Shaka Zulu launch the Feel Good bar menu with Aduna’s superfruit product

This week sees the launch of Shaka Zulu’s Feel Good bar menu featuring a mouth-watering selection of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic creations. What makes this launch so special? Well, that’s an easy one, the answer’s Aduna.

We visited Shaka Zulu and met with Tony Safqi, Head Bar manager, who talked The Upcoming through the inspiration that brought him to the concoctions you will see on the menu. We also met with Andrew Hunt, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Aduna, to get a better understanding of the driving force behind the company, and also the health and ethical benefits of the product itself.

First things first, what is the launch?

Shaka Zulu, London’s largest South African restaurant, has teamed up with Aduna, the Africa-inspired health and beauty brand, to bring us the ideal start to the New Year. Using Aduna’s 100% natural fruit powder made from the fruit of the baobab tree, Tony Safqi has created a selection of drinks that will help keep you warm this winter.

These are the two drinks that will be available when the menu launches:

Bao-Bab cocktail 

Courvoisier vs. Cognac
Chambord Liqueur
Port
Red Bush Tea
Cardamom Syrup
Baobab
Garnished with a cinnamon stick 

Bao-Bab cocktail (alcohol free) 

Apple Juice
Pineapple Juice
Red Bush Tea
Cardamom and Clove Syrup
Warm Pear Puree
Baobab
Garnished with a cinnamon stick

Both cocktails are served warm and the flavours included, such as the clove syrup and the cinnamon stick garnish, make these drinks perfect for enjoying at this time of year and give them that comforting, wintery feeling. Shaka Zulu is a lounge, a restaurant and a club all under one roof, and I can definitely see these cocktails being popular with guests visiting any aspect of this extraordinary venue.

What is baobab?

The baobab is Africa’s superfruit and there are three main properties that really set it apart from the rest.

The first is that it not only contains 14 essential vitamins and minerals, but an impressive five of these are at a high enough level to meet the standards set by the RDA [Recommended Daily Allowance], which is more than double that of both the acai and goji berry. These essential vitamins and minerals are particularly good for kick-starting your metabolism, boosting your immune system and reducing fatigue and tiredness. Not only that, but the RDA level vitamin C is great for stimulating collagen production, helping your skin stay strong and protected.

The second property is that it is almost 50% fibre; that is of course essential for digestive health and also a large factor in maintaining skin health. Aiding your digestion and ensuring regularity will help clear your body of toxins that can build up and cause any number of problems, from anxiety to skin blemishes.

And finally, baobab is the highest ranking fruit in the antioxidant table. So if antioxidants really are the answer we’ve been looking for to maintain natural skin health and fight the signs of ageing, then the baobab fruit is in a clear first place.

To have this combination of properties in one single fruit is truly extraordinary.

What is Aduna?

Aduna is an Africa-inspired health and beauty brand. Aduna means “life” or “world” in Wolof, the local language of Senegal and The Gambia.

Aduna’s brand mission is to breathe the vibrancy of Africa into the daily lives of people around the world, and that’s exactly what they’re doing. They are using their knowledge about the baobab fruit’s many benefits, their dedication to supporting the rural African communities in which the trees grow, and their passion for transforming the image of Africa to bring us this innovative and premium brand.

Andrew Hunt expressed a strong desire to do away with what he called “sympathy vote marketing”, and create a new face for products from Africa. Aduna do not have a Fair Trade mark, but their trading is certainly fair. Andrew put forward his view that the presence of a Fair Trade mark often creates the assumption that an absence of one means the product is therefore unethical, and he is encouraging people to ask questions about where the product they’re buying is coming from – rather than making assumptions.

The product Aduna have created is 100 per cent natural; nothing added, nothing taken away. The powder is incredibly versatile and can be blended into smoothies, stirred into yoghurts, sprinkled on muesli … the options are endless.

The fruit pulp powder comes in three different forms:

1. 170g tub
2. 30 sachets (two teaspoons each, 4.5g)
3. Capsules (contains 500mg each).

Nia Hopkins
Photos: Courtesy of Shaka Zulu/Aduna

For more information on Aduna please go here.

For more information on Shaka Zulu click here.