Nafy Flatley's American dream: the baobab fruit juice & bar
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- At La Cocina in San Francisco's Mission District, Nafy Flatley is a one-woman show -- pouring, mixing and bottling a drink that holds special meaning.
"We used to make these juices back home and sell them in the market," she said.
Nafy is from Senegal. She and her sisters are carriers of sickle cell anemia and, while growing up, they ate a lot of the baobab fruit.
"For me having sickle cell, my mother always wanted to figure out the best way for us to have foods that are not artificial."
Nafy moved to San Francisco for college. When she lost her job, she founded Teranga, with encouragement from her mother, a determined single mom.
"My mom was absolutely right. I could bring something from my hometown and share it with people here."
She unveiled Teranga Juice last year. And now, the baobab nutrition bar is ready to go to market. Packed with nuts and fruits and no refined sugars, it's a bar based off a recipe her mother made back in Senegal.
After working with a food scientist for over a year on the formula and nutrition, today is a big day. David Pirazzini gets to try the final product.
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"She's great to work with. Baobab is a nutrient-dense fruit. It has 40 to 50 percent the fiber in many fruits. It's got a lot of fiber and a lot of minerals and calcium and iron, along with magnesium and a lot of vitamin C, also," said David, a food scientist with Rebbl Inc.
Nafy's goal is to provide an inexpensive, accessible and healthy food for people in the Bay Area and around the world.
"Because I have the passion, I really want to give people what I experienced as a kid. I want them to have as good nutrients, as good a healthy life as possible."
This is why, Nafy Flatley is our ABC7 Star. Living her own American Dream.
Nafy's baobab juices are available at the following locations
1. Angelinas
2.California Market
3. Other avenues
4. Orson's belly
5. Nourish Caf 1
6. Nourish Caf 2
7. Little vine
8. Village market
9. la Cocina kiosk
10. Driver's
11. Canyon market
12. Rainbow
13. Gus's
14. Duc Lois
15. Royal cuckoo
16. Staff of life
17. Aptos Natural Foods
18. The Epicurian Trader 1
19. The Epicurian Trader 2
20. Flywheel
21. Peaches patties
22. BerkeleyBowl #1
23. BerkeleyBowl #2
24. The Assembly
25. Valencia Market
26. Onsen SF
Nafy is currently working with a distributor and co-packer to help with getting the baobab bars into stores soon.
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