Jam's made with African superfood
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
