Our Story
Time for Better Food.
Five years, one garden, one company. We grow it, we dry it, we mill it, we pack it, and we sell it. There is nobody in between.
The name
Alada is the Tamil word for the banyan tree. In our part of the country the banyan is considered sacred. It is known for its roots, which go deep and hold fast, and for the shade it gives.
We chose it because it describes what we set out to build: something rooted in one place, doing one thing properly.
Where we are
Our garden is in Theni district, Tamil Nadu, in the south of India. We grow the native PKM variety of moringa from non-GMO seed. It is the variety that belongs here, and it is the only one we grow.
Our farm is certified organic under India Organic (NPOP). [NEED: number of years under certification]
How the powder is made
The leaves are picked by hand. Within minutes they reach a shade unit on the farm itself, where they are laid out and turned by hand over two to three days. Nothing is rushed and nothing sees direct sun.
The dried leaf then travels five to six kilometres to our own factory, where it is given a short finishing dry to bring the moisture below five percent, and pulverised immediately. It is packed into glass jars the same day.
Every step happens under our own roof, on our own land, with people we know.
Why shade drying
Drying moringa quickly with heat is cheaper and faster. Everyone in the industry knows this. Most of the powder on the market is dried that way.
The research on gentle drying is encouraging: studies have found meaningfully better retention of vitamin C and antioxidant activity in shade dried leaf compared with cabinet drying at higher temperatures, though findings vary between studies and we would not claim more than that.
What we can tell you is what you will see when you open the jar. The colour is the proof.
Every batch, on the record
Each jar carries a batch code. Enter it on our site and you will find that batch's harvest date, its lab results, and a photograph of the very trays it dried on.
We publish this because we can. When you own the garden and the factory, there is nothing to trace back to somebody else.
Our land, and the wind
Part of our farmland is given over to renewable energy generation, feeding into the grid. It does not power our process, and we would not pretend otherwise. It is simply what else our land does.
From me
[NEED: founder's letter — a short paragraph in your own words on why you started this and what you want it to be]
If you have a question about anything on this page, write to me at info@aladaorganic.com.