One can say that the search for our plantation was stressful, but once we have secured the desired plot of land for our Moringa, we could finally start with the planting of the Moringa trees. We believed the next step in our new business venture will be much easier. Of course, things never work out as we plan.
Finally we started with the planting of the trees. Once the trees were planted we had to decide what to do next. The most important was to find the technology and place where to dry and process the harvested Moringa leaves.
Nice but not very flexible!
Finding of the appropriate building was not as hard as we anicipated due to the helping hand of our friend who lived on the island. Starting t
he production was a really hard work. Thankfully my husband has valueable experiences in the electronic industry which in this proces came in very handy. The decorating work on the building started, electricians, painters, worked all hours just to get permisses to the necessary standard we required for the production. People of St. Lucia are very nice, friendly and helpful, but they are very unreable when it comes to work. Often they promised to help, but did not turn up or answer their phones, which proved to be a bit stressful from our point of view. All of these factors including the delays with ordering materials contributed to the complications of our project.
Machinery
Whilst preparing everything for the production we also had to find the right machines designed for the special processing of Moringa leaves. These included industrial dryers and mills, which could ensure the quality and comply with the hygienic standards we desired. Luckily we found these machines in China and we secured the order. We have paid the necessary amount and now we just had to wait and hope that our machines will arrive in time for the production to start. The promised delivery date was in October 2015. Our optimism had gradually begun to fade away. My husband had once again travelled to St. Lucia with his friend to await the machines to start the production.
My husband returned to the island after a short break but the machines were nowhere to be seen. We have waited the whole November, December, January and finally the machines from China arrived in February. Our long wait was over!
Responding to the debates and watch out for cheap Moringa!
Of course, I am always willing to return the debate from the previous article. As for the “outrageous” prices my answer is relatively simple. Not all manufacturers of Moringa have the sae processing procedures as we do. Nowhere on the island have we managed to find professionally furnished premises. Not even in Africa, Thailand and India could the manufacturers guarantee how the harvested Moringa leaves get to the production. Often the Moringa leaves are carried in plastic bags, where they mix with the humidity the leaves start to sweat. Some manufacturers then dry Moringa leaves by hanging the leaves out of the reach of any pests such as mice and rats. Worst case is when the manufacturers just lay the Moringa leaves on boeards which they then lay on top of the roofs of their houses.
Lack of hygiene
Throughout my research I also found out what often the harvested Moringa leaves were laid out on a piece of paper and then just left to dry freely on the ground of an apartment where whole family was going about their daily chores. The locals often talked about how they waited for the Moringa leaves to drop off by themselves, they would collect the leaves from the ground and grind them on small coffee grinders. Once grinned, they would fill the powder into small sachets or capsules. Obviously I do not wish to offend somebody but I also believe when manufacturing a product designed for the health, the hygiene procedures are the most important. It is disturbing to know that some manufacturers do not use gloves, change into working clothes, or even disinfect their hands prior to handling the Moringa leaves. Similar production procedures can be found with a lot of manufacturers who sell cheap Moringa. And now I will ask you a question. Would you buy Moringa for 10 Euros when you cannot be sure how this Moringa was handled and processed?
Trust our Moringa
We would never start this business if we would not believe the power of Moringa. We have also tested the effects on us, our family, but also complete strangers who expressed their interest in Moringa spontaneously and were generally really excited about it. I do not like to exaggerate and call Moringa a “miracle tree”, but I was very positively surprised with what Moringa can help with.
My husband and I have regular check up which also includes blood tests. This is how my husband found out about his high blood sugar and he was diagnosed with Diabetes type 2. I learned from my research the Moringa can indeed help with this problem combined with healthy diet. So my husband started to take Moringa on regular basis. Two years later, his doctor decided that my husband does not need to be on her record anymore as his sugar levels have normalised. This a truly great result!
Universal helper!
Unfortunately, my husband did not just suffer from diabetes but another problem that occurred was an issue with his prostate. He would always suffer especially on long car journeys, which he would have to take quite often because of his other business. Fortunately, taking Moringa regularly has gradually improved this issue as well. Thanks to Moringa we both stopped fighting the fatigue.
Slowly but surely Moringa is beginning to make its way to nursing mothers and lactation advisors who also recommend it to support lactation. One year ago my sister had a baby girl and visited a lactation advisor as she was experiencing issues with breastfeeding. She has started to take Moringa and miraculously she keeps breastfeeding her baby girl without any other problems. And so we are very pround to have a first baby in our “Moringa Family.”
Jarka Bartos & Moringa Caribbean 