Imana Parris-Fall Is Building a British Pantry Brand Around Senegal

From 31 October, the world's attention will turn to Dakar, as Senegal hosts the Youth Olympic Games, the first Olympic event ever held on African soil. Imana Parris-Fall, founder and director of the London-based food brand PROUX, believes many visitors will be seeing Senegal for the first time, and she would like them to explore its food as well.

PROUX sources all its ingredients from Senegal. Among its products are raw honey from Tambacounda, hibiscus, baobab and moringa.

“The Games will bring people to Dakar who may never have experienced the country before, and sport is only one part of what they'll discover,” she said. “There's a real opportunity for that global attention to extend beyond the Games and create curiosity about where Senegalese products and ingredients come from too.”

Parris-Fall's husband is Senegalese, and their son is half Senegalese, making the country personally significant to her. However, she is clear that PROUX is about more than that.

“Provenance is really about giving credit to where something comes from,” she said. “If we're selling honey from Tambacounda or baobab from Senegal, I want the customer to know that.”

She also thinks it helps the business. “Origin can be a strength rather than something that gets hidden.”

Baobab, hibiscus and moringa are now easy to find in most UK health shops. Her concern is that people know these ingredients but not where they come from. It is common, she explains, for an ingredient to become popular without its source ever being widely known.

She doesn't mind the word “superfood”. “I don't think we need to reject the word, but I do think there's room to tell a fuller story.”

The honey comes from Tambacounda, in the south-east of Senegal. The hibiscus, moringa and baobab are sourced and processed in Senegal too, then shipped to the UK. PROUX works with people on the ground instead of going through big international wholesalers.

“We've deliberately kept our sourcing close to the origin,” she says. As the brand grows, she wants to build on those relationships and show customers more of how the products reach them.

“Saying an ingredient comes from Senegal isn't a niche detail, it can be one of the strongest reasons to choose it.”

A British Brand With a Senegalese Identity

Parris-Fall insists the two identities don't compete. “Since PROUX is a British brand, its products should feel natural in a British kitchen. However, we don't have to compromise their Senegalese identity to achieve that.”

So she suggests baobab in a morning smoothie or hibiscus as an iced tea, while being upfront about where they come from and how they're traditionally used. She wanted the packaging to look modern and a little premium, not what people might expect an “African food brand” to look like.

“Senegal isn't an aesthetic for us. It's where the ingredients actually come from,” she added.

The same goes for the content and recipes. There's a moringa latte, but also bissap and bouye and how they already fit into Senegalese cooking. “Both stories can co-exist,” she said.

A Tasting in London

PROUX is planning a Senegalese tasting event in London around the Games, featuring the hibiscus, baobab, moringa and Tambacounda honey. She doesn't want it to feel like a product launch. “More of a small cultural experience,” she said. The location has not yet been announced.

“Food is one of the most immediate ways to experience a country,” she explained. “If someone in London tastes bissap made with Senegalese hibiscus or tries raw honey from Tambacounda, that creates a small connection to the place behind the ingredient.”

She believes shoppers are paying more attention to where their food comes from, and that this is benefiting African producers. “For a long time, African ingredients have been globally traded, while the places and people involved have remained largely unnoticed,” she said.

“I'd like PROUX to be part of changing that. Saying an ingredient comes from Senegal isn't a niche detail, it can be one of the strongest reasons to choose it.”

The Games run from 31 October to 13 November, with events spread across three sites: Dakar, Diamniadio and Saly. Organisers hope they will help transform Senegal through sport.

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