit and veg and to empower parents to take control of the food they provide to their families. Unlike most superfood companies were aren’t about weight loss or posting bikini pictures. In addition, One Earth is a budding social enterprise. We are working with B’Ayoba to find ways we can help their work with Baobab gatherers in Zimbabwe, and we are hoping to support agricultural extension work in other parts of Africa, Asia and South America.
 
Who and where are your customers?
Grown-ups, teenagers and children everywhere. We are concentrating on the market in the UK and Europe but we have had a lot of interest from Asian buyers.
 
How’s the future looking for you? What are your plans? 
We have just launched One Earth at Natural and Organic Products Europe on the 2-3 April 2017! We are currently meeting with buyers and distributors as well as developing our website and marketing plan so we are really excited about the future. Our blends have been selected by British Vogue to be featured in the ‘Feast of Spring’, so that made me very happy!
We have also been asked to be part of the Tesco BackIt crowdfunding campaign, which is a chance for Tesco buyers to see the popularity of our product ideas.
 
Why do you buy from Organic Herb Trading?
Sourcing is everything in the superfood business! We were in talks with Phytotrade Africa about sourcing Fairtrade Baobab from Zimbabwe and Moringa from small suppliers in India… and everyone suggested we contact Organic Herb Trading. They really do have a reputation for being at the forefront of organic thinking in the UK.
Once in contact with Organic Herb Trading, it became clear their agenda was similar to our own, they were flexible in importing goods for us or us importing directly and them blending for us. They even have a wonderful product development team that carefully helped us design our blends and bring our ideas to life.
 
Why is organic/provenance important to you? 
Quality is at the core of our brand and being organic is absolutely essential to this. Our superfood blends contain ingredients such as Spirulina and Seaweed and so the purity and provenance of these are essential, we don’t want any toxins in them. It is now a known fact that organic vegetables contain more vitamins and minerals than non-organic ones* and this is obviously very important when dealing with superfoods.

Working with Organic Herb Trading also enabled us to gain our Soil Association certification easily as they are certified too. This is of crucial importance to us as it not only ensures the highest organic standards, but also that the entire chain is also sustainable.
 
Please feel free to tell us one unusual fact!
Just 8% of children and teens in the UK get their 5 a day of fruit and vegetables - that’s shocking!
 
What is your favourite cup of tea/or long cool relaxing drink?
On a nice summer’s day, there is nothing more I love than sitting in our garden drinking a Chocolate Dream milkshake with my 3 year old son - 1 frozen banana, 1 tablespoon of One Earth Chocolate Dream blend and a cup of milk blended together- it’s always a hit with the kids!

British Journal of Nutrition"

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