Welcome to our blog
Paving the way for good practice in a young marula oil industry
KaZa Natural Oils is a Zimbabwean-based, woman-led producer of indigenous African oils. They are Grounded Ingredients’ source for marula oil, which is increasingly coveted by the cosmetic industry worldwide. As demand for natural ingredients starts to climb, KaZa finds itself straddling two roles as both guardian and proponent of natural and cultural heritage.
Spilling the Tea on South African Herbal Teas
Grounded Ingredients offers three indigenous herbal teas endemic to South Africa’s Cape Floristic Region. Though all three can only be grown and produced here, they have distinct properties and flavours.
Does sustainable wild harvesting exist?
Some difficult to farm ingredients are still harvested from the wild. Given that human demand appears to be infinite and these resources finite, our appetite for these ingredients has the potential to put their wild habitats at risk.
Grounded Ingredients wants to help you mind your beeswax
Sustainable and pesticide-free bee byproducts are hard to source, let alone organic. Once we found a local, transparent beeswax producer, we quickly realized this was only half the battle.
Spotlight on a Producer of African Indigenous Ingredients: Like Mountains Essential Oils
The story of production behind Like Mountain's rose geranium oil is as exceptional as the product. Owner-founder Anri Manderson is dedicated to creating a beautiful ingredient while enriching and restoring the environment and community around her.
Spotlight on an Indigenous African Ingredient: Namibian Myrrh
We chat to Karen Nott, plant ecologist and sustainability advisor to the Kunene Conservancies Indigenous Natural Products Trust, a critical champion of this remarkable plant and the people who hold its traditional knowledge.
Spotlight on a Small Brand with Big Plans: in Conversation with Le Riche Naturals
Small brands can play a big part in supporting regenerative agriculture and ethical wild-harvesting practices, so we thought we’d sit down with one of our favourites. Grounded’s resident botanist Elzanne Singels speaks with Lushinka Louw, founder of South African cosmetic brand Le Riche Naturals.
The Messy Truth Behind Fair Pricing & Reinventing the Middleman
Grounded co-founder Thekla Teunis describes the profit breakdowns in conventional agricultural systems, and why farmers and producers systematically get squeezed out of the pie. Thekla explains why this is, and what Grounded is doing to disrupt the status quo.
Grounded launches the world's first online wholesale platform for regenerative ingredients
Introducing Grounded Ingredients! Grounded Ingredients is the world’s first marketplace built to offer regenerative ingredients to brands making ethical, traceable products. This novel platform sources wild and cultivated natural goods from independent producers committed to regenerative farming and sustainable wild harvesting.