Guest post by Karen Kruger, Independent Youth Educator, Property Manager and Kuli Kuli Investor
As a mother of four young children, I am constantly re-thinking nutritional choices and how best to nourish their growing bodies while supporting a food system that I believe in. This is not always easy! With our busy schedules, we are often grabbing healthful snacks on the go, though rarely do these snacks leave me feeling like I did, in fact, make the “right” choice for my kids.
Ever since I became a mother ten years ago, I have been looking for the perfect snack: a plant-based, portable, affordable, non-messy snack that is full of protein, calcium and iron, lightly sweetened with fruit and one that appeals to all four of my kids. Sure we had tried various options over the years: trail mix, granola bars, and various power bars but still I had not been completely satisfied with the choices available. I had always felt like something had been missing. And then I realized what it was….and surprisingly, it had to do with something bigger: social impact and what my choices meant in the greater picture.
When I found out about Kuli Kuli bars, I was immediately drawn to the company and its purpose. These bars are not like anything else on the market. Not only do they bring to our diet the nutritionally-dense superfood of moringa, but the company itself stands for more: Kuli Kuli harvests its moringa from a women-owned farms in West Africa, ensuring fair wages and supporting women farmers in the developing world. It was this fact, in addition to the fact that Kuli Kuli is also women-founded, that I knew this company was worth supporting.
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After becoming an alumna of the Pipeline Fellowship, an angel investing boot camp for women, there was no question in my mind that not only was I going to be a loyal customer of Kuli Kuli bars but that I wanted to invest in the company as well. Working with Kuli Kuli’s founder, Lisa Curtis, has been an absolute joy. As a former peace corps volunteer, Lisa is not only personally connected to the people in Niger but she has dedicated her career to making a difference in the world. As a nutritionally-conscious mother, socially-minded consumer, and female-supporting impact investor, I am sincerely grateful to have discovered Kuli Kuli.