- 14 hours ago
This week on Shop Essence Live, we talk to Ehime Eigbe founder of Sweetkiwi a frozen yogurt line that brings you health benefits as you enjoy the delicious flavors. Created by Ehime after a health scare, she believed a lifestyle change could be a natural solution however it was challenging to stick to her new eating lifestyle as she quickly learned healthy meant taste suffered. Desperate to make her lifestyle change more sustainable, she recreated her favorite treats so they were simultaneously decadent and indulgent but also nutritionally sound.
Sweetkiwi is an award-winning, woman and minority-owned and operated CPG food brand that bridges the gap between good for you, functional nutrition and great taste by making the best tasting, low-calorie yet nutrient-dense treats. We make our treats in kinship with real farm families focused on a cleaner, more sustainable future. Our products are high in Protein, Probiotics, fiber, and a proprietary blend of immune-boosting Superfoods. Sweetkiwi is great for your belly and a simply healthier dessert! We are mission driven which means we balance profits and purpose intentional about supporting local farmers and we also donate 1% of our profits and time to supporting organizations creating easier access to funding for Black Female entrepreneurs.’
Shop the line now on Essence's IG page now!
Sweetkiwi is an award-winning, woman and minority-owned and operated CPG food brand that bridges the gap between good for you, functional nutrition and great taste by making the best tasting, low-calorie yet nutrient-dense treats. We make our treats in kinship with real farm families focused on a cleaner, more sustainable future. Our products are high in Protein, Probiotics, fiber, and a proprietary blend of immune-boosting Superfoods. Sweetkiwi is great for your belly and a simply healthier dessert! We are mission driven which means we balance profits and purpose intentional about supporting local farmers and we also donate 1% of our profits and time to supporting organizations creating easier access to funding for Black Female entrepreneurs.’
Shop the line now on Essence's IG page now!
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Hello and welcome to another episode of Shop Essence Live. My name is Noni. I'm Vice President
00:05of Video and Branded Content here at Essence and we have some incredible businesses for you tonight.
00:12We have some inspiring stories. Now, please, please, please do if you know someone that loves
00:22to eat healthy but they love to also enjoy and indulge in some healthy snacks, make sure that
00:29you're sharing this stream with them or somebody that is on a health journey that wants to eat
00:34healthier but they're afraid they're going to deprive themselves. Please share this stream with
00:40them or if you know someone that is a small black owned business and you think they would be great
00:45for a future episode of Shop Essence Live, please do share this stream with them as well. Welcome
00:51everybody watching live and welcome to everybody that's watching on the replay. We are going to be
00:56joined by Ahime Iagbi in just a little bit. She's going to talk about this incredible product,
01:03Sweet Kiwi, that I'm already like I'm halfway through a tub. It's fine and then a little bit later on,
01:10we're going to be joined by the inventor of the puff cuff which I have in my hair right now and we're
01:16going to do a little demo. So stay tuned tonight. We are shopping. When you're shopping with us,
01:21you are shopping directly with these black owned brands. So make sure that you are supporting and
01:27adding to your cart. Let me pin this comment so y'all know what you're coming into. And once again,
01:35this is live for a reason, right? So I am going to be looking at these comments. So if you have any
01:39questions, please do continue to ask those questions. Are you going to let me pin this comment? Okay, now we're
01:47pin in comments. All right. So Ahime, I'm looking for you. Here she comes. This is Nigerian fro-yo, y'all.
01:58So excited. Hi. Ahime, how are you? I'm great. How are you doing today? First of all, I'm filling up on
02:06frozen records is how I do. I am too. I was like, we're gonna just we're just gonna do this today. So
02:16so I'm excited. I want you to just talk to everybody before we get into the products on how
02:23you came up with this incredible, delicious brand. Yeah, so sweet kiwi was something I started from a
02:30personal health issue that I had. I had a I was diagnosed with a uterine fibroid. And we all know
02:36how that goes. I was told like, I have to have surgery. And after the surgery, I had to get
02:42pregnant within a year. I was like, that is crazy. I was like 22 at the time. Oh my god. I was just
02:48thinking, you know, there has to just be a better way to go about this. And I started researching about
02:53eating better and eating healthier, which I was doing. I changed my diet, started doing more focus
02:58on nutrition, taking more nutrition courses. And then I really struggled even with everything at stake. I was
03:05just like, Oh, my God, my ice cream, like, you know, I like my dessert. You know, what am I gonna do?
03:10And I started doing some more research. And I started making in my own kitchen with Greek yogurt,
03:14because I know Greek yogurt is really nutritious. I really wanted a dessert that checked all the
03:19nutrition boxes. And that's how I came up with sweet kiwi. Oh, so incredible. And you, you were
03:25looking for looking to open this in Nigeria to where you couldn't find any other brands.
03:32Yeah, I was living with in Dallas at the time, I was about to open a store in Dallas. And I had happened
03:39to go to Nigeria for a short period of time. And I realized, well, it was the same issue with nutrition.
03:45And so I ended up starting the business there and having three full store locations. So we actually do
03:51have store locations in Nigeria. And we're West Africa's biggest frozen yogurt brand. And then I moved
03:59over here, moved to DC in 2017, and opened, started back my business, and started packaging the same
04:10delicious product. And people loved it. I mean, grocery stores took to it so quickly. We're in Whole Foods,
04:16we're in Walmart, we're in Kroger nationally. And so we just keep growing.
04:20This is so, so incredible. And when you get into these flavors, before you before you do that, you talked about
04:27Greek yogurt, and how it has these nutritional properties. Can you talk a little bit about that?
04:33Yes, absolutely. One of the things that really makes our product really unique and really different
04:37is we're really nutrition focused, and understanding what it takes for your body to get the nutrition
04:44that it needs for the day. So what people don't know is disease and everything that's going to affect
04:50your body starts in your gut. You know, and one of the things I was doing my research, I went to Penn State,
04:55was doing a lot of research on how can I create a product that's really impactful. And so we take a
05:00really unique holistic approach when we're creating the products. It's high in protein. And that's one
05:05of the reasons that we use the Greek yogurt, because it's very high in protein, really aids digestion,
05:11and has probiotics. One of the things that people don't know is people say, Oh, I'm eating this thing,
05:15it has like 50 grams of protein. But they don't know that your body doesn't absorb all that protein just
05:21on its own. One of the great things that helps your body absorb protein easy is probiotics. You know,
05:28so we actually select ingredients carefully that work better together with each other to make sure
05:34that your body's absorbing the full nutrition that it needs to function.
05:38Look at me getting healthy, y'all. So why don't you highlight what the first flavor is?
05:47Yes. So we have a vanilla bean, which is like a regular vanilla. This is one of actually one of
05:54our best selling flavors. Really delicious, very low in calories, as you can see. 22 grams of protein
06:01per 14 ounce plate. Only 220 calories for the whole pint. For the whole thing? The whole thing.
06:10It has probiotics and 14 grams of fiber. And it has a unique blend of superfoods. So really good for
06:17you. Very healthy. I'm about to have a tough day and get myself so healthy. No, absolutely.
06:26We have chocolate hazelnut, which is another amazing flavor. We make it using real roasted
06:34hazelnut paste and cocoa powder, which is really just another amazing flavor. 320 calories for the
06:42whole pint. 15 grams of fiber and 24 grams of protein. We have cookies and cream as well,
06:50which is one of our newest flavors that we just launched during the summer. It's 310 calories for
06:57the whole pint and 23 grams of protein. All of them have a unique blend of probiotics from the Greek
07:05yogurt, natural probiotics, nothing artificial, and a natural blend of superfoods, which really supports
07:12your immune system and really supports your body. So one of the things that happened during COVID was I
07:17became a mom, like literally two weeks before COVID. And I was so stressed out about my immunity.
07:24And so I was thinking about how Greek yogurt really helps you. Probiotics really helps with
07:28your immunity building. And I started doing more research and we came up with this unique blend
07:33of superfoods that are clinically proven to support your immune system.
07:39This is so good. And you're taking care of us because this is so tasty. I'm just enjoying the
07:44taste and you're talking about all these health benefits, which is great. So you guys, if you're
07:49watching, keep this in mind. I know a lot of us have people in our lives that have been told by their
07:54doctors that they need to get their health in order. There are things like sweet kiwi that are out there
08:00where you don't feel like you have to give up so much, right? You don't have to, if you want to have
08:05that sweet treat, there are options out there. And this is such an incredible, like if you never told
08:10me they were at all these health properties, I would still be all for it. And now that is
08:14even better. So Hime, you are a member of a New Voices family, which is our partner here at Shop
08:21Essence Live. Can you talk a little bit about how that has greatly benefited your business?
08:27Oh my goodness. Like the New Voices family is just one of the most amazing platforms. I always say
08:32like it's one of the places where I can be myself. One of the places where I can be vulnerable as
08:38a Black female entrepreneur, most rooms that you go into as an entrepreneur, you have to be
08:43confident. You have to always act like you're bringing it. But I feel like with the New Voices
08:48family, I can go and say like, hey, I need my dress zipped up. Oh, can you look at this? Can you look
08:54at that? You know, it's like that girlfriend that has your back all the time. Like, you know, and I can
08:59just be myself and they kind of support us, help us with our growth, help us see, you know, where we can
09:06be doing better. It's just a great family to be a part of. I mean, they've given us so many
09:11opportunities. They've opened so many doors for us. And just the idea of family and community. I
09:17think that's one of the things that I love the most. Being in the room where you know, like,
09:23these people have your back all the time.
09:25Absolutely. So if you guys are watching and you are a small Black-owned business, or you know
09:33someone that's a small Black-owned business, please do join the New Voices family. You can go and follow
09:38them. They're here in the comments, letting you know what you need to do. Look at Sweet Kiwi,
09:43we look at Ahime and how incredible and incredibly amazing and healthy products that we're now
09:48bringing to the world and to our community. What would you say is next for you, Ahime,
09:55in your business journey? So we're looking to continue to grow into more retail doors
10:00and expand more across the U.S. into more natural retailers and bigger retailers as well.
10:07We're looking to launch some single-serving sizes so we can do more fast retail, get into hotels,
10:17airlines, you know, just continue to push the brand and make it more available to more people
10:23because everybody needs to be healthy. You need to be more gut healthy. You need to eat better.
10:29One of the things I would say is after a whole year, I went back to my doctor because I promised
10:34her I would come back and do the surgery if it didn't work after a year. I went back after a
10:38year. She did the scans and she could not find the fibroid. It was just the most amazing thing
10:44that I've never, I never had to do the surgery at the end of the day. And she specifically said to me,
10:49well, if I didn't diagnose this, I would have thought like whoever did was lying. Right. You know,
10:55so it's so important in your gut health, so important just to be healthy, eat healthy. But one of the
11:00things that Sweet Kiwi is saying is that you don't have to sacrifice great taste to be healthy.
11:07Absolutely. And they're asking to see the front of the label. So I'm doing that. Can you talk a little
11:12bit about more about the ingredients? Someone's asking for the sugar.
11:17Yes. So for each pint, we do have sugar. It's about 20, 23 grams of protein. This is, I'm just reading
11:27off the cookies and cream label. We have about 18 grams of sugar per serving.
11:36And for our ingredients, we use natural Greek yogurt, live active culture, which comes with
11:43the Greek yogurt, fiber, very low ingredient list, as you can see.
11:51And that is great. And when you say something is a superfood, for us novices, what qualifies something
11:59as a superfood? So it has like super health benefits for your body. So like Greek yogurt is a superfood
12:06already. There are some fruits and flowers that are just like superfoods. For example, we have the
12:14superfoods that we have on here are like coffee bean extract, acai berry, turmeric extract, blueberry,
12:22broccoli, kale. Those are superfoods.
12:24Got it. So it doesn't taste like this kale in that.
12:28No, I would never have guessed that there's kale in this. Well, you guys make sure that you follow Sweet Kiwi USA.
12:36They have a wide range of products there. You can shop their whole entire products or shop the ones that are pinned
12:42here in this stream. Ahime, you are so inspiring.
12:48And incredible. I love for you, before we, before we wrap up, if you can just share with those that are watching,
12:54and you couldn't even help, you had to taste yourself. If you could share with the people that are watching,
13:02what is that thing that keeps you going, right? I'm sure that this journey was not easy for you.
13:08What did you, what was your affirmation for you to tell yourself that you're going to make this happen?
13:13I would say for me, the one thing that I really hold on to is faith.
13:17And knowing that we're all called to, to do something and to make a difference.
13:22And I know that this is what I've been called to do and trusting that God who put me on this journey
13:28is going to get me to the, to, to where I need to be. And that's what I hold on to.
13:33I love that. Well, you have been so great. Remember guys, when you purchase here at Shop Essence Live,
13:39you are purchasing directly from these black owned businesses, please do support,
13:44help her continue to grow. I am so excited for what the future holds for you.
13:48And sweet Q, y'all don't go too far. I'm coming back with some demos with the puff cuff.
13:54Stand by. Thank you. Thank you.
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