Photo credit: The Jali Fruit Co.
Considering the COVID-19 pandemic, now may seem like a daunting time for a company to promote a new product line. But Joshua Shefner, founder and CEO of the Milwaukee-based Agricycle Global, remains optimistic and undeterred.
In mid-April, Agricycle Global (originally known as Blue Mangoes) launched its brand Jali Fruit Co., three types of natural sundried and ethically-sourced fruits: Mr. Jackfruit, Mango-Rama, and Party Pineapple. Containing many antioxidants and vitamins, the fruits, free of preservatives, are grown and harvested from ancestral trees by women farmers in the Caribbean and Sub-Saharan Africa.
“The word ‘jali’ (a West African word meaning ‘musical storyteller’) is important to us,” says Shefner. “Each bag from Jali Fruit Co. is individually labeled with a ‘Find My Farm’ QR code that tells the story of the farmers who grew the fruit, the women who dried it and the trees it came from.”
Through the use of solar-powered dehydrators, the company aims to “eliminate extreme, rural poverty by reducing food loss and empowering rural women smallholders (those who manage or own agricultural holdings that are smaller than farms) through market-based solutions,” according to a press release.
“It’s definitely a tough time to launch, (but) I’m excited,” Shefner says.
Now 23, the Agricycle CEO, who grew up in a Chicago suburb, founded his company four years ago, while a civil engineering student at the Milwaukee School of Engineering. “My goal when I went to college was to become a humanitarian engineer,” he said. Agricycle began as a student project—Shefner built passive solar dehydrators for rural Jamaican communities. He gained additional civil engineering experience as a volunteer with nonprofit organization Engineers Without Borders, in which he traveled to Guatemala.
Agricycle works with more than 11,000 farmers in countries including Uganda, Jamaica, Kenya, Haiti, and Tanzania. “It’s been a lot of expansion over the past year and a half,” notes Shefner.
The company’s co-founder, engineer and Shefner’s fellow MSOE alumnus Claire Friona, developed the passive solar fruit dehydrators, manufactured in Elkhorn, Wisconsin, which are used by the Agricycle farmers. The dehydrators are “easy to use and super easy to ship,” says Shefner. With the help of Agricycle, farmers are often able to obtain microloans to purchase the dehydrators, which they can generally pay off in a matter of months.
Agricycle plans to roll out two new brands in the near future. Tropicoal Ignition is coal made of fruit byproducts, including coconut shells. “Instead of wood and trees, we are using fruit waste,” Shefner explains. What the Fruit? is flour made out of ground-up fruit seeds such as mangoes. Down the line, Shefner hopes to introduce pancake mixes and other flour-based products, and to get local grocery stores to carry Agricycle products.
Jali Fruit is available online at www.jalifruit.com and can be purchased in three-pack, five-pack, and 10-pack boxes ($16, $24, and $44). For more information about Agricycle Global, visit www.agricycleglobal.com.
