Elephant Pepper

Elephant Pepper Products were inspired by the conservation work of the Elephant Pepper Development Trust, through which rural farmers grow chillies to deter elephants from raiding their subsistence crops.
Elephant Pepper sauces are made using these same chillies purchased off these enterprising rural farmers.

Our aim is to produce high quality, delicious, and uniquely African chilli products creating new economic opportunities for rural Africans and support efforts to safely reduce the conflict between elephants and humans in Africa.

Elephant Pepper brings sustainable financial, social, and environmental benefit to its stakeholders by linking African farmers to a global marketplace and raising awareness around successful approaches to elephant conservation.

Elephant Pepper is a social entrepreneur business that seeks to funds its project through sustainable business from revenue generated by its branded product sales and its social goodwill story. In addition we have a contract with Tabasco that is exclusive to Elephant Pepper in Africa and is only one of 7 contracts issued globally.

By producing high quality, delicious, and uniquely African chilli products, Elephant Pepper seeks to create new economic opportunities for rural Africans and support efforts to safely reduce the conflict surrounding elephants and these farmers. Consumers throughout the world can support both the human and animal problem by buying the elephant branded products .

Elephant Pepper is structured as three organizations. Each organization has a specific role in the supply chain process. At a high level, these can be described as:
A) The promotion and training of chilli cultivation to rural communities.

EPDT is a not-for-profit organization with the specific objective of training, motivating, and co-ordinating chilli cultivation as both an elephant friendly crop and chilli cultivation as a liveli-hood opportunity.

B) The facilitation of chilli purchasing with farmers.

Elephant Pepper Limited South Africa (EPSA) was incorporated in 2003 and provides the pur-chasing company of chillis and received imported chillis from Elephant Pepper project sites throughout Africa. Its function is to handle the logistics of purchasing as well as coordination of the manufacturer of Elephant Pepper branded products. EPSA also handles the export of EP branded products to the USA and other destinations. Its activities range from chilli purchasing, freight purchasing, product purchasing, label design, product compliancy, product insurance, marketing activities, to other activities associated with the exporter and manufacturer of Ele-phant Pepper products.

C) The manufacture of finished Elephant Pepper branded product.

Chillies are purchased off farmers participating in Elephant Pepper projects. These chillies are exported to South Africa to food manufactures that make a completed ready to market product. Our manufacturing facilities have world food HASCAP approved kitchens producing world exportable product.

Currently Elephant Pepper has is exporting to the USA through a indirect distribution channel and thru its internet e-commerce site. www.elephantpepper.com

Additional funding would provide the investment to specifically increase Elephant Pepper’s marketing activities through product development, export, distribution, sales and promotional activities. This will generate sales of Elephant Pepper products and thus create profits that would be reinvested into the social objectives of rural farmer development and elephant conservation. The funding would help secure key people’s involvement and continue to build global brand awareness of the Elephant Pepper projects. The funding would also provide significant opportunities to extend the brands across a range of products that leverage the story and the goodwill of the social entrepreneur efforts of Elephant Pepper project. Elephant Pepper merchandise would be developed to maximize these opportunities. In addition the funding would increase that founders own capacity to raise awareness of the project and solicit additional support from other organizations and maximize business opportunities for all stake holders.

Geographically - The USA, UK, EU and South Africa

The Elephant Pepper products are targeted at the social gift market, High-end foods stores, other WEB sites that require a content story and products, zoos, corporate gift market, tourism industry including including game lodges and general public wanting to make a social contribution thru a ethical trade.

Other sauce manufactures/Brands, Tabasco , Nando's etc.

However we are the only sauces and spice products that work with elephants.

Exclusive contract with Tabasco to grow chillies in africa
Our link to conservation.
Wildlife conservation logo on bottles and Sauces
Our ability to leverage the social good will story
Our products are of hi quality
The elephant as a Logo and our story

Elephants Hate Chilli - We love Elephants

Its the EP story and that fact that we are real - we are an elephant conservation project that has developed a business around its story.
In addition we have a contract with Tabasco that is exclusive to Elephant Pepper in Africa and is only one of 7 contracts issued globally.

-Further Distribution and being avaliable to consumers.
- Increased promotions thru telling our story
- Investment into production facilities
- Maximizing our story and internet sites sales and marketing strategy
-investment into system to control stock and finance
- Funding the full time position in key management roles such as CFO , CEO

Elephant Pepper Development Trust in Africa was co-founded by Australian Mike Gravina, and American Loki Osborn.

A committed humanitarian and passionate conversationalist, Mike Gravina’s background as a successful entrepreneur has helped him establish a unique for-profit model in Elephant Pepper which ensures the ongoing viability of the project. Through the promotion and sales of the Elephant Pepper Brand of pepper sauces Mike has helped to create a self-funding model that supports both elephant conservation and a sustainable market opportunity for African Farmers. Mike’s unique for-profit model has been acknowledged by NGOs worldwide. He has been a guest speaker at many US AID conferences on export and trade development in Africa, and has worked with the US AID Trade Competitiveness Project, the Southern Africa Global Competitiveness Hub, and the Market Access Trade Enabling Project as well as the recent Wavelength summit for social entrepreneurs in the UK. Mike’s other enterprise, micro-finance company PHLICKA Limited allows him to combine his business acumen, IT knowledge, humanitarianism and passion for Africa. PHLICKA seeks opportunities to deliver pre-payment of fundamental life services to developing nation’s populations via mobile phones.
Dr Ferrel (Loki) Osborn
Originally from the famous Tabasco sauce manufacturing Mcllhenny family, in Louisiana, Zoologist and Co-Founder of Elephant Pepper, Dr Ferrell (Loki) Osborn has dedicated much of his career to Elephant conservation and African humanitarian projects. After obtaining a PhD in Zoology from Cambridge University Loki set off for Africa and spent 15 years working in the Zambezi region of Africa specifically in elephant conservation. Soon Osborn established up the Mid Zambezi Elephant Development Trust, which was re-named Elephant Pepper after a few chilli shots with his new-friend Michael Gravina. His family roots in Tabasco sauce undoubtedly affected his career choice, and he now the primary scientist responsible for research the impact of chillies on elephants. Today, Loki lives permanently in Africa with his wife and two young children; dividing his time between his home in Cape Town South Africa and the Elephant Pepper projects through out Africa.

Please see above

we have been doing this for 5 years - we understand the business and we have made the mistakes.

I hvae been fulltime for the past 4 years and for the past 12 months 50% inproject and 50% promoting the project in our the 1st our wrld markets.

It is envisage that with some more funding i would move to a full-time sales and marketing to role Managing Director role .

The Elephant Pepper Vision is a world where African farmers’ lead productive, healthy lives - free from poverty, and where human and elephant populations coexist and live in harmony; a world where the African Elephant is not at risk from extinction. Elephant Pepper seeks to create new economic opportunities and revenue streams for African farmers whilst safely reducing the conflict between elephants and humans.
By producing and marketing chilli sauces and other premium products using chillies grown by small-scale African farmers, Elephant Pepper provides global trade opportunities to African communities. Elephant Pepper Development Trust trains and educates farmers on community-based methods of elephant conservation, using chilli pepper-based deterrents to help farmers protect valuable food security crops. The two initiatives work collaboratively under a shared vision of wildlife preservation and sustainable economic development, practicing the philosophy of providing “trade, not aid” for African villages.
Elephant Pepper also has the ability to promote positive impact stories in Africa, and lead the charge of innovation conservation. Elephant Pepper is inspiring other organizations to explore wildlife-friendly farming and crops that reduce conflict between animals and humans.