Zain Halle — Moringa farmer, Entrepreneur, Community Activist

Once more, it is what's involved. Great to have you along with us. Thank you for joining us. Special guest this time, and I'm chatting to a very, very interesting person. The gentleman's name is Zane Halle, and he does something fascinating. He's the MD of a company called All Moringa. Good day to you, Zane, how you doing? - Very well thinking yourself, David. - Good, thank you, good, good, good. So before we get into what is Moringa and what is All Moringa and everything, tell me a little bit about Zane. Where did you grow up, what did you do? - Yeah, I grew up in Janisburg, but sort of lived all over South Africa. And yeah, after completing school, I was a mechanic, and then I traveled through Africa a lot and traveled a lot abroad, then worked for an NGO for 12 years in communities around South Africa, while I was studying through UNISA for my degrees, and then decided that, yeah, there was more to life than living in Jobig and the rac race. And I wanted to try and experience something different. I think I've always been a very experiential learner. So when this opportunity came up, I'd dive straight into it. - When we talk about the opportunity, we're talking about Moringa. - Yes.

- So let's get into Moringa. But also, no, I wanna take a step back though, because you said degrees as in plural, or just one? - Yeah, no, I did a double major in psychology and criminology, and then I did my honors degrees in psychology, and then in criminology as well. And I was busy with my master's in criminology. - Yes, that's quite a change from doing that to essentially being a farmer, because Moringa is a tree, isn't it? - That's correct, yeah. No, it is a huge change, but I think, you know, a lot of times we sort of come to a point where we utilize everything that we learn in our lives. And I don't ever regret studying it. I think for me, one of the big problems was within our criminal justice system, there isn't much room for rehabilitation and things like that, which is really the kind of path I wanted to study and take sort of information that I've learned through and try and assist people coming out of prison to rehabilitate back into communities. - You got a point there, mate. I think it's one of those things in this country. Once you've served any time in prison to get any form of work in that stigma, I think it's a massive thing. Zane, did you always want to be an entrepreneur where you're always of the entrepreneurial spirit?

- Yes, I think, you know, I've always, I think my bosses have always hated me because I've always had my own mind and I've always wanted to create opportunities. I loved working at the NGO because I was able to go out and set up projects and, you know, have timelines and manage them myself and, you know, get to develop relationships with people. And I think for me, that's really important. Understanding why, you know, things are the way they are, how do we try and find a method to solve the problems that we're facing? And I think this is a big thing, is so many people don't know how to begin things and they may have great ideas, but they don't know how to turn that into something that is sustainable and long lasting. - So you said change of scenery. Where abouts are you based now? - Based on a Nels Fred and Pumalanga. - My old stomping grounds. I love that place. Absolutely love it. If I'm not mistaken, you actually on the same farm that I spent quite a few years living at. - Yes, yeah, right next door. - Oh, okay, cool. That's not too bad. It's a beautiful, beautiful part of the world. And I know exactly where you are in terms of that and there's some spectacular views and oh, it's just beautiful there.

But now what brought you to Moringa? 'Cause I've heard a lot of talk about Moringa and we're gonna get into that because I first came across Moringa in sort of my quest to find something to help me with my diabetes. But for you, why Moringa? - Well, I think I was doing quite a number of community projects sort of focusing on getting people to be able to have food security. One of the really, really important things in our communities. And I was down in Lupisi, which is a rural village. But here in Pumalanga. And we'd successfully done a really good sort of agricultural project looking at vegetables. But then the kind of the drought sort of came and I noticed that somebody had been running a really good indigenous tree project. And at this stage, I'd already been playing around a bit with Moringa. But for me, it's sort of the start of it came when my father was alive. He had a lady who used to come in and do the garden services and her daughter was doing a science project on Moringa. And she had given him some Moringa to take and I kind of met her, she gave me a couple of seeds. Anyway, I came down a couple of months later and I could see my dad was very unstead on his feet and I took him down to the doctor and the doctor said, "Your blood pressure is extremely low." And my father was like, "But it can't be because I'm on high blood pressure pills.

I've been on for the last six years." And he said to him, "No, go off immediately." And that kind of really made me sort of set up and say, "Wow, there's really benefits to this." And then the seeds I planted in Hummin's Crawl when I went back to the hospice, they had these leaves all over the table and they were making little packets of it after they put it into powder. And I was like, "Wow, there's actually a commercial property here." And so down in Lupisi, we started to grow Moringa and I said, "Wow, this area is really, really good for Moringa." So it kind of just unfolded. Everything just sort of started happening one after the other. And then I started looking for a farm down here and then I was able, luckily, to meet somebody through the NGO who was doing mentorship. And he wanted to leave the farm and I was looking for a farm. So we, yeah, came to a deal and that's kind of how I landed up here. - Fantastic stuff. Zane, we're gonna talk more about this because Moringa itself fascinates me. So when we come back, we'll be chatting more to Zane Hille, the MD of all Moringa. It's fascinating. This is what's involved. We'll be back in just a bit. And we're back with what's involved.

Zane Hille is my special guest. Zane, okay, so talk to me about the Moringa tree itself. Is it a tree that's indigenous to South Africa or is it something that's been brought in from somewhere else? - No, it's really interesting because it actually originated from the Himalayas and the Indians have been using it as traditional medicine for the last 12,000 years. It's now found and what fascinated me when I started doing a lot of research on it was that if you look at all the areas that have massive poverty, you will find Moringa growing along all those areas. And that for me was incredible. And I think they've started growing it even in the States now, but because it needs a subtropical climate, obviously only in certain areas in the States, but South America, Africa, obviously India, Asia, those kinds of areas, that's where it actually came from originally. - In terms of this, I mean, you've got, you say you bought a farm, so how many trees would somebody need or somebody have on a property to make it a viable business? - Yeah, I think it depends on what you're trying to achieve. I think for me, it was extremely important to my business partner who lives in the UK. For both of us, he's also an ex-South African.

For both of us, it was really important that working at the NGO, one of the most debilitating things was, starting up projects and it was really working, but needed just to go that extra length. And then the funder would say, okay, well, we don't have any funds anymore and projects would just die. So for both of us, it was, how do we make a sustainable farm that we able to actually go back into the communities and provide training, giving them an opportunity to grow for themselves, giving them an opportunity to develop their own businesses. So, for us, it was really important. We're now up to nine and a half hectares. So for us, it was important to go big, but if somebody was just looking at an unsustainable basis and one of the formulas that I used for community member was they would need a hundred trees and they would then be able to make enough to feed a family of five. So it really is depending on what you would like to achieve. - Let's talk about the, so you get the seeds, you plant the seeds, the trees start to grow. Are they relatively fast growing or do you have to harvest the whole tree? How does it work? - Okay, so yes, they are very fast growing. We've realized that it's best to plant from seed because then you don't shop the plant at all.

And yeah, we sort of start harvesting about four months after we've planted for the first time. So we don't take the whole tree out. We don't cut the whole tree down. We take a certain percentage of leaves off the tree and cut the stalks down to stimulate faster growing. So it depends whether you're doing it commercially or if you've just got it in your garden as a hedge or if you're doing it for leaf or you're doing it for seed, it's different ways that you actually will cut and manage your trees. - So sustainability there comes in again. In terms of looking after these trees though, obviously there's some sort of manual maintenance that you have to do, but in terms of water and fertilizing and all of that, how do you work there? - Yeah, look, we do everything organically. So it's very, very labor intensive. We don't use any chemicals at all. Weeding is done manually. Planting is done manually. Our irrigation system that we've set up runs relatively small amounts of time compared to a crop like vegetables or maize or wheat or things like that. The meringue tree is incredibly hardy. And actually up in Northern Kenya, they use it to feed their animals during the dry season as fodder, so it's extremely good for animals.

But yeah, it doesn't require a massive amount of water, which is great, which allows people in communities who don't have a lot of water to grow something like this. - Fantastic, so the idea there is obviously you're running this as a business, but you're also hoping to expand and to make this available so that people in various rural communities would also be able to grow. - That's correct. - Okay, that's fantastic. Well, we've spoken about this tree and I'm assuming it has a lifetime. Is it evergreen? - It is evergreen, it doesn't really grow much during winter and you can't grow it in a frosty area. Frost is about the only thing that will kill it. So we sort of harvest between November and June. So July, August, September, October is really when we expand and replant and then re-fertilize. - Fantastic, now let's get on to the bits that fascinate me. And I said to you why Meringue, and you've told me some of that, but what is it about the Meringue plant that seems to have many, many health benefits? Talk to me about those. - Yes, well, it's so from research recently conducted, they've said that it's the most nutritionally rich plants known today on the earth. So, you know, it's got a massive amount of really, really good properties.

It's got 94 different minerals and vitamins. It's got 46 different antioxidants, 72 antimicrobials, all the amino acids, everything that your body actually needs. And I think, you know, what really, really got to me about this product was, you know, watching people and just going and buying all these chemical vitamins. And, you know, your body doesn't absorb it because it's a chemical, it's a foreign thing. So they landed up having really expensive urine and just looking at the amount of money that people were spending on their health and just understanding the knowledge. You know, I think that they've done 300 different medical trials on various amounts of diseases. The most well-known thing that Meringue is used for is things like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, HIV. But, you know, there's a huge range of illnesses that it does actually treat. Big amount of anti-inflammatories in it. For any digestive disorder, it is fantastic because it basically cleans up your digestive system and it also cleans up your blood. So all these toxins that we are ingesting on a daily basis with all the foods and things that we're eating right now, that's what's really causing the cancers that we've seen.

And, you know, body doesn't naturally have a way of detoxing. So it's Meringue, and I think this is the really important thing is that the information and the knowledge, and I'm glad to see that there is a lot more information being put out to people, but it doesn't help having a Meringue drink once a week. You know, it's something that you should be ingesting daily. And, you know, in that way, you're keeping your body in a very alkaline state. So, you know, cancer doesn't start to form things like that. But, you know, asthma, any digestive disorders, skin disorders, diabetes, all of these things, it actually makes a big difference to you, and particularly weight loss, because, you know, when we sort of just normally eating, we're not getting enough of the nutrients in that our body needs. So we're finding that we're hungry all the time. And when you're on the Meringue, it actually suppresses your appetite because now you have your body's actually getting what your body needs. And because it's a natural product, your body actually absorbs it. And that's the important thing is not necessarily the nutrients that you're taking in, but the ability of the body to absorb that. - It literally does sound to me like a wonder plant.

And I mean, over the last little while, it's definitely come to the forefront of people's attention, which is one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you. And it sort of seems to be that people are going more towards that natural side of things. I'm thinking there's several super foods that people are touting now. In terms of Meringue, Shirley, you'd have to take a lot. - No, not at all. So depending on what it is that you're taking, so, and it's, comparatively, if you look at your vitamin ranges, it's very much cheaper. You know, you generally, if you're taking capsules, you would only need to take two of our capsules a day. And you would start off on one for the first two weeks, and then go over, two would be your maintenance. And if you're drinking the powder, you would start off with one teaspoon of powder, and then go over to two teaspoons of powder a day. Or you can drink the tea. But the main thing is that you ingesting it every day, and you're keeping your levels where they should be. I know for myself, if I don't take it for two days, I can feel my arthritis in my fingers, and I don't have as much energy. And I think, you know, people think, oh, well, if I take this, it's gonna be like a red bull, and I'm gonna just feel absolutely fantastic immediately.

But it isn't like that. You know, your body starts to feel better and better. And then if you have to stop it, you then understand the effect that you have. So it's kind of like a build-up effect. And I think that's incredibly important, because anything that's giving you an instant rush, obviously isn't really meant for your body, and your body's responding negatively to it, because you always feel terrible after that rush is gone. So yes, as a maintenance thing, it's really very inexpensive. And I think that, you know, if the more people get to know about it, the more they understand just what Moringa does for them. And, you know, it will be different for everybody, because everybody has different needs. Everybody's body has different needs. And the Moringa has an amazing way of dealing with an issue in the body. So for example, like yourself, diabetes, it will attend to the diabetes, and it is about trying to harmonize your body so that you're not producing too much sugar, or you're not producing too much cholesterol, or you're not producing too much inflammation in the digestive system. - It's almost like, I suppose, one could almost call it an adaptogen. - Yes, yes. - Okay. - Absolutely.

- Cool, we're going to get into more about the plant and which bits we use when we come back. It is what's involved. So good to have you along with us. And my special guest, Zane Helle, is the MD of All Moringa. We're finding out more about this fantastic plant. We'll be back in just a bit. And we're back with my special guest, Zane Helle, MD of All Moringa. Now, Zane, just in the course of our conversation, you mentioned that there's different bits of the plant that you use. It's like you use the leaves or the seeds. Is there one that's better than the other or the cases where you have to use the seeds as opposed to the leaves, for example? - Well, yes, actually call it the miracle tree because you can use every single part of the plant for different things. So we specialize in the leaves, which we then put through a milling machine and the other becomes as a powder product or as a capsule product. And my sister-in-law actually uses the oil and she does a tissue oil, which is more for external. So it is dependent on which, you know, sort of which product you are gonna be doing. I think, you know, some of it is ingestible and some of it is used on the skin or, for example, the roots.

They take it and they actually mash it up as a paste and they can put it on, it's extremely good for wound healing and things like that. So it really is dependent on what product you want to produce. I know that the Moringa oil is extremely expensive, but, you know, once it's sort of broken down, you don't need a huge amount of it. So people are starting to cook with it. They're starting to use it externally, things like that. But the only part of the tree that you can't ingest is actually the bark, but that can be broken down and used for medicinal purposes. - Oh, so truly, truly, yes, carry on. - Sorry, I just wanna say that, so the flowers are just, they're little white flowers and that's incredible. If you are in the bush and you take some water out of a river and you put those flowers on top, anything above the water, you would actually be able to drink. So it is a water purifier as well. And I know that people use a lot of the stalks and things for biofuel. - Okay, so yeah, definitely something where you sort of use the whole thing. Now, when I first found out about it and I started to take it for diabetes, as we discussed, I was using the Moringa liquid. Is that just basically the leaves that have been steeped in alcohol or something?

- Yes, so that's the extract. So what they do and that's where you plant extremely intensively and you then put that through a mole with water and then you then extract the juice of the actual leaves. So the extract is a good product. And we've kind of looked at, do we wanna go down that route? And I think for us at the moment, we kind of focusing on what is it that is sustainable. And I know that some people can have a little bit of a reaction to the extract simply because it is quite strong. So, you know, it's, you've obviously got to find out what is working better for you? Does the capsule work good for you? We use organic and vegan capsules so that you don't have that afterburner sometimes that you get from the capsules. And that's a slow release. So, you know, it really is for you, how does it work? Some people say that on the powder, it has got a very, very pungent taste. Some people don't enjoy that taste and they find that because they don't enjoy the taste, they don't take it as often as they would with a capsule. Other people say, no, the powder works better for them. So it really is about you and your body and your system. And, you know, if the extract does work for you, that's great.

But you get the same effect whether you use the extract, the capsules or the powder. - Yeah, yeah. 'Cause I got to tell you, I mean, I stopped using it for a while and I noticed what it did for me is it helped in stabilizing my blood sugar. I'm not sure I agree with some of the sort of more far out people that say it'll cure diabetes. I'm not sure if it can cure it, but for me it's helped to stabilize my blood sugar. And I noticed as well when I stopped taking it, my blood sugar was doing the bouncy, bouncy thing again, and I wasn't feeling as good. So, you know, anecdotal evidence is yes. For me, it certainly has worked. But saying the interesting thing I found about this as well is that you do supply your product in South Africa, but you also got quite a large overseas market. Now tell me a bit about that. Why overseas? - Okay, so yeah, I think my business partner, he lives in the UK and we kind of said, okay, well, look, you know, there is a South African market happening here. We didn't really want to go the whole retail process because we find that, you know, in South Africa, it's extremely difficult, A, to get into the retail side, but B, that there were a number of people already in that space who established and things like that.

And we found that, you know, taking it over to the UK where the market is starting to really open up makes a big difference. I think it's also our ability to have two markets because I think with any business, if you, you know, your market is your most important. And I think at the time, particularly when we started, South Africa, the market was not really that open because there wasn't enough information for people. You know, you speak to people and you ask them, do you know what Moringa is? And people were just totally unaware of that. So we kind of started in a market where it was already open. And, but, you know, we're hoping to grow our South African market a bit more, particularly sort of not in the retail space. We've been using distributors who buy from us at a special rate and then sell on. And for us, that was another way of how do we empower people in South Africa who don't necessarily have full-time employment or can't find full-time employment? How do we get people, a number of people making a profit rather than putting it into the retail space? - To me, it's a fantastic concept. So are you looking for distributorship still at the moment? If somebody wanted to get hold of you and say, "Hey, I think I could sell your product." Is that something you'd be looking for?

- Absolutely, yes, no, like I say, you know, for us, it's extremely important that everything we do is empowering other people and particularly South Africans. So the important thing for us is that we do get young people who are willing to sort of start up their own thing, who are finding it difficult to find employment, who are in need of some alternative income. And then of course, you know, you look at products like, oh, now the name's gone. - Oh, it happens to me all the time, don't worry. (laughing) - Called old age, yeah, so yeah, I'm sorry, Herbalife. So you look at products like Herbalife, who have had a fantastic run with having their distributors. And there's a lot of, you know, stay-at-home moms who needed extra cash coming in and people who would spend most of their time doing it as a job. But they were able to have the freedom of running their own small enterprise. And I really, really love that idea. So the more distributors we have, the better it is. But I think also the important part of having individuals buying, because I think that, you know, very important, like any product, knowing where it comes from, knowing that it is truly an organic product is something that people should be aware of.

You know, you do get people in any business that go out there and try and make as much profit as possible, but don't necessarily do things the right way. And for me, it was extremely important that everything of ours was 100% organic. You know, making sure that people taking our product, that it works, and that it is the best product that they can develop. We spent two years, our first two years, only focusing on developing the best product that we could produce. - Now, when you say it's sort of all organic, et cetera, et cetera, did you have to go through some sort of a certification process to say, yes, this is in fact organic? Because I know in this country, a lot of people take a chance and they go, oh, it's organic, you know, but there's nothing to back it up. Do you have certificates to state this? - Yeah, so we're busy with our audits at the moment. So we're going through, 'cause we need it for the UK as well. So we're going through a company called EcoSert, which does all of our certifications. - Okay, fantastic. When we come back, we're gonna wrap up and find out exactly how you get hold of Zane and what you need to do if you wanna buy Moringa for yourself. I'm guessing it might be a bit more affordable if you go directly to the producer.

And also, maybe you wanna start your own side hustle, which is something that, on this show, we're big fans of. My special guest is Zane Hale, MD of All Moringa. This is what's involved. We'll be back in a bit. And we're back wrapping it up with Zane Hale from All Moringa. This is what's involved. Good to have you along with us. So Zane, just before I let you go, there's another little interesting part that I wanted to touch on as well. Let's get the most important part out of the way first. Where would people get hold of you? And if they wanted to find out more, what do they need to do? - All right, so they can get hold of me. My numbers, same number for WhatsApp, is 0844180676.

Or they can email me [email protected]. So it's Z-A-I-N-H-A-L-L-E @gmail.com. - So let's just repeat that, the WhatsApp number, 0844180676. Otherwise, [email protected]. Zane is spelled Z-A-I-N and then hale, H-A-L-L-E @gmail.com. Now, one of the other things, and I wanted to know if this was the first, if this was part of the plan or if it happened when you got there, because I believe you run on that same property, you're now running a bed and breakfast. - That's correct, yes, yeah. - Now, how did that come about? Did that come about once you'd gotten the property and you were there, you thought, heck, I can share this with other people. - Yeah, no, I think really important for me, we've just got the most spectacular views. We overlooked the whole of the Crocodile Valley and there were a number of houses on the property. I started off renting them out and yeah, I got a little bit of money in from my godmother who died from the UK and decided, well, you know what? This would be incredible to have other people coming through, learning about the Moringa, staying on the property. And yeah, I started slowly but surely renovating each of the units as I was going. And I must say it has been phenomenal and particularly with the overseas guests, the interest in the Moringa side has been really, really very, very encouraging because obviously more of them know, but also from the South African side, people getting to know about it.

Most people buy the product when they are here. I take them on tours of the Moringa field, show them the process. And it's really been very, very interesting sharing different ideas and different desires of other people of, you know, what is it that people are experiencing? What is the sound of the health of people at any particular stage when they are here? And then getting the feedback, and yeah, I now distribute all through South Africa and overseas to people who have actually come to the farm. - Wonderful stuff. Now what is the bed and breakfast called? - It's called leopard tree retreat. - Leopard tree retreat. If somebody wants to come in and enjoy some time down there, maybe once we can travel properly with these restrictions and whatnot, 'cause I'm still confused. I know I can't fly, but I don't know if I can leave the province's boundaries or not. But needless to say, even if somebody's in the Mpumalanga area, they can come in and visit you. How do we get hold of you there? Same email address? - Same email address, same number, but they can also find me on booking.com or ABMB or Travel Ground. - Okay, and it's leopard tree retreat, named after some beautiful leopard trees in that area.

Leopard tree retreat. - Same, thank you, I do, yeah, thank you, man. I appreciate you taking the time out. I know that being a farmer, you've got an early start and your days are pretty full. But well done on what you're doing. And it's great to find out that Moringa is being produced locally, that it's an organic product. The health benefits are amazing. Also, by the way, very good for just boosting your immune system. And we touched on that, that Moringa actually does cause your body to create an alkaline environment, which is very, very good in terms of fighting off infections, et cetera, et cetera. So one more time, if you'd like to get hold of Zane, it's 0844180676, that's the WhatsApp number. Otherwise, Zane Haley, Z-A-I-N-H-A-L-L-E at gmail.com.

When you get a chance, I promise you, you will not be sorry. It is a stunningly beautiful part of the world. And well, if you do get hold of Zane, just tell him David sent you and you'll get extra special VIP treatment, I'm sure. - That's it, thank you so much, David. I really appreciate the opportunity. - Wonderful stuff, there we go. That was my special guest, Zane Haley. He is the MD of all Moringa. Go check it out and get yourself on that path to health. That wraps it up for this part of what's involved To each and every one of you, stay safe, stay healthy, and thank you for listening.