When Unoma Okorafor was pregnant, she went to local supermarkets and natural health food stores in search of the wild-grown organic fruits, vegetables and herbs she grew up eating as a child in Nigeria.
“The ones I found didn’t taste the way that I knew they should taste: healthy, juicy, beautiful, amazing,” said Okorafor, who holds a Ph.D. in computer engineering. “I knew the amazing health benefits of the herbs of my childhood and vowed to share them with the world.”
Soon after, Okorafor set out on a journey to bring nutritious superfoods and super herbs to American consumers—and Herbal Goodness was born.
The Texas-based business began selling one product with the Amazon store in 2012. Today, they sell more than 80 superfoods and super herbs made with premium quality, organic, and non-GMO ingredients, working closely with farmers and suppliers to directly source their products. All products are manufactured in the United States, and Herbal Goodness undergoes USDA organic certification annually.
Okorafor said Amazon has been essential to growing her business quickly.
“Our Amazon business has helped us pull together this brick-and-mortar store,” she said. “We can grow on ecommerce on a macro level. We can reach the whole world. But when we want to change lives one at a time, when we want to build community, I feel like the retail will give us that.”
In addition to supporting sustainability and fair trade practices, Okorafor said making an impact on the community is a core value at Herbal Goodness. Each year the company gives 10% of its profits to support the education of girls, including providing educational scholarships for children of their female farmers.
Last year, Herbal Goodness impacted the lives of 10,000 girls across Africa.
“I’m driven by the passion to encourage more girls to dream big, to speak up, and to pursue their dreams,” Okorafor said. “Without Amazon, we would not have grown the business to where we are. And without a business that is doing well, that is healthy, we can’t give back.”