As a long time pioneer in the moringa superfood space, Kuli Kuli Foods initially gave the ingredient prominent placement on its packaging to help build consumer awareness, but now the brand is ready to take back the spotlight as part of a bold redesign and portfolio expansion alongside exponential growth.
At Natural Products Expo West, Kuli Kuli Foods debuted new packaging that features the company’s name in bright green and yellow letters across the top third of its pouches with the bottom featuring first the key ingredients in bold type over a brief product description, such as organic superfood latte or superfood blend, and health callouts that help consumers understand how to use the product and the benefits it delivers.
This is a dramatic shift from the company’s previous pouches which relegated the company name to the upper quarter in a stylized circle with a logo. The previous packaging gave much more real estate to the product type, such as super gummies, or the key ingredient, such as pure moringa.
The redesign was inspired in part by growing consumer awareness of moringa – fueled by viral posts on social media as well as education efforts by Kuli Kuli Foods and other companies using it – as well as Kuli Kuli’s expanded portfolio and a desire to lift up other climate smart superfoods, explained CEO and Founder Lisa Curtis.
“For a decade, Kuli Kuli has been all about moringa,” which is a tree that grows in the tropics and is high in protein, calcium and other vitamins that can boost energy naturally and which “transformed my health,” Curtis said.
She explained that Kuli Kuli was founded in part to bring moringa to more people and educate them about its benefits, and as consumers became more educated they started referring to Kuli Kuli as “the moringa company.” But as more food and beverage players began featuring the ingredient, Curtis said she wanted consumers to understand that “Kuli Kuli is the brand that stands for high quality products.”
She said she also wanted the flexibility to more prominently feature other ingredients, including baobab and lucuma, in a broader range of products.
“Kuli Kuli launched eight new products last year. It was a wild year,” she said. “Only one of those eight new products actually had moringa in it. So, the rest of the products were really all around other climate smart grown super foods.”
The new products include new varieties of the company’s Superfood Blends, SuperGummies and Superfood Lattes.
The rebrand also aims to help consumers understand the benefits of the ingredients featured – without running afoul of regulations about the types of claims foods and supplements can make. The packages use language like “protect & balance,” “energy shake,” “all day vitality” and “sooth & restore.”
Making the most of social media
Kuli Kuli’s rebrand also comes in response to a surge in social media engagement around moringa that underscored for Curtis the need to differentiate the brand from the ingredient in order to better highlight what sets Kuli Kuli apart from the competition.
“We started to see last year all of these TikTok videos talking about moringa. People giving testimonials. And it really started to pick up and influence our sales in retail in a way that I’ve honestly never seen before,” she said.
For example, same store sales spiked 70% after a few TikTok videos went viral and captured upwards of 3 million views. Even after the buzz online faded, sales remained about 40% higher than what they used to be thanks to the increased consumer awareness, Curtis added.
When Curtis realized consumers knew what moringa is, she saw an opportunity to talk about Kuli Kuli in a different way – as a leader with 70% market share in the US moringa market and a brand that consumers can trust to source ingredients responsibly and which is grounded in science.
She noted one of the company’s most successful TikTok posts was a video she took on a supplier trip to Tanzania that shows the moringa growing, being harvested and processed.
“It was amazing because it was one of those videos that totally spiked – got 2 million views,” she said, noting it resonated with viewers because it showed them the story behind the superfood.
“It really helped to enhance the dialog on TikTok and shape a little bit more about what is this plant? Why is it so good for you? And then, why is it so important to know and trust the brand you are sourcing it from?,” she said.
Curtis added she is eager to grow on this momentum in 2025, during which she projects the company will double in size with new items launching in new retailers.
“This is our year to just go big,” she said. “We are so excited to bring these superfood products to so many more people and the impact that this will have on the farming communities where we source from.”
– Videography, production and editing by Caroline Rude