Fancy joining me? 
A mate of mine is doing this "Pitch to Rich" thing whereby they pitch a business idea to Virgin. They're in the semi-finals but need more votes to get to pitch to Richard Branson.
Their social enterprise is called Aduna and it aims to make the baobab fruit famous and create a demand for it, which would benefit potentially millions of African women.
They need votes to get to the final so pleeeeeease give them a click? Here's the link:
www.virginmediabusiness.co.uk/pitch-to-rich/grow/aduna/
Thank you! 
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to want to make a bizarre fruit famous?
41 replies
ViewFromThe4thFloor · 10/06/2015 21:53
OP posts:
MojoLite ·
10/06/2015 22:41
I just googled. 
Is that the tree it comes from?? Splendid then. And in no way looks like a penis
RedRugNoniMouldiesEtc ·
11/06/2015 10:17
Voted and bump 
Sounds like an excellent way to help, promoting things that are healthy and support workers has to be good. I'd like to hear a bit about how they plan to ensure prices are kept at a level to support the producers though.
AdunaWorld1 ·
11/06/2015 13:59
Wow – we are delighted to see so many comments and questions about the magic fruit! We can happily talk all day about Baobab and have tried to answer some of your questions below!
Baobab is a fruit that grows in 32 different countries in Africa. It is the only fruit in the world that dries naturally on the tree. All we have to do is harvest the fruit, remove the pieces of dried fruit and sieve it down to create a 100% natural, nutrient-dense, raw wholefood powder, essentially like a fruit pulp. It is packed full of essential vitamins & minerals - a rich source of vitamin C, calcium, potassium and thiamin. It is also almost 50% fibre and has one of the highest antioxidant capacities of any fruit in the world. Not only are the health benefits exceptional, but it tastes delicious too 
It has a naturally sweet sherbet-like citrusy flavour (must be why kids love it so much!), typically described as a combination of pear, grapefruit, caramel and vanilla. As for how you can use it, due to its powdery nature its best sprinkled, stirred or blended into foods. The possibilities are endless but some of our favourite ways are over a fruit salad, yoghurt or muesli, stirred into porridge, or blended into a smoothie. Interestingly, the powder actually has raising agents and can be used in baking – perfect for a yummy birthday cake! We also have some delicious raw energy bars which contain two full teaspoons of baobab, pineapple and almonds – 100% organic and free from dairy, gluten and wheat they are great for an on-the-go energy boost.
Our campaign is to create a global demand for the fruit by transforming awareness of baobab: essentially, to Make Baobab Famous. This is rooted from our core business model which is to create demand for the under-utilised, but extraordinary, natural products cultivated by small scale producers in rural Africa. We work directly with the communities who own the baobab trees and ensure they are getting paid a fair price. We then go one step further than the traditional ‘Fairtrade’ model by employing the women from the communities to process the fruit – thereby ensuring the added value from processing the fruits remains within the community. If we succeed in our mission National Geographic has estimated it could be worth a billion dollars to rural Africa.
As the whole fruit is difficult to open – similar to a coconut, it’s easier for consumers to buy the Fruit Pulp Powder than the actual whole fruit. Baobab Powder is not yet available in the mainstream supermarkets but we will soon be listed in Ocado and our ambition is for Baobab to be widely available in UK supermarkets inn the near future. At the moment, you can buy it from Holland & Barrett, Whole Foods, Planet Organic and masses of other health stores – check the store locator on our website to find a store near you.
In terms of your questions regarding Baobab and Quinoa, baobab can’t actually be compared to quinoa for the simple reason that quinoa is a staple crop, whereas baobab is not. Our partners in creating the baobab trade Phytotrade Africa, give the example of Zimbabwe, where 60 tonnes of the country’s baobab are currently exported, 60 tonnes are currently consumed in the local market and 20,000 tonnes are currently going to waste. This is a huge wasted opportunity for the local communities. If we can create enough demand for baobab, instead of the surplus fruit going to waste, it can be sold transforming the lives of the households in the communities, who largely live a subsistence lifestyle. We are partly funded by the government of Ghana and work hand-in-hand with grass- roots community organisations and women's co-operatives to create and then execute our shared plan.
We have no plans to increase the price of our baobab. If the price of baobab increases in the long-term as a natural byproduct of increased demand, as we are a social business working directly with producers, this will only be to the benefit of the producers who will receive greater income for selling us their fruits.
We hope that goes some way in answering your questions – feel free to ask any more Or head over to our website //www.aduna.com where you can find recipes, easy ways to use baobab every day and case studies from two of the baobab producers we are working with in Northern Ghana.
If you are inspired by our vision of creating income for 10 million women in rural Africa, please spare just 7 seconds to help us by voting for us to win Pitch to Rich: www.virginmediabusiness.co.uk/pitch-to-rich/grow/aduna Thank you so much for your support and welcome to The Aduna Feel Good Tribe!
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