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Zalt was born out of many things; friendship, determination and enthusiasm, but most importantly, out of purpose. Our 3 co-founders spent many days and nights, sitting together, exploring the idea of how Zalt could and would become a reality. They realised early on in this process that if they were to pursue Zalt, they would want it to have a purpose. That purpose was to build the salt industry in Zanzibar and to change the lives of its existing salt farmers.
What if they could disrupt the salt industry by selling salt, whilst simultaneously improving the lives of the people of Pemba? And so Swahili Coast Salt Company was born, with its two brands, ZALT and MAWIMBI.
Our co-founder and COO, Lise, first discovered the sea salt being sold in the market in the Morogoro Region of Tanzania. She brought a sample back home to Dar es Salaam, and together with Rachel and Stephi, they instantly recognised the potential of this local, naturally harvested product.
They traced the salt back to the island of Pemba and discovered a community of artisanal salt farmers, producing a pure (all natural) hand harvested solar evaporated sea salt.
Over the next weeks and months they engaged with these farmers, other stakeholders, scientists and the Zanzibar Government to learn all they could about the local production of sea salt. What they discovered was an industry with great potential, constrained only by the current quality of the salt and a lack of a sustainable route to market.
It was immediately apparent to the three women that with investment in two key areas – production quality and improved route to market, together with the engagement and support of the Government of Zanzibar, the sea salt industry in Pemba could not only compete on a global scale in terms of quality, but would meet domestic consumption demands.
