Our Brand

Aduna is an Africa-inspired health food brand and social business. Our mission is to bring you the natural vitality of Africa’s ancient ingredients, while creating sustainable livelihoods for small-scale producers.

Aduna means ‘life’ or ‘world’ in Wolof, the main local language of Senegal and The Gambia where Aduna’s co-founders discovered their passion for Africa. However, its full meaning is broader than that, more like a West African version of karma which emphasises the connectedness of all living things and encompasses the spirit of our “virtuous circle” business model and social mission.

Our logo is adapted from a Ghanaian Adinkra symbol called ‘Owia Kokroko’ which stands for vitality, life-giving energy and the power of the sun.

The Aduna brand mission is to breathe the vibrancy of Africa into the daily lives of people all over the world, creating a virtuous circle of positive impact. Aduna sources its ingredients directly from small-scale producers. Over 2,000 women in Upper East Ghana are receiving sustainable income flows through Aduna’s baobab supply chain, enabling them to provide basic needs for their families.

Our packaging: Wax print meets pop art.

A lot of people ask us whether there is a story behind our packaging. The answer is most definitely ‘yes’. In true Aduna style, the packaging is a creative collaboration - between ourselves, our creative friends and the wonderful and talented people at Carter Wong Design. When we set out to create our first wax print pattern we were looking for a ‘real life’ wax print designer to help us achieve the authentic look and feel we wanted. We found one. But far from being the Ghanaian or Nigerian female designer we expected, his name was Craig and he came from Lancashire, North West England.

We embarked on voyage of discovery about the extraordinary and as yet untold history of the iconic African wax print fabric, taking us back to its origins during the industrial revolution, and its part in the so-called ‘Triangular Trade’. We visited the archives of ABC Wax in Salford (UK), one of the very first and now one of the last remaining producers of these fabrics. We learned how the fabrics were originally inspired by Javanese batiks and industrialised for mass production by the British and Dutch during colonial times. 

With the help of African soldiers who served in the colonial forces, the fabrics found a market in Africa and the designers started visiting the continent for inspiration. Over time they began integrating traditional African iconography and celebrating specific stories and events from different people and cultures. Creatively, African wax print fabric is a story of diversity, cultural exchange and fusion.

Aduna hopes to continue this tradition through the creation of patterns that tell the story of our hero ingredients, in a way that celebrates the fusion of Africa and London-inspired design. We put a lot of love into them, and we hope you enjoy them as much as we do.