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 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.