Extracts with Impact | Feat. Nood

Every year Native Extracts chooses to mentor a young entrepreneur through product development - and this year we have three! We help them design products based on their natural ‘hero’ ingredients and match them with contract manufacturers that are their best fit. Lisa Carroll, Native Extracts’ Managing Director, relishes each mentorship and the opportunity it provides to exchange perspectives across generations, experiences and cultures, and to support autonomy in the Indigenous communities that our industry is literally grounded in. 

Uniquely positioned between the primary industry and the personal care industry, we are privy to foresee and instigate trends that all of our customers, and especially our mentees benefit from. Similar to the need for communication between chefs and growers, we have the privilege and responsibility to lead a bidirectional conversation, exposing opportunities to both producers and product developers.

Native Supports Nood

Our focus on true-to-nature extracts and strong traceability stories, lead Anthony Wilson to Native Extracts. Looking for his next endeavour post AFL, Anthony wanted to create a business “from the community for the community”. A proud Ngarrindjeri, Kaurna and Narungga man born and raised in Adelaide, he wanted to create a range of hand hygiene, guest ammenities and cleaning chemicals sourced from Indigenous botanicals, which beget his brand, Nood. 

As an incredibly driven, intelligent and passionate young Indigenous man, Anthony is creating multiple ranges and channels that not only represent the native species and his heritage, but also a vehicle to share his story and motivate other young Indigenous budding entrepreneurs. 

Native Extracts has worked alongside Anthony Wilson through the evolution of his start up and diversifying into a number of categories - from sustainable packaging to cleaning products. Especially in the early stages of his first range, Lisa kept saying, “Anthony, you can do so much more and you have so much to say, especially to young people who will be the champions of change.” In helping navigate the growth of his business and mission, Wilson says that Lisa has “guided me with business knowledge and making sure my values are aligned to not only my business but also those I connect with.”

Growing Opportunities On Country

Like Native Extracts, Wilson has witnessed the increasing demand for native botanicals and he hopes to see “Aboriginal communities become the growers and harvesters of all Native species.” It’s a concern that less than 1% of the bush food industry has Indigenous ownership. Traditional knowledge is a national treasure that we aim to preserve on country directly through our own botanical sourcing and through mentoring brands like Nood.

Big challenges lie ahead in finding more Aboriginal harvesting communities, and as Wilson points out, many have little “access to high quality water to grow their own vegetation. Environmentally, these communities have some of the richest soils, but water is the issue. I want to help Aboriginal communities become self-sufficient and see their own economic growth within their own countries.”

Paying it Forward

Lisa and Anthony share a belief in paying it forward, and although they both have had great support in achieving their own various goals in life, Anthony echoes our sentiment, “I wish to be able to do that for other Aboriginal people who may not have had the same support. Giving back and creating job opportunities for my people is what I am looking to create moving forward.”

We love walking this journey with Anthony and we are grateful to be a small part of the big things we know this outstanding young man will achieve.

The NATIVE EXTRACT difference - we invest in your brand development to achieve the best naturally.  Let us help you design your change-making natural heroes.

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