Socially Conscious Hot Sauce and Spice

African Dream Foods isn’t just about introducing and providing awesome African hot sauce, spicy salt and other delicious food products to the world. We also have a much larger cause at the heart of our company.

African Dream Foods, is a small startup with big dreams. While we’re creating our small-batch, artisanal hot sauce and seasonings, we’re simultaneously putting our emphasis on educating and informing our customers about the importance of conservation of wildlife in Africa. On top of this, a percentage of all of our product sales (between 10 and 40 cents per product) goes to organizations that protect African wildlife.

Why this is so important to us?

For starters, Africa is our home. We’re based out of Cape Town, where our first small batch of hot sauces and seasonings is currently in production. We’ve seen first-hand how Africa’s wildlife populations, biodiversity and precious habitats have declined over the years. We’ve also witnessed the tragic impacts those declines have had on the environment as a whole. It just became second nature in our business model that we would be a socially conscious hot sauce brand.

As people fall in love with African Dream Foods’ products across North America, it’s our hope that they’ll also become more aware of how urgently the continent’s wildlife needs our action and support.

See, African conservation impacts the world as a whole, not just Africa. It’s an effort that everyone should care about, no matter where you live.

Africa accounts for 15% of the world’s remaining forestland, but this forestland is under threat. Mass deforestation is reaping tragic consequences on Earth’s environment as a whole. Need proof? Just in the last 50 years, humanity has wiped out more than 60% of the planet’s animal populations.

In Africa, these consequences are multiplied by other harmful human activities. For example, the Wildlife Conservation Society reports an average of 96 elephants are killed for their ivory in Africa each day and the African Wildlife Foundation has recently warned that the continent’s lion population has decreased by more than 40% over the last 20 years.

Even outside of the devastating environmental impacts felt in Africa and beyond, population declines and deforestation also have far-reaching consequences for the world at large. Tropical forests alone (which are disappearing at record rates) contribute to the livelihoods of more than 1.2 billion individuals.

Given that many of the world’s key industries rely on tourism and natural resources, loss of biodiversity in Africa could cost the global economy up to $4.5 trillion annually in coming years.

The worst part? We’re inflicting all this damage ourselves. In the last decade alone, human beings have pushed animals like the Western black rhino, the Carribean monk seal, the Taiwanese snow leopard, the pinta tortoise and the Japanese river otter to extinction as a direct result of poaching and habitat destruction.

So what are some ways African Dream Foods plans to do our part? Beyond donating a percentage of our product sales to conservation efforts, we’re also raising awareness through special partnerships with organizations like Wild Shots Outreach and Paws Trails.

Wild Shots Outreach was founded in 2015 with the conviction that effective conservation must start locally. Through photography, the Wild Shots seeks to connect disadvantaged South African youth with the continent’s unique wildlife, inspiring them to engage more meaningfully in local conservation efforts. Though some of these youth live within walking distance of Kruger National Park — home to some of Africa’s most magnificent wildlife — many have never even seen these animals in real life due to lack of resources and opportunities. In connecting these students with their heritage and educating them on the region’s animal populations, Wild Shots Outreach aims to inspire organic, grassroots movements to help end poaching, protect habitats and preserve biodiversity.

Paws Trails was also founded in 2015 and spreads wildlife awareness to the entire world by bringing together photographers and other creatives to produce a range of publications on endangered species and critical wildlife issues. And now, Paws Trails photographers are providing the wildlife photos that you’ll find on African Dream Foods product labels!

Conservation is truly at the heart of African Dream Foods. We want to be one of the few socially conscious hot sauce brands out there. Want to support us on this important journey? You can find African Dream Foods and all of our hot sauce and spicy salts products on our website and Amazon.