Futurefood Tech, a ‘future of protein‘ oriented technology start-up committed to ending malnutrition in Africa, makes ginger-based shots to boost health and wellbeing using all natural ingredients, herbs and spices such as black pepper, beetroot, and cayenne pepper that give a nutritional boost to the typically starch-heavy Nigerian diet.
Futurefood Tech uses locally sourced ingredients found across Nigeria to formulate its products. Health and wellness as a concept is still “growing like a baby in the country” but the healthy drinks brand hopes to disrupt the beverage space, says Joy Adewuyi, founder of Futurefood Tech.
The range comprises three ginger-based shots for specific health outcomes: wellness (ginger and lemon), immunity (ginger, turmeric, pineapple and black pepper), and energy (ginger and beetroot). The idea for the brand’s health shots came from its first product, large food delivery boxes, which the company found was not as popular with customers.
“We realised food boxes delivered to unwell customers were not receiving frequent return purchases and so we decided to come up with a product that would be a valuable addition to help us retain customers, reduce the ambiguity of products, and improve the overall quality of our product offer,” says Joy Adewuyi, founder, Futurefood Tech.
To create the final formulations, the startup identified brands in the UK and US that were well established in processing natural ingredients. Production took place locally with the help of Nigerian food technologists and nutritionists.
Ginger is a key ingredient in Futurefood Tech’s formulation since it is found abundantly in northern Nigeria and has beneficial properties; “Kaduna State is where we have comparative advantage in the production of our ginger in Nigeria. The reason we infuse ginger as the base ingredient is that it contains a lot of antioxidants and people are beginning to understand, especially since Covid began, the value of such herbs, roots and spices to improve immunity,” adds Adewuyi.
