Aduna has announced the launch of its latest product, 100% natural and organic Fonio Ancient Super-Grain, positioned as the ‘new quinoa’.
The brand says that fonio, set to be ‘the hottest health food of 2020’, has a deliciously nutty flavour with a fluffy couscous-like texture. Naturally gluten-free, the sustainable grain is part of the millet family and is low GI, rich in iron and amino acids, and a source of zinc, vitamin B1 and B3 and phosphorus.
Ready in three minutes, the grain can be used as an alternative to quinoa, rice or couscous in salads, soups, stir-fries or as a side dish, as well as porridge.
Aduna says fonio has been named one of 50 nutritious foods consumers should be eating more of to promote a more diverse, sustainable global food system. Fonio is fast-growing, drought-resistant and fights soil erosion, helping reverse the effects of climate change. Aduna Fonio is grown by 320 women smallholders in Tiebe, Southern Mali. To avoid the ‘quinoa effect’ where demand from overseas outstripped supply, pricing local consumers out of the market, Aduna and its partners are committed to only buying 80% of the grain produced by the communities it works with, leaving 20% for local consumption.
“Fonio is a delicious, nutritious, gluten-free ancient grain that can be cooked in just a few minutes, giving it blockbuster potential within the natural foods market,” explains Andrew Hunt, Aduna co-founder and CEO. “When combined with its capacity to regenerate degraded soils and, via our ethical sourcing model, to transform the lives of women in rural Africa, it is truly a ‘future food’ fit for the needs of the 21st Century.”
Cultivated in Africa for 5,000 years, fonio also known as ‘the seed of the universe’ because the Dogon people of Mali believe the entire universe was born out of a single fonio grain.
