Zoë Lind Van't Hof - Wunder Workshop
Zoe is founder and CEO of Wunder Workshop. A company that creates products for people and the planet, inspired by intuitive herbalism and Ayurveda. They maintain a full circle approach by ethically sourcing their organic turmeric and most of their other ingredients directly from small community farms in Sri Lanka that use a sustainable farming technique called Forest Gardening, supporting Sri Lanka's natural biodiversity, soil health, the farmers and the local community.
What inspired you to create Wunder Workshop?
My biggest inspiration to start Wunder Workshop was my late mother who had been deeply passionate about health and wellbeing since her early twenties, so by the time I was born she had nearly 20 years of experience. This meant I was surrounded by interesting books about traditional medicine, the power of plants and how to create all kinds of natural remedies from an early age. I grew up eating organic and locally sourced vegetarian food, we grew many of our own vegetables and herbs and we used to go to very down-to-earth Ayurvedic health retreats in Sri Lanka.
After dabbling in different career paths (from politics to interior design) I realised that my true purpose lay in what was around me all my life: health and plants. This is when I decided to go back to Sri Lanka and find an organic farm that uses sustainable and ethical farming techniques with whom I could work together to bring some of their incredible plant knowledge in the form of herbs and spices back to London and started Wunder Workshop – focusing on turmeric and consumption with purpose.
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What is the Wunder Workshop mission?
Wunder Workshop really is an extension from my personal lifestyle and beliefs. Through my mission to be a “conscious” citizen I have instilled all my personal values into the business, the focus being trust and transparency. From my own curiosity, I always wanted to know and understand the origin of things, so that is our number one priority - knowing where our main ingredients are from, plus the health of the environment and the farmers who grow these ingredients.
Our mission is therefore to create a circular and holistic business that supports biodiversity, soil health, and gives back to the farming communities, whilst educating people about the health benefits of these ancient plants and remedies and valuing the traditional wisdom they have come from.
What are the health benefits of Turmeric?
Turmeric has been used in Ayurvedic remedies for centuries, and more recently scientific studies have shown that turmeric really does have the benefits that it has been celebrated for. Turmeric is high in curcuminoids, in particular curcumin, which have been shown to have many medicinal properties. Three of the most documented benefits are:
1) Anti-inflammatory – chronic inflammation is recognised as one of the key causes to many diseases. Whilst acute inflammation, caused by foreign, damaged or dead cells is extremely useful as part of our immune system; chronic inflammation drains the body’s resources and can lead to illness. Curcumin has been shown to inhibit molecules across our body’s incredibly complex inflammatory pathway and can therefore limit the damage it can cause.
2) Antioxidant – curcumin is a potent antioxidant that binds to free radicals, preventing oxidative stress which is linked to aging. As well as being an antioxidant itself, it actually stimulates other anti-oxidant enzymes in the body, improving our natural response to free radicals.
3) Antidepressant – curcumin has been shown to be as effective as Prozac in treating depression and has been shown to release the feel-good neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine. Therefore, turmeric can brighten up your day in more ways than just its dazzling colour.
However, it’s important to note that turmeric is rapidly digested in the body and not readily absorbed into the blood stream, so make sure that if you are going to use turmeric add black pepper and a healthy fat which are able to increase its bioavailability by as much 2000 times! That is why we include these ingredients in all our blends.
Can you tell us about your relationship with the farmers in Sri Lanka?
It all started when I returned to Sri Lanka in 2014 to find a source for our ingredients on my own. I went out on tuk-tuks to speak to people and whether they could help me find an organic turmeric farm. Eventually, I met wonderful farmers who owned the most beautiful forest garden, owned by a woman, and where everything grows in the most biodiverse way. This really opened my eyes to regenerative farming and that’s when I decided I only wanted to source ingredients that fully support the environment in which they are grown and the farmers themselves. By purchasing their ingredients, one supports the traditional knowledge and gives them the support to keep fighting the likes of Monsanto who try and sell them seeds and create mono-culture farms which would kill the natural biodiversity and deplete the soil. The health of the soil is our priority and from there all things bloom.
This means we have a bit of an atypical strategy when it comes to creating products, we never really start with the end idea, we usually start with the farm or the ingredient, and then think what we can create with that. It’s the farmers and nature that inspire us to work with them and then we think of the best packaging, which is just another complex ingredient, before we establish what product we will create with it.
If you could share one token of wisdom with the world, what would it be?
To live your inner truth and follow your intuition. Reconnecting to our inherent knowledge can be so empowering. We all carry it within us, and only through societal norms, up-bringing and distractions we have lost our connection to our inner wisdom.
Do you have a favourite ritual?
I love starting the day by creating a mindful moment with my daily potion, without my phone and just observing what comes up within me, to let go of worries and anxieties and start the day with a calm and optimistic mindset. The same applies for the evening, either with a glass of natural wine, kombucha or miso, to let go of the day and slowly unwind.
How can we follow you and your work?
I share all things aesthetically pleasing, inspiring and politically of interest to me on my personal Instagram @zoelvh. For my businesses, it is @wunderworkshop and @essentialsbyzoelvh.
