Adebisi Odeleye is the Founder of Moore Organics, a beauty brand that harmonises ancient African remedies with modern science to handcraft sustainable, clean and mindful personal care products.
EH: Briefly tell us about Moore Organics and your background?
I founded Moore Organics which was registered in 2016 as a business name but expanded the Limited Liability Company as Moore Beauty and Lifestyle.
I’m an Alumnus of the Beauty Therapy Institute where I studied Cosmetics Science. I am passionate about beauty, youth empowerment (with a focus on the girl child), financial inclusion of women and sustainability of the beauty value chain and environment. This has formed my core focus in the past 10 years. Apart from work, I enjoy traveling and researching other cultures within and outside Nigeria.
EH: Tell us about your work. How did your company start?
The story of MOORE revolves around my extreme case of dry skin called Xerosis Cutis that breaks and bleeds during Harmattan, l had really dry skin growing up. This skin concern worsened when I was pregnant with my first child as I couldn’t use fragranced or toilet soap. I had to seek help from Mother Nature with shea butter and African Black with high humectants like honey and glycerin. This improved my skin and I also help other people with such concerns. I remembered I was in a church meeting and one of the women in the church needed to leave early to get shea butter, I gifted her some of mine and she announced to other women that it with Five Hundred Naira Only Moore Organics was birthed.
6 years down the line, with hard work, persistence, continuous research and community support, a sustainably sourced and family-friendly brand has been birth with a wide range of products; using some naturally sourced butter and plant oils with a strained variety of fruit peels (rich in essential vitamins for the skin).
EH: How did you come about the name and what does it mean?
“Moore” which was culled from the Yoruba language (one of the prominent Nigerian languages), depicts GRATITUDE. Pronounced initially as “More-ho-ray,” when voiced in Yoruba, but pronounced “More,” when voiced as the brand name, Moore.
EH: What is your niche and how did you know it was a market to get into?
I didn’t know it was the niche I will go into at all, I can just say my path is ordered by God. I grew up massaging shea butter on my maternal grandfather’s body, he called shea butter (ato ara) a body arranger and best moisturizer after he passed on I stopped using shea butter. A few years later, When I got pregnant, my mother-in-law brought some shea butter for me as well and after seeing its effect on my skin I gifted some church members and everyone in my church started ordering my shea butter because it is the real deal, so natural and raw.
EH: Where do you get the inspiration for your products?
Each of our products is made to solve a certain skin problem. Our black soap is primarily for clients with acne and eczema, we have body butter for dry skin, and we have rosy mist for hydration. What we do in essence is to look for challenges from our clients and make products that solve that.
EH: What was the first product you made? What makes it memorable?
The product I made was black soap from the university of youtube, it was a disaster.
EH: What are some of the challenges you face in the business?
When we just started getting quality raw materials was a major issue but now we have a better value chain. We run a system that sources materials from different Nigerian geo-political zone in our model. Our kinds of butter are from the west, oils from the north, clays from the south and other herbs from the eastern parts of Nigeria. We eliminated middlemen in sourcing our core raw materials; and engage the different rural communities that produce these raw beauty materials. This provides direct financial inclusion for the women who produce these raw materials and ensure they have basic life benefits like food, health and education for their children.
EH: What is your most popular product in demand and what other product variants?
Our Honey and Tea Tree African Black and Succulent body butter for dry skin the top rising one at the moment is Revive face cream and nourish serum.
EH: To what extent do you draw upon your Nigerian (African) heritage for your work?
85% of our raw materials are sourced from within Nigeria and Africa. We deliberately spotlight African Beauty and herbal remedies rooted in age-long rituals with a modern twist.
EH: What are some of your short-term and long-term goals both in your business and life in general?
My long-term goal is to have a resort in one of the rural settlements where all things African beauty are manufactured.
EH: What profession would you be in if you weren’t in this industry?
Real Estate, I have my first degree in Estate Management from Obafemi Awolowo University.
EH: One piece of advice for a newbie in a similar industry.
Invest in knowledge and make daring decisions
EH: Contact details and social media handles?
www.mooreorganics.com.ng
@mooreorganics
08185887558
