We thought it was high time you found out a bit more about us. You can meet the team at the bottom of this page!

We launched Akamuti in July 2003 with just 6 products! It all began with a passion for tree medicine, an obsession with plants & healing, mixed with an organic ethos & the dream of making a living by trading responsibly. Together they made the perfect catalysts for the Akamuti idea. As a family team we work well together - apart from the times we drive each other up the wall! Our combined enthusiasm for a holistic way of living, eating, healing & farming keeps our creativity focused, ensuring our products reflect our ethics. That means no nasty man made chemicals, preservatives or additives whatsoever. It also means that we try to source ethical & fairly traded ingredients because we firmly believe in responsibility & sustainability. We aim to source as many ingredients as possible direct from the producer so sustainable trade can improve the lives & ensure the survival of vulnerable communities across the world.

Our name Akamuti is an African word taken from the Bemba language of Zambia. It has two meanings. It translates as 'Little Tree' or 'A Little Bit Of Medicine' It goes to show that in many parts of Africa, trees & medicine are one & are revered as powerful sources of healing. Tree ingredients are very important in our products & we feel that trees are not only essential for our health but also for the health of the whole planet.

Every product we make is handcrafted from start to finish from individual ingredients by real people (not machines!) We start off with chunks of beeswax; slabs of tree butters; loose herbs, barks, resins & flowers; jugs of golden oils & aromatic distillates. We then infuse, filter, melt, pour, strain, mix & stir to create beautiful creams, moisturisers & butters for you to enjoy at their best. Absolutely no chemicals are added at any stage! Everything is made in small batches to ensure you receive your products as fresh as possible, with as much shelf life as possible.

So who is beavering away behind the scenes? Meet the team!

Lindsey - the inspiration behind Akamuti! . She is the marketing genius dealing with the website, advertising & promoting Akamuti. Lindsey is also in charge of sourcing all our Fairtrade ingredients from around the world. Always a friendly voice at the end of the phone ready to offer the benefit of her invaluable advice. She also loves "not working" & loves to escape the clutches of the computer, so it's not unusual to find her, (very messy!) desk deserted at the most crucial moments!

Jennifer - the cool, calm & collected one...... she is very good at diffusing office tension! She is also great at coming up with fresh ideas for new products & creates fabulously fragrant mixes with our essential oils. Jennifer is in charge of the monthly newsletter with the competitions & special offers which keep you all smiling! She is our resident "Florence Nightingale" & helps & advises all our customers who need a bit of TLC on their skin. She also loves trying out all the products & can often be seen experimenting with clay masks & all the "smelly" oils instead of working!

Anita - without doubt the busiest of all the bees! Anita lovingly transforms blocks of unweilding wax & golden oils into buttery bliss in a jar. She is Mrs Organised & keeps us all on our toes! ( No slacking when she's around!) She looks after all her favourite customers & makes sure that they receive a special treat every now & then. Ever-popular with the customers, she patiently answers all their questions & often spends ages on the phone with them. (We think she's just a chatter-box really!)

Stephen - without doubt, Mr Organised! Not only is he our postman & "courier consultant/delivery man", he also looks after our accounts & wages..... we all think that Stephen has drawn the short straw with this one! He can often be spotted amongst great moutains of paperwork, rifling his way through invoices & receipts. He always makes sure that our shelves are stocked up each week plus he is our number one Black Soap Cutter. He can be found in the tranquility of the Black Soap Shed, cutting, slicing & moulding. Quite frankly, we don't know what we'd do without him, as he gets to do all the heavy work, humping large boxes, oils, pallet loads of nut butters & massive bags of packaging from one building to another!

Daniel - Our Favourite Shea Butter Cutter & Packer..... He is usually found rocking away to his favourite tunes in The Shea Butter shed while he chops & slices away at our favourite butter! He's easy to spot in a crowd, he's the one covered from head to foot in Shea Butter!! He can be very elusive indeed & can never be found in a crisis. He makes a champion cuppa, if you can pin him down. He was last seen escaping into the distance on his motorbike to do what he loves doing best.......driving tractors!

Karis - our favourite part-time beaver! Karis pops in to help when she can. She works quicker than all of us put together & is a whizz on the computer. (Her one-handed typing would put to shame some of the fastest typists in the West!)