Meet the producer: Chosan
Eliza Jones is the founder of Chosan – a company with ethics and healthy living at its core that is bringing the fruits and flavours of West Africa to the UK in its range of drinks, sorbets and now jams and spreads.
What were you doing before you launched Chosan?
I worked as a programme manager for a UK-based international health charity, and when I was made redundant at the end of 2010, I felt I needed a career change after spending more than 25 years working in international development. I’d always had a long term vision of supporting women in The Gambia, so it was natural that I should combine my interest in healthy eating with my first-hand experience of food and drink made from the fresh fruits and plants I grew up with and use this to support the country’s women food producers. It took a gentle nudge from a good friend to get started, but I began making hibiscus drinks and selling them at local farmers’ markets around summer 2011.
Why did you decide to launch the brand?
Back in 2010, healthy soft drink ranges were quite limited and I missed the exotic flavours of my childhood. I was also interested in a different approach to making a difference and improving the quality of life of poor people. I am a passionate believer in healthy food and drink and felt there was a market for different exotic fruit and plant flavours that were also naturally healthy, made with minimal simple processing, free from additives and preservatives, and organic. Even better if the ingredients are fairly traded and sourced sustainably. So, I started as a sole trader, small business and social enterprise to do all three. A proportion of Chosan’s profits go towards supporting women food producers in The Gambia.
What is the biggest lesson you have learned since starting the business?
You need to believe in yourself to be able to keep going when things get tough.
You can’t do everything entirely on your own, so you need a good support network of family, friends or business contacts.
What makes your products stand out from others on the market?
A combination of different features. Our products are premium and only contain natural, minimally processed ingredients. Our signature ingredients – hibiscus and baobab – give them unique, distinctive flavours, providing consumers with unusual and intriguing taste experiences. We make healthier products – our exotic ingredients have health and nutritional benefits and we avoid all additives and preservatives – and are “cleaner”, with much shorter ingredient lists than many others on the market.
What was the inspiration behind launching your latest lines – baobab jams and spreads?
Visiting friends, knowing my interest in baobab, brought me a jar of baobab jam made in Mozambique. After trying it I saw the potential for a much wider range of products and set about developing the different flavours.
What is the best thing about being a small business?
You can organise your own work, and you spend time doing something you enjoy that interests and motivate you.
…and the worst?
It can be quite solitary and feel very risky.
What is next for Chosan?
We want to grow our market and reach more people.
We are working on bringing out new hibiscus and baobab products and we are looking into working more collaboratively with other businesses and organisations to support women food producers in Africa
What were you doing before you launched Chosan?
I worked as a programme manager for a UK-based international health charity, and when I was made redundant at the end of 2010, I felt I needed a career change after spending more than 25 years working in international development. I’d always had a long term vision of supporting women in The Gambia, so it was natural that I should combine my interest in healthy eating with my first-hand experience of food and drink made from the fresh fruits and plants I grew up with and use this to support the country’s women food producers. It took a gentle nudge from a good friend to get started, but I began making hibiscus drinks and selling them at local farmers’ markets around summer 2011.
Why did you decide to launch the brand?
Back in 2010, healthy soft drink ranges were quite limited and I missed the exotic flavours of my childhood. I was also interested in a different approach to making a difference and improving the quality of life of poor people. I am a passionate believer in healthy food and drink and felt there was a market for different exotic fruit and plant flavours that were also naturally healthy, made with minimal simple processing, free from additives and preservatives, and organic. Even better if the ingredients are fairly traded and sourced sustainably. So, I started as a sole trader, small business and social enterprise to do all three. A proportion of Chosan’s profits go towards supporting women food producers in The Gambia.
What is the biggest lesson you have learned since starting the business?
You need to believe in yourself to be able to keep going when things get tough.
You can’t do everything entirely on your own, so you need a good support network of family, friends or business contacts.
What makes your products stand out from others on the market?
A combination of different features. Our products are premium and only contain natural, minimally processed ingredients. Our signature ingredients – hibiscus and baobab – give them unique, distinctive flavours, providing consumers with unusual and intriguing taste experiences. We make healthier products – our exotic ingredients have health and nutritional benefits and we avoid all additives and preservatives – and are “cleaner”, with much shorter ingredient lists than many others on the market.
What was the inspiration behind launching the latest Chosan lines – baobab jams and spreads?
Visiting friends, knowing my interest in baobab, brought me a jar of baobab jam made in Mozambique. After trying it I saw the potential for a much wider range of products and set about developing the different flavours.
What is the best thing about being a small business?
You can organise your own work, and you spend time doing something you enjoy that interests and motivate you.
…and the worst?
It can be quite solitary and feel very risky.
What is next for Chosan?
We want to grow our market and reach more people.
We are working on bringing out new hibiscus and baobab products and we are looking into working more collaboratively with other businesses and organisations to support women food producers in Africa
Read the latest edition of Fine Food Digest here.
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