Yes, we are venturesome and we do not live badly. My husband, to whom I have been married to for 13 years, has started his business in the electronics industry from zero. I am a lawyer by trade, but my life has taken me in a completely different direction.
The most interesting things in life happen by chance. Clear evidence of that is the story of the beginning of our business in the Caribbean. It all began in 2013, when we decided, that it has been a long time since we had a family vacation. My husband suggested with a decisive tone of voice, that Christmas season is the right time for workaholics and entrepreneurs to take time off from the hustle and bustle of every day life and the business. And so it happened that just before Christmas three years ago, we have come to a mutual decission not to celebrate Christmas in the traditional way, but to go and visit warmer climate.
It will not be Barbados
Indeed, after several years of endless work, we would finally deserve much needed rest in the tropical island of Barbados, right? However, we had to let go of our firm decision visiting this beautiful island during the festive season, as we could not deny the proper Christmas with tree and presents to our then 5 years old daughter. Although, the thought of Barbados has stayed with us! As you all know, life works in m
ysterious ways and for us visiting the exotic island of Barbados never came true. Whilst booking the holiday through a German travel agent, the huge sponteneous rush and the excitement of the upcoming holiday were to blame that I have mistakenly booked the holiday for a completely different island in the Caribbean – the island of St. Lucia. To most of you, the island of St. Lucia may not sound as vibrant as the island of Barbados, but my innocent mistake has literally changed our lives.
And so the fate has carried us to St. Lucia
A day trip on the island has been changed by a street vendor who was selling the extracts from an unknown plant Moringa as if he was selling a bunch of fresh bananas. To him, we were just foreign customers but to us this man became a symbol of the first ideas for a new business. Thanks to him we were introduced to a plant in a powder form which has aroused in us a great curiosity. And this curiosity also stayed with us after returning home. My search for Moringa has begun. I have researched the entire internet, looking for more information about Moringa, its effects, methods of cultivation, its use and distribution.
Lets buy a plantation
There are a lot of manufacturers of Moringa, but for us the most interesting are the manufacturers of Moringa in the Caribbean. We searched in vain for the contacts of the individual plantations and then it hit us. Why not to set up our own plantation together with our own production? We could introduce this amazing plant and its exceptional effects to potential customers in Slovakia.
Rising health but no alternative medicine. After all, look at it yourself! The Moringa leaves hide huge quantities of vitamins and minerals. It intrigued me, that it has all the vitamins – A, B1, B2, B3, B6, B7, C, D, E, K. Yes, I also know the natural products rich in antioxidants. Broccoli, sweet potatoes and ginger have many antioxidants, but just imagine, that Moringa contains 46 antioxidants plus we have to add 18 essential amino acids, iron, zinc and copper. Suddenly you have super food which you will love as much as my husband and I do.
But be aware! Even then, we did not want to go into the unclear waters of homeopathy, esoteric or alternative treatments. Moringa is not a solution to a cancer treatment or other difficult diseases and it certainly is not a substitute to conventional therapies. However, it can be used to assist the conventional therapies like chemotherapy, to soften its aftermath in the human body. Therefore, Moringa has fascinated us as a “superfood“, tree which offers all the goodness found in some foods and plants, but in much bigger quantities directly from the womb of the nature.
So we obtained all the necessary information about Moringa tree and we were ready to start planning our new exciting business venture.
Founding of the company
Last March, we travelled to St. Lucia again for a different purpose than the previous years. Upon arrival to the island, we established our company Moringa St. Lucia Prodact L.t.d. At the time we did not realise how much work awaits us, but our enthusiasm has not left us.
Jungle wanders
Finding the right property for our plantation has proven a bit more difficult than anticipated, as we run into a different perception of us from the local people. The biggest issue was the fact that in the Carribbean they do not mark the boundaries for their land. All the land owners know is that the beginning of their plantation is from one mangrove tree to another without any real borders. Once the word was out that two European people are looking to purchase a plantation for the purpose of growing Moringa, the interest in us was enormous. The search for our plantation was not easy, travelling with the natives through the dangerous jungle wearing only flip flops wasnt comfortable or practical, but at the end our joint efforts were paid off as we managed to find the desired plot of land, which we trully believed will be the perfect place for growing our own Moringa. But this is another part of our story, that I will tell you next time…
Jarka Bartos & Moringa Caribbean 