123 Nourish Me Q&A

With a mutual love of health and wellness, founders of 123 Nourish Me, Alisa and Danni started with an idea to enhance the health and wellbeing of families. What began as two friends chatting away in the kitchen has quickly grown to be a much-loved brand for parents Australia wide.

 

123 Nourish me takes kids health seriously. From organic cleaning products, to sunscreens, essential oils and beautifully made organic balms, 123 Nourish Me covers the family from top to toe.

We’re thrilled to have 123 Nourish Me as part of the GBN family, welcome!

We are so excited to join the team – we have been hoping to work with GBN for a long time!

Can you tell us a bit about how the brand started and your inspiration for launching?

We started our brand 7 years ago in our kitchens when we couldn’t find quality organic products in one range that ticked all the boxes. We began to make things ourselves using the highest quality ingredients we could source and started educating ourselves on ingredients. We built a large following and there was a demand for our products from parents so 123 Nourish Me was born!

What are the key differences between the 123 Nourish Me sunscreens and other brands on the market?

We are different from most brands because we have developed a truly natural sunscreen that is not greasy or thick and we don’t have any hidden nasties. We are one of the few sunscreen brands that list all ingredients and we are a full ingredient disclosure business.  Kids love the smell and the feel and for the first time we have found that kids actually look forward to putting on sunscreen and it’s no longer a battle. Our Sunscreen was voted Favourite Sun Smart Product at the My Child Awards and our Hello Sunshine Facestick is perfect for school and handbags.

Can you tell us about your balm range and how they work?

Our balms are our best selling products in our range and are a mix of incredible ingredients designed to soothe and comfort little ones. They contain organic essential oils, magnesium, kakadu plum and smell incredible and are a huge help for getting kids to sleep and supporting them when they are unwell.  We take huge care with our ingredients and packaging and package our balms in glass so there are no phthalates from plastics into our beautiful balms. Sleepy Head Balm was voted #1 sleep aid in Australia at the My Child Awards and Chesty Rub Balm just picked up Editors Choice for the 2023 Clean and Conscious Awards.   We have over 1000 verified reviews on our website which is a HUGE endorsement from our customers. 

Why is providing natural, ethical and organic products important to you?

Because our kids health matters and we only bring products to market that we would use on our own kids.  Our values remain the forefront of our business which is Organic and Natural, No Nasties and Australian Made. We are so proud of our incredible range and excited to make a difference in more homes across the country. 

Are your products safe for all ages? 

Our products are safe from 6+ months – 99 years! (although we do have reports of 1 customer who is 101 and uses Sleepy Head Balm every night!)

What have you found the most challenging part about starting a business today?

For us it’s been the juggle of being working mums and the balance of kids and business.  We have a brilliant team and we employ lots of single mums so working around our families and creating a culture that supports mums in the workplace is incredibly important to us.

What’s your must-have item in your bag this summer apart from sunscreen (obviously!)?

Fresh water,  our organic hand sanitiser – On the Go!, Bye Bye Bug and our First Aid Balm for life’s little mishaps! And of course our Hello Sunshine Tinted Facestick is never out of our handbags! 

Thanks for chatting!

At Global By Nature, we distribute 250 brands and over 2,500 health and wellness products to trade. Our knowledgeable team are passionate about connecting you with the best quality health brands that support the growth of your business. Get in contact with us today to start your health journey.

New From Tropeaka | Australia’s Only Beauty Custard

Tropeaka’s Beauty Custard is your New daily beauty solution made easy and delicious. Combines the world’s best sustainable Marine Collagen, sourced from the crystal clear waters of the North Atlantic Ocean, with a highly nutritious, certified organic pea protein for lean muscle building and supporting healthy weight management. Free from any nasties such as dairy, soy, gluten, casein, whey or artificial ingredients, and made 100% natural for optimal nutrition any time of the day.

Congratulations on the new Tropeaka Beauty Custard range! Can you tell us the biggest motivation behind the new products?

Thanks, we’re super excited about this one! Our motivation came from an interesting place. With an active database in the hundreds of thousands, we have the unique opportunity to cater towards what our passionate customer base wants. Through this insight, we’ve found that our most requested product has been collagen, but with so many collagen options on the market, we didn’t want to create another product that customers can get elsewhere.

Custards have been trending in the health and wellness space for the last 18 months; however, no one had looked towards creating a custard that was focused on beauty, which includes marine collagen. We wanted to create an incredibly delicious, convenient dessert-style custard that anyone could eat at any time of the day for a filling, nutritious and skin-enhancing solution! We’ve done that, it’s the world’s first beauty custard, and we think it’s our best product yet!

What was your product development process like?

As we are using certified organic pea protein as one of the foundational ingredients, we had to ensure that there was no grittiness that came through. My co-founder Blake worked closely with our manufacturing partners to produce a product that is smooth, creamy, delicious and worthy of dessert. This took many trials, taste-testing, and of course, lots of time spent in R&D, but we got there!

We have a reputation for bringing products to market that taste great, and we wanted to make sure that legacy continued. It was a slow process that went on for months, but we found what worked and our two flavours, Smooth & Creamy Banana and Salted Caramel, taste perfect!

What benefits are contained in your sustainably sourced marine collagen peptides?

We’ve used the world’s best marine collagen peptides! They are sustainably sourced from cod skin that would have otherwise been discarded, while also being wild caught in the crystal clear waters of the North Atlantic ocean.

Due to our collagen peptides’ smaller particle size, they are absorbed 1.5x more efficiently than traditional collagen sources from bovine and porcine. Our Beauty Custard contributes to the maintenance of normal skin hydration, elasticity & integrity and supports healthy skin and hair.

What is your favourite way to enjoy Beauty Custard?

What makes this product so good is it’s great just on its own. Mix it with a small amount of cold plant-based milk or cold water, and it’s ready to eat in less than 1 minute. That’s my favourite way; however, some people also like to mix it with milk/water and then heat it to have a hot custard.

At Global By Nature, we distribute 250 brands and over 2,500 health and wellness products to trade. Our knowledgeable team are passionate about connecting you with the best quality health brands that support the growth of your business.

Interview with Richard Turner, Founder & Managing Director of Ombar

A purpose driven brand first established in England now available in Australia. Ombar’s mission from the beginning is to change the way the world sees chocolate. From cheap, sugary junk food to a cacao rich, nutritious super bar. First established in 2007 after discovering that the humble cacao bean is a powerful superfood with an array of health benefits. Dismayed that chocolate had lost its way, Ombar vowed to champion good chocolate and put cacao back on top. From harvesting the cacao pods in Ecuador, right through to the production of Cambridge, the team at Ombar are close to cacao, sparking creativity and passion overall.

1.  Welcome to the GBN Family! We’re very excited to be launching Ombar to the Australian market. Can you tell us a little bit about the Ombar journey?

Yes, we started in 2007 after I came to discover that cacao / cocoa – the key ingredient in all chocolate was a nourishing superfood. After wondering why chocolate was then so unhealthy, I set about making a chocolate bar that delivered cacao’s health benefits as well as being super delicious.

As we had no idea how to make chocolate or run a business (and we didn’t have any money!) it took a while to get things moving, but eventually we moved out of my kitchen and into a proper little chocolate factory. We’ve moved again since then into our awesome current chocolate factory near Cambridge, UK, complete with shiny Swiss chocolate machines!

Ombar has grown considerably over the years and is now sold in numerous independents and a number of larger grocers in the UK. We also export into 15 countries, mostly in Europe, and now in Australia!

2.  Why was the creation of this brand and offering so important to you?

I think I’ve always had an affinity with chocolate, so it had a real impact on me experimenting with the raw material that chocolate is made from. I was fascinated by the effect – body and mind – of consuming raw cacao – it’s a great deal more potent that it gets credit for in regular chocolate. So I had the desire to share this experience in the convenient and indulgent form of a chocolate bar.

3.  How does Ombar differ from other organic chocolate bars on the market?

Most chocolate brands do not make chocolate. It’s nearly all outsourced to a few manufacturers as making chocolate is not easy. In addition to making all our own chocolate from scratch, we go to the additional lengths of sourcing directly from farmer’s coops in Ecuador. Again, this is certainly not the easiest way to source ingredients, but for us it’s essential to be completely authentic and transparent in our approach and this was the only way to achieve it.

4.  What was your product development process like and the creation of your flavour combinations?

We are a very innovative company and love to experiment. Our development process flowed from what we ourselves wanted to see on the market, so it’s been a fairly intuitive process in the past, but it’s led to a number of breakthroughs. For example, we were the first chocolate company in Europe to use coconut sugar in chocolate, and to use creamed coconut as a delicious vegan milk chocolate. More recently, we’ve pioneered a way of using a variety of germinated oats to create an indulgent vegan milk chocolate bar with super low CO2e emissions.

5.  What has been the most challenging aspect of building the Ombar brand?

Being a food manufacturer sourcing ingredients from the other side of the world certainly has brought its fair share of headaches over the years! But ultimately, growing the business is down to having the right team. Without the right people in place, the business could lose a year if we’re not careful, so this has been a big learning. You’ll be pleased to know we currently have an amazing team in place!

6.  The entire range is absolutely delicious, but do you have a favourite SKU?

Sometimes it’s whatever we happen to be making that day as I’m in the fortunate position to be able to sample fresh from the line and am nearly always happy with the result. But I do always find myself going back to Coco 60% which is one of our original flavours. It has the perfect balance of complexity from the cacao and creaminess from the coconut and coco sugar.

7.  Ombar is now a B Certified Corporation. Can you tell us a little bit about this process and why this certification is so important to you?

We quite recently became a B Corp company following around 12 months of work to become certified. B Corp seemed to encapsulate in their standards what we aspire to being as a business and a brand. We do so much to try and have a positive impact and by becoming a B Corp, it’s given our aspirations structure and a road map to keep building on for the future. It also provides a recognisable mark for consumers to see which businesses are genuinely about more than profit.

8.  We’re really excited to be launching Ombar to the Australian market!

Us too! It’s something we’ve eyed as a brilliant opportunity for a number of years so to see it finally happen has got us very excited. Let’s do this!

At Global By Nature, we distribute 250 brands and over 2,500 health and wellness products to trade. Our knowledgeable team are passionate about connecting you with the best quality health brands that support the growth of your business.

Interview with Planut Goods, Plant Milks & Nut Butters Made Better for You & for the Planet

Finely milled nuts to create a super smooth paste that you simply add water to then blend for fresh plant milk in seconds. Products are made from 100% whole nuts for complete nutrition of a whole food. Store bough plant milk include unnecessary ingredients such as gums, fillers and emulsifiers. Planut pouches contain up to four litres of plant-based milk that is free from GMO ingredients and gluten, and is vegan and paleo friendly. Plant milks can be blended into your desired creaminess and is shelf stable for optimal use.

1. Welcome to the GBN family Planut Goods! Can you tell us a little bit about yourselves?

Thank you for welcoming us to the GBN family. At Planut Goods we make delicious plant-based products using as few ingredients as possible. From Plant Milk Concentrates, that you add to water and blend fresh, to better-for-you-Nut Butters.

 2. Can you take us through this new range and the catalyst behind your innovation?

Our Milk Bases and Nut Butters utilise a proprietary milling process to achieve an extra smooth and creamy mouth feel. Our new range of Planut Milk Bases come in Almond, Oat and our Barista blend of Almonds, Cashews and Hazelnuts. We created Planut Milk Bases because most ready to drink cartons of Plant Milk contain gums, emulsifiers and fillers, in place of nuts and plants. We wanted to empower people to create fresh plant milk from pure ingredients. Our Milk Bases are shelf stable and only require refrigeration after the fresh milk has been made. This allows people to keep a range of Milk Bases in the pantry and blend fresh as much or as little plant milk as they’d like per use. We also give people the flexibility to dial up and down the creaminess, by adjusting how much Base they add.

Our range of Nut butters includes Chocolate Peanut Butter, Crunchy Peanut Butter, Smooth Peanut Butter, and Roasted Almond Butter. We have developed our range using the highest quality ingredients and sweetened them with whole dates instead of refined sugars.

3. How does Planut Milk and Peanut Butter differ to others on the market?

For starters, Planut Milk Bases allow people to make fresh and pure plant milk in seconds, from the comfort of their home kitchen. The flexible squeeze pouch of both our Milk Bases and Nut Butters, also provides people with the added freedom of taking their favourite products with them on the go.

4. Do you have a favourite in the range?

That’s like asking a parent to pick a favourite child. That’s tough to do. We love all our products because they’re deliciously unique. However, we must say we love our Barista Base for its hazelnut notes that compliment a coffee perfectly.

5. What has been the biggest challenge in creating this brand?

We spent a lot of time experimenting with different ingredients and formulations to create products that are both delicious and healthy. Using only whole nuts and pure plants in our Planut Milk Bases demanded we use the freshest ingredients, milled precisely to our desired consistency. It took 2 years to develop but we nailed it.

6. What does ‘wellness’ mean to you and how do you adopt it in your everyday routine?

To us, wellness is both being healthy and having fun. We believe you can have both and our products are a testament to great taste and health. It’s a balance in life. Here at Planut Goods we practise daily wellness by always adopting a positive mindset, nourishing our bodies with nutritious foods… and sipping on our morning Planut latte.

7. What has your experience with GBN been like?

Our experience with GBN has been fantastic! The team at GBN have been supportive and helpful every step of the way. We are excited to be part of the GBN family and look forward to a long and successful partnership.

At Global By Nature, we distribute 250 brands and over 2,500 health and wellness products to trade. Our knowledgeable team are passionate about connecting you with the best quality health brands that support the growth of your business.

Interview with Kate Johansson, CEO & Founder of KOJA

KOJA was founded by Melbourne’s own Kate Johansson, who believes life is simply more enjoyable with delicious, better-for-you snacks. She founded KOJA on the principle that real, unprocessed, and plant-based foods are best. KOJA’s range of products are the highest nutritional value and are proud to be free from preservatives, emulsifiers, artificial sweeteners, and stabilisers. They are an ideal grab-and-go snack and are the perfect addition to a healthy balanced diet.

1. Welcome to the GBN Family! Can you tell us a little bit about how KOJA got started?

I have always had an interest in natural, holistic health and eating wholefoods plays a very large role in these areas. When walking down the aisles of supermarkets I found that most health bars on the market were packed with preservatives, additives and processed ingredients and even the ones that did contain less synthetic ingredients were unfortunately packed with high amounts of sugar.

I wanted to create a product that not only contained 100% real and natural ingredients but also tasted amazing and anyone could enjoy. I tested and created many different recipes in my kitchen until I came up with products that I believed customers would actually love and would make eating whole foods enjoyable.

2. How do KOJA bars differ from other bars on the market?

There are many reasons why KOJA stands out from other brands on the market. We prioritise our customers’ health and make sure that everyone has a bar that they can enjoy. We appeal towards consumers with dietary requirements such as coeliac, gluten free, dairy free, fodmap, fructose free, soy free, vegan, vegetarian and plant based as well as consumers with sensitive stomachs as we contain no sugar alcohols and no dates.

KOJA bars also contain 75% less sugar than the average natural snack, we tested over 20 natural snacks and the average sugar content per bar was 16g, not KOJA! We keep our sugar contents low as we contain only natural sugars and do not load our bars up with dates like many other natural bars which not only causes a high sugar content, they can also cause digestive issues.

 3. What has been your biggest motivation behind the brand?

I believe that health and taste should go hand in hand, there is no point creating a bar that is healthy but tastes like cardboard. It is rare that you can say a bar that is indulgent and satisfies you is good for you too. That’s why this is such a priority for me at KOJA.

4. What has been your biggest challenge?

My biggest challenge with KOJA was getting new customers to taste the bars for the first time. Once customers have tried our bars, we have a very high repeat purchase rate and our customers are very loyal to our brand. Unfortunately this industry has been filled with so many terrible tasting products for many years, so a lot of our ideal customers had given up on snack bars and on the category as a whole. No one believed that a health bar could taste amazing and satisfy their snacking needs, getting rid of this stigma is definitely my most difficult challenge.

5. Obviously all Koja bars in the range are delicious but do you have a favourite flavour?

After creating and crafting all the KOJA recipes in my kitchen until I was 100% happy with them it is very hard to pick my favourite, but I would say it would have to be the Dark Choc Chip Oat Bar as not only does it taste indulgent but I know I am eating a satiating snack that will fuel me for hours.

 6. What does ‘wellness’ mean to you and how do you adopt it in your everyday routine?

Wellness to me is taking care of yourself both mentally and physically. It is something that I believe should be incorporated into your everyday life. I do this by prioritising eating wholefoods, moving my body in ways that I enjoy, listening to podcasts, and spending time with my friends and family. Most of all I try not to rush through days. However, wellness is personal and whatever makes you feel your best is always the best option for you.

7. What has your experience with GBN been like?

GBN has been amazing to work with so far. Their whole team is so clearly passionate about what they do and it’s great to work with likeminded people. We’ve met with some of the GBN reps at our warehouse and invited them to taste our full range. We’ve also spent plenty of time introducing our range to all the reps, supporting with training, presentations, and special offers wherever we can. We know that the health food industry in Australia is a very tight knit community, so we look forward to working with many suppliers, retailers, distributors etc that we already know and I’m very excited to see where our relationship goes.

At Global By Nature, we distribute 250 brands and over 2,500 health and wellness products to trade. Our knowledgeable team are passionate about connecting you with the best quality health brands that support the growth of your business.

Global By Nature’s Summer Favourites

At Global By Nature, we distribute 250 brands and over 2,500 health and wellness products to trade. Our knowledgeable team are passionate about connecting you with the best quality health brands that support the growth of your business. With the holiday season just around the corner, the team at Global By Nature have curated our summer favourites. Share these summery, better-for-you products and recipes with your customers during the warmer months.

Raw Nature Deodorant Citrus + Vetiver 

Stay confident and fresh all day long with this aluminium-free natural deodorant. Its powerful key ingredients work to prevent odour and reduce sweating. Smells like freshly cut grass on a summers day!

 

Gevity RX Bone Broth Smokey Texan Bone Broth Marinade & Better Belly BBQ

Summer BBQ’s

Delicious and functional, packed with vitamins, minerals, amino acids, antioxidants, anti-inflammatories and natural detoxifiers. Check out Gevity Rx’S Smokey Texan Lamb ribs, perfect for a Sunday barbeque and only packed with the good stuff.

https://au.gevityrx.com/blogs/recipes/smokey-texan-ribs

Wotnot Sunscreen

Beautiful, clean formula’s that glides effortlessly across the skin, Wotnot sunscreen leaves your skin feeling soft, supple and nourished.

Pandas by Luvme Swim Nappies

Quick and easy to change saving you time especially if your baby likes to wriggle lots. Extremely lightweight, soft and comfy for bub whilst being practical and affordable. Snaps back to change size from newborn to toddler, especially around the leg to ensure no leakage.

Nort

Non-Alcoholic Refreshing Ale, brewed with TLC and 100% Australian with a fruit aroma, golden hue and crisp finish.

Mareeba Orchards Dried Pineapple & Mango

Tropical Australian grown fruity snacks, dehydrated and packed on the farm for maximum freshness. Naturally sweet, delicious and the perfect summer treat

Funday Gummy Snakes

The juiciest, fruitiest and tastiest gummy snakes in the confectionary aisle. Bursting with delicious passionfruit, blackcurrant and raspberry flavours. With 85% less sugar than other gummy snakes, 7g of plant-based prebiotic flavours and free from sugar alcohols, they are the perfect summery snack.

Tropeaka Portable Blenders & Acai Powder

A much-loved superberry from the Amazon that is filled with bursting flavour and health benefits. Blend up your next summery smoothie or acai bowl with Tropeaka’s Portable Blender.

Wild One Sparkling Drinks

Wild One’s premium, lightly sparkling fruit drinks invigorated with prebiotics, essential vitamins The perfect fusion of Australian sparkling mineral water, delicate bubbles and nature’s finest flavours, making it the perfect refreshment straight from the fridge.

Smooze Fruit Ice

A unique frozen treat made simply with freshly pressed coconut milk and pure fruit juices. Promising an exotic flavour and refreshing finish to cool you down on those hot summer days.

Locako Electrolytes

Locako’s premium hydrating and replenishing blend if key vitamins, minerals and electrolytes in a keto formula. Available in delicious Lemonade and Raspberry flavours to keep you hydrated in the warmer months.

Herbs of Gold B Complete

Contains activated B vitamins, including B2, B5, methylfolate and mecobalamin designed for energy product and assist in the maintenance of general wellbeing, a supportive complex formula for the busy holiday season.

Untamed Health Sprouting Seeds

Organically sourced from local farmers around Australia and are free from added sugar, gluten, wheat and all artificial. All mildly flavoured with a long list of health benefits to support balanced nutrition. Throw some Sprouting Seeds into your next summery salad.

Interview with Daniel Kitay, Founder of FUNDAY™ Natural Sweets

Funday have found the sweet spot! After frustration with the lack of healthy lollies on the market, Founder Daniel Kitay took to the kitchen. Deliciously natural lollies packed with gut-loving goodies, no added sugar or sugar alcohols, and bursting with fresh juicy flavours. The new natural lolly brand that is cleaning up the confectionary aisle.

1.    How did the Funday journey begin?

The FUNDAY journey began due to my frustration with the lack of healthy lollies in the market. I was avoiding the confectionery aisle all together and even the health food aisle lacked any good lolly options. On the one hand, there was full sugar lollies (organic or non-organic), and on the other hand sugar-free lollies, all of which contained huge concentrations of sugar-alcohols. Of course, while the sugar-free options sounded luring, they all had to claim “excess consumption may cause a laxative effect” and sure enough, after 1 or 2 gummy products, I couldn’t tolerate the stomach pain and effects. I thought there that to be another way and began formulating with different types of lollies with natural sweeteners and fibres at home. After hundreds of trials, I ended up developing what is now FUNDAY Natural Sweets.

2.    How does Funday Natural Sweets differ from other natural lolly brands?

Unlike almost all lolly brands, we contain ingredients that are good for you! A serving size (one bag of 50g) contains 7 grams of prebiotics. Our lollies have no sugar added, no sugar alcohols as we use ingredients like tapioca fibre and chicory root fibre.

All of our colours and flavours are natural, and are derived from ingredients like beetroot, spirulina and turmeric. We are gluten free, either 5 or 4.5 health star rated, two products are certified vegan by Vegan Australia and 100% Australian Owned.

3.    The range includes some delicious flavours, which is your favourite SKU?.

I LOVE them all obviously, but I am a sucker for sour vegan gummy bears. I love the sour formulation we’ve come up with (which doesn’t contain any sugar!) but the raspberry, lemon and apple flavours combined with the sour is incredible. I also love how the vegan bears are a bit chewy, so it lasts longer in your mouth and the flavour is more intense!

4.    Can you talk us through your sustainable manufacturing processes and its positive impact on the environment?

As we’ve become a more substantial business, our impact on the environment has become a bigger talking point within the business. We’re proud that our manufacturing is completely carbon neutral. All edible waste goes into animal feed. We have also signed up to APCO so our packets are store-drop off recyclable, our trays and outer packaging are 100% recyclable, we use vegetable and soy based inks. As a business, we are always looking at ways to become more sustainable and welcome feedback from our customers all the time on how to improve.

 5.    What does the term ‘wellness’ mean to you and how to you adopt wellness in your day to day?

Wellness is a very broad term and can be easily overused. I take wellness to be an overarching term that considers how a person is coping physically and mentally. Both physical and mental wellness are inter-connected and as the Founder and leader of FUNDAY it is my job to manage my own wellness but also the wellness of the team around me.

6.    What has been the most challenging part of building the Funday brand?

It’s very challenging being a start up business in a $1.4b confectionery industry with huge multinational businesses around you with huge budgets. The biggest challenge is always having to think differently, i.e. if you don’t have those million dollar budgets, how do we launch a successful brand, and product and still be successful? So it’s always having to be creative and innovative… but that’s the part myself and the team LOVE… it’s what keeps us going. Rather than just signing over a million dollars to an agency to execute a campaign, we’re in the ‘trenches’ building an awesome, delicious and fun brand!

7.    What has your experience with GBN been like?

Our experience with GBN has been really great so far! We saw immediate growth after signing an agreement. The service and communication has been at our high service levels, and we’re looking forward to building a long-term partnership with the entire GBN team.

At Global By Nature, we distribute 250 brands and over 2,500 health and wellness products to trade. Our knowledgeable team are passionate about connecting you with the best quality health brands that support the growth of your business.

Interview with Jorge Carlos Fiestas, Co-Founder & Marketing Manager at The Healthy Llama

An Australian family-owned business with over 30 years experience in Australian health industry, who truly believes that healthy eating and loving llamas is the secret to emotional and physical wellbeing. The Healthy Llama brand is designed to delivery authentic food to fuel an authentic life, putting to work Peruvian superfoods that can best help health concious consumers achieve wellness.

Combining the vibrant flavours of South America with the love and dedication of an Australian family member. Made for the Aussie lifestyle by Aussies. An authentically made broad selection of plant-based organic superfoods, with many physical and emotional benefits and unique flavours.

1.    Welcome to the Global By Nature family Healthy Llama! Can you tell us a little bit about how the brand was born?

Thank you for including us in the Global By Nature family; we are very excited about this opportunity.

In mid-2021, as a family-owned business dedicated to delivering medical solutions to healthcare organisations, we decided to give back to the Australian people by creating a multicultural brand based on Australian values to provide emotional, mental and physical well-being, promoting healthy eating and lifestyle.

So we did lots of research and identified that Australians want to invest in maintaining and improving their lifestyle by eating unique healthy superfoods. Australians consider that investing in healthy eating is similar to investing in life insurance, but you get to enjoy it. Research also demonstrated that most of the best superfoods available come from Peru, which is also the home of llamas, so we decided to travel to the millennial land of the Incas to search for the best superfoods for Australians.

Not long after, The Healthy Llama was born to deliver authentic food to fuel an authentic life by providing top-quality value-for-the-money superfoods to all Australians to help them enjoy their lifestyles.

2.    What is the significance of the Llama and how does it translate into your brand?

During our endeavours in Peru, we ran into many llamas and realised that they are the best combination between a dog and a horse. They work and play hard; they are inquisitive, friendly and smart. Llamas protect the members of their pack, regardless of their species.

Furthermore, llamas are also therapeutic animals. Llamas worldwide are increasingly being employed to help people with a range of physical and mental impairments, including Autism, PTSD and epilepsy, and we believe that the Peruvian superfoods that we chose for Australians are aligned with the emotional/mental well-being delivered by llamas. 

At that moment, having a llama as part of our brand started to make sense; as we know, llamas have become the new unicorns; they are everywhere! And we feel that llamas are our spirit animal, as our staff is true to ourselves, cares for others, and thrives in generosity and easy-going, laid-back people. 

3.    Maca, Lucuma and Cacao have been used as traditional forms of medicine in Peru for many years. Can you explain their health benefits and how they’re beneficial in current day?

Nowadays, maintaining a healthy lifestyle is a real challenge. Emotional, mental and physical stress has become a real and deadly disease. Trying to balance family, work, studies, hobbies, and enjoying life is a goal that our generation wants to achieve. For that to happen, we need fuel (food) to make things happen, and these Peruvian superfoods are the perfect fuel to achieve a healthy balance to enjoy your lifestyle.

For example, yellow and black maca help you to produce energy and stamina and enhance focus. Maca allows you to perform at your top level, but at the same time, is also supports body and mind recovery. This fuel is not burning you, is helping your body to have healthy mental and physical endurance. Also, helps you with your sexual health, a critical area affected by stress.

Furthermore, lucuma is just as llamazing as maca, is sweet and really healthy. The sweet gold of the Incas. It supports a healthy immune system and recent studies demonstrate that it supports heart and blood health, in addition to enhancing fertility and libido. Research also demonstrate that lucuma improves tissue regeneration and prevents constipation. Finally, it is currently used to manage diabetes, as it stabilises sugar in the blood.

Moreover, camu camu is considered as the berry with the most concentration of vitamin C, which helps to boost the immune system better than traditional sources of vitamin C, like oranges. Also, research indicate that it promotes bone health, supporting the production of collagen that also helps to maintain healthy teeth and skin. Studies also demonstrate that camu camu reduces tissue, and muscle inflammation; it also supports to maintain healthier blood pressure.

Finally, cacao has been considered as the antioxidant king for many years, and research demonstrate that it helps to maintain healthy digestion, blood pressure and heart health.

You can pick and choose what superfood would be aligned to your lifestyle goals or mix them all; personally, I love mixing maca, lucuma and camu camu in my daily life.

4.    What has been the most challenging aspect to building the Healthy Llama brand?

We are a family-oriented brand; we are real people, authentic by nature, we accept ourselves as who we are, and we believe in ourselves even we are not perfect. We respect the positioning of other brands using superfoods; however, it is a challenge for us to promote superfoods for what they are, enhancers of a healthy life, and not for trendy aspects of superfoods.

We believe that superfoods are real; they are not a buzzword. They are not miracle cures either; they need to be accompanied with behaviours that will help individuals to have an emotional, mental and physical balance to enjoy more quality time with their loved ones or just do what they love. We want to deliver wellness for you to enjoy your authentic life to the fullest.

 5.    Which is the SKU in the range that you absolutely can’t live without?

Difficult question. We believe that we have a wide range of products that can accommodate different healthy lifestyles. However, we love our chocolates! They are unique in taste, texture and health benefits; they are very convenient and mix perfectly with our single-origin organic coffee!

Our top favourite powders, which we can mix in smoothies and desserts, are maca, lucuma and camu camu. They make our smoothies and desserts tasty and healthy.

 6.    What does ‘wellness’ mean to you and how to you adopt it in your everyday?

We understand wellness as having a balance in our personal and professional lives; being able to manage and balance our emotions, thoughts, physical energy, and finances to achieve the lifestyle that makes us happy. We do not want perfection, we want simple happiness, being able to enjoy the great-simple things of life, even when challenges are present.

At The Healthy Llama, we love to work and play hard. Our objective is to work hard to deliver wellness to ourselves and to others with our products. Then, we have fun. We laugh a lot; we take care of our emotional and emotional well-being; laughing helps a lot; we are easy-going, Converse-like people, but a great complement is to use our own products to live The Healthy Llama experience, even interacting with real llamas to keep it real. Every day, we aim to represent the values of our brand.

7.    What has your experience with GBN been like so far?

As we said at the beginning, we are very grateful to be part of the GBN family. You have been very welcoming, and we believe that by working together, we can achieve our organisation’s objectives seamlessly, which is a total win-win!

At Global By Nature, we distribute 250 brands and over 2,500 health and wellness products to trade. Our knowledgeable team are passionate about connecting you with the best quality health brands that support the growth of your business.

Brand Interview | Raw Nature

Introducing a new Global By Nature exclusive, Raw Nature. This global award-winning range of plant-powered body care is vegan + ethy accredited, harnessing the best of green chemistry.

1. Can you share with us the humble beginnings of the Raw Nature brand?

Having various health issues made me reassess the body care products that our family were using and particularly what was going on the skin of our two young teenage daughters.

I was unable to find brands that were truly natural and safe, yet powerful enough to give me and my girls the confidence of smelling great throughout the day. So, I decided to create my own body care products.

 

Like a classic small business story, it all started in the home kitchen, which looked like a science lab most days. A range of body care products were carefully designed to deliver the performance of conventional brands using only plant-based ingredients, while offering an unmatched aroma experience. Raw Nature was born.

2. Why was the creation of this brand so important to you?

I’ve always loved eating healthy food, so as I was becoming more aware of what went in my body it just made sense to look at the products I was using on my skin. 

Natural makeup was the next change I made but when it came to body care the selection was so limited and what was out there was not effective at all.  This convinced me that there were others wanting to make more natural body product choices. I was also adamant that if I started this brand it wouldn’t be contained in plastic, so all of the products are packaged in beautiful biodegradable and compostable cardboard tubes and labels.

3. What is the success behind your formula’s and how do they differ from other natural personal care brands?

I think the success of the formulas is due to me not having a background in cosmetic chemistry. I didn’t know how to make cosmetic formulations but I do know how to bake and make creations in my kitchen, so I thought how hard can it be to make body products?  It took about 18 months of research, trial and errors to come up with the products.  What I learnt is that the power of natural ingredients, married with science, ensures each product works as well as or better that the mainstream alternative. The formulas are clean, conscious and considered with special attention on high performance, and that I ended up teaching the cosmetic chemists a few things about natural formulations.  

4. As a busy mum and entrepreneur, how do you incorporate natural health practices into your everyday routine?

I’m a big fan of listening to what your body needs and I try and encourage my children to do the same. A lot of ailments can be prevented when you are in tune with what’s going on with yourself – I believe mental wellbeing (not just physical wellbeing) plays a huge part in our health.  Our family loves laughter and joking around with each other which I think keeps us sane.

 5. Which would you say is the one SKU in the range you absolutely can’t live without?

The geranium + lime deodorant.  It was the very first product I perfected, and I’ve worn it every day since. The scent of citrus and floral and doubles as my perfume if I’ve forgotten to put it on.

6. Has there been a particular challenging aspect to the building of the Raw Nature brand?

Yes, as I mentioned before not being a cosmetic scientist caused some challenges for me when I needed to scale production – I had to learn very quickly how to convert my basic ‘recipes’ into formulations that a manufacturing cosmetic lab could understand.  There were a few tears!

7. What has your experience with GBN been like?

Really fantastic.  I feel very lucky to have a great partnership with GBN as they really understand the health product environment which is very important to me. Everyone I have dealt with is very helpful and caring.

 

At Global By Nature, we distribute 250 brands and over 2,500 health and wellness products to trade. Our knowledgeable team are passionate about connecting you with the best quality health brands that support the growth of your business.

Brand Interview | AusVitality

Ausvitality’s mission has been clear from day one – to create the highest quality and most effective, science-backed supplements to help everyday Aussies feel and perform at their best. Mindlift is a purposeful blend of nootropics, amino acids, adaptogens, minerals, B vitamins and medicinal mushrooms. Global By Nature is proud to have been appointed as distributors for this salt-of-the earth Aussie start up and look forward to see what Garry and David come up with next.

Welcome to the GBN Family! Can you tell us a little bit about yourselves?

Thanks for having us! A bit of background about us.

Dave: Born and raised in Sydney. I’ve been working in advertising for more than ten years but always had a passion for holistic health.

Gareth: Also born and raised in Sydney. I’ve been working in Sales and Technology for many years but as Dave mentioned, always had a passion for natural health entrepreneurship. I’m super active and strive for a balanced lifestyle. Always wanting to stay fresh and optimised.

We met through mutual friends but never spent a great deal of time together before ending up in Europe at the same time. We travelled quite extensively together, eventually travelling through Central and South America also. A lot of time together on the road and theres definitely something very telling when you travel with someone, it’s the best way to get to really know a person. We always had great synergy which has absolutely carried through to the building of the AusVitality brand.

Can you share with us the humble beginnings of AusVitality and why you guys started the business?

We’ve both had an interest in natural, alternative healthcare products and methods to manage different health concerns. The conversation was a fairly easy one after some research into really wanting to help people improve their daily functioning. We tossed around the idea of hemp but it was the discussion around nootroprics and the kinds of products we saw coming out of the US that really stuck.

It was always important to us to have a product that was TGA regulated, understood by the health food and pharmacies channels, but above all was ethical and worked.

What has been the biggest motivation behind the brand?

Our mission has always been to improve the lives of everyday Aussies. That’s what we’ve always come back to. We’ve both spent years working on other brands and it feels great not only to be able to work on your own brand, but to know that your products enhance the wellbeing of consumers. Its incredibly motivating.

What does ‘wellness’ mean to you?

Wellness is such a broad term and is encompassing of so many different factors. I’d also say wellness means something different depending on the individuals’ health concerns and overall goals. But to us wellness is made up of a bunch of mini tasks in your daily routine that improve your overall wellbeing and balance. Things like good sleep, mindfulness, eating nutrient wholefoods, spending quality time with loved ones, exposing yourself to sunlight. Small changes that better yourself physically and mentally.

What are some things that you’ve each incorporated to your daily regime that improves your wellbeing?

Dave: Being someone who manages ADHD, I’m constantly overstimulated. I find floatation tanks work really well for me to help switch off all my senses and immerse myself into mediation. I swim and walk everyday and really watch the foods that I put into my body, and make sure I expose myself to sunlight first thing in the morning.

Gaz: I make sure to wake up at the same time each morning and usually exercise first thing which could be anything really, skateboarding, going to the gym or martial arts, whatever I’m feeling that day. I also find that fasting really helps keep me clear, paired with a really balanced diet, as well as supplementing for cognition during the day and sleep in the evening.

What would you say are some of the key ingredients and their health benefits?

Ashwagandha is probably our number one for its ability to help with stress and anxiety. We also really love the inclusion of Ginkgo. It helps with getting your mind to switch on and leads you into that flow state.

What has been the most challenging aspect of building your brand?

We’re a small team, its quite literally just the two of us! The TGA approval process alone was quite indepth and required a lot of time and resource. We absolutely called upon the expertise of others when we needed to, and while managing the process from start to finish has been challenging its also one of our biggest achievements.

What has your experience with GBN been like?

We’d first met a few team members at Naturally Good 2021 and were impressed by the wide offering of both innovative and heritage products. The relationship is only really getting started but we see a long partnership ahead and the team has made us both feel comfortable and welcomed.

At Global By Nature, we distribute 250 brands and over 2,500 health and wellness products to trade. Our knowledgeable team are passionate about connecting you with the best quality health brands that support the growth of your business.

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