The trio behind Superlife Co, Irene Lim, Valerie Chai and Feline Gondokusumo, share how superfoods have supercharged their lives and why they are on a mission to help others reap the same benefits.
Known for their nutrient density, superfoods such as açai berry and quinoa have fast become a global phenomenon, reflecting the growing consciousness towards healthy living and mindful eating in the developed world.
So, how do you know if a new business is not simply hopping on a trendy bandwagon? It helps when the founders have a compelling reason as to how and why they got into the business.
The story of Superlife Co, Singapore’s newest e-commerce portal that specialises in premium-quality superfood products, began three years ago when one of its founders chanced upon the amazing natural health benefits of superfoods while in the US.
“I was facing some health issues such as constipation and stress, and I discovered that chia seeds and maca powder managed to solve these issues,” explains Valerie Chai, one of the three women founders behind Superlife.
Chai returned to Singapore and, during a chat with a friend, discovered that she, too, had a keen interest in superfoods. “We tried to find high-quality superfoods for our own consumption, but we couldn’t find them in Singapore, so we decided to source for them overseas. Many of my friends were influenced by me and I started helping them order the products,” recalls Chai.
The business potential was apparent, and she and her friend, Irene Lim, became partners. The pair were joined by a third partner, Feline Gondokusumo, who is a former student of Chai’s. Besides Superlife, Chai is also the founder of StarCresto Education Group and holds a stake in Amazona Superfoods LLC, a company that farms premium-quality superfoods.
A marketing and advertising veteran for over a decade, Lim was no stranger to stress and its damaging effects, either. Her hectic work lifestyle initially saw her guzzling cans of sugary energy drinks, which she later swapped out for the much healthier and natural option of maca powder to sustain her energy levels.
As for Gondokusumo, what converted her into a superfood enthusiast was its effectiveness in weight loss: She shed an astounding 30kg and maintained her weight by incorporating superfoods into her diet. The trio established Superlife in November 2014, but officially started working on the business full-time in June 2015, after they cleared off their previous work and employment commitments.
With her prior business acumen, Chai has undertaken the role of CEO, while Lim is in charge of branding and design, and overseeing the website development — a critical component of an e-business. Gondokusumo, a recent business graduate from the National University of Singapore, takes care of business development and marketing, and is also passionate about experimenting with Superlife products and recipes in her spare time.
“Growth has been steady and I would even say exponential” in the first six months of business, notes Chai.
The company currently focuses on seven core products — quinoa (white, red, black and mixed), açai berry powder, chia seeds, maca powder (Peruvian ginseng), goji berry (wolfberry), cold-pressed coconut oil and cacao powder — organised in four solutions-based categories on its website: weight loss, anti-ageing, energy boosting and wellness. This makes it easier and more convenient for anyone new to the world of superfoods.
This feature is also what sets Superlife apart from its local and overseas competitors.
“If you’re comparing product to product, anything that’s in the supermarket is our competition. As for e-commerce sites, there are so many selling superfoods online. But if you’re talking about our business model, I don’t see anybody doing the same thing we’re doing,” says Chai.
Instead of just pushing products, the trio have opted to take a more lifestyle approach and educate people on the benefits of superfoods. Each category offers relevant recommendations and information that thoroughly explains the origin, nutritional value and health benefits of each product.
This is supported by what they call their “superpedia”, a blog that shares articles and addresses frequently asked questions on how to incorporate superfoods into one’s diet, including easy-to-follow preparation methods, tips and recipes to help customers lead a “super” life.
“When we first started out, there were a lot of questions in our minds about how people would know whether these products are really good and if they would help them, how to cook them and how they taste like. So, we try to answer those questions in the blog,” explains Chai, who takes turns writing the articles for the blog with the other two.
Commitment to quality
Not every food business has its own farm to boast of. And Superlife has not one but two farms in Peru to ensure that its products are sustainable and of premium quality.
“Superfoods are nutrient powerhouses that comprise a high amount of vitamins and minerals per serving, and we aim to supply the purest and most superior organic products to our clientele,” says Gondokusumo. All Superlife products are 100% organic and certified by the US Department of Agriculture and the European Union.
“When we first got our suppliers for this business, we only wanted the best-quality raw materials. But we soon realised that as our quantity grew, it was impossible to sustain the high quality that they give you,” explains Chai. “We discussed intensely among ourselves because buying the farms is a huge investment. We decided to go ahead, so that we could incorporate modern farming techniques to increase the productivity of the labour, decrease our costs and increase their salary. This means that the quality and a constant supply are well under our control. At the same time, we are committed to providing the Peruvian farmers on our farm with a better life and training them on ethical farming practices to produce the best yields possible.”
The founders did not visit the farms before they acquired them, but sent a team of geologists to test the soil on farm grounds to ascertain their suitability for superfood agriculture and make recommendations on plots to purchase.
The farms are located in the Andes Mountains bordering Peru, where the land is free of pollutants and industrialisation. Superlife hopes to obtain at least 60% to 70% of its chia seeds and quinoa from its own crops. The rest of its raw materials will come from Europe, the US and Australia.
To oversee the daily operations of the farms and ensure that everything is hunky-dory, they have another business partner who volunteered to be posted to Peru.
Indeed, quality is everything, given the nature of Superlife’s products. It is all about the purity; each batch goes through a vibration cleaning mechanism and magnets are used to draw out impurities. Random samplings of every batch for colour quality and contamination checks are then performed.
Superlife can guarantee that its quinoa, for instance, is 99.99% pure from saponin — a naturally occurring layer that protects the grain from pests — making it much purer than the market standard.
“Quinoa comes in many different grades. Saponin is harmful to humans and you have to remove it. But if you don’t remove it, it’s cheap. I haven’t seen anybody selling [quinoa] at 99% purity, because it’s the cream of the crop and very expensive,” explains Chai.
Even the quality of Superlife’s goji berries is far superior than the ones you find at traditional Chinese medical halls. “Those are very dry and you have to soak them in water for cooking. But for ours, you can eat them on their own as a healthy snack, like raisins. They have 400 times more vitamin C than oranges!” says Gondokusumo.
Supercharging ahead
Besides Singapore, Superlife products are already being sold through external websites in Indonesia and the US, with plans to go into China.
“There are a lot of talks going on and it looks very promising, so we’re most likely going in with very strong backing. It will take some time, though, because of the registration and intellectual property, which will take up to a year. We will need a full team of people there,” says Chai.
According to her, the company intends to expand the “length and depth” of its product range. One of the superfoods they are considering offering is camu camu, which is known for its antioxidant properties. “But it’s not confirmed because it’s seasonal and very hard to get to, so we don’t want to carry a product that might always be out of stock,” she says. They are also exploring bottling chia seeds with lime juice as well as developing probiotic drinks featuring its superfood products.
A website revamp is in the works to enhance the user experience and improve its subscription model. Currently, customers can order three fixed subscription bundles for weight loss, anti-ageing and energy boosting on an annual basis. With the new site, they can customise their bundles, and the more they bundle, the greater the discount. The subscription bundles will also be offered on a monthly basis. And by the end of this year, they will introduce a live chat with a nutritionist onboard to answer customers’ queries on the spot.
As we conclude the interview, the ladies offer me a cupcake that Gondokusumo had baked using their own cacao and maca powder. It is delicious to the last bite, dispelling the myth that healthy equals tasteless and boring. As they say, the proof is in the pudding.
A veteran writer and editor, Jamie Nonis also owns a marketing communications consultancy and an online magazine centred on holistic well-being.
This article appeared in the Options of Issue 721 (March 28) of The Edge Singapore.