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The inspiration for Oakland-based superfood company Kuli Kuli came to Lisa Curtis when she served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Niger, Africa.

A vegetarian, Curtis found herself eating a diet of mostly carbohydrates, and asked women at the village health center how to increase her protein and nutrient intake. The answer: mixing the leaves from a moringa plant into a popular peanut snack called Kuli Kuli.

“It was the most transformational impact I've ever had,” Curtis says. “It gave me more energy. I felt like my digestion improved. It was just incredible.”

Kuli Kuli now offers moringa and other climate-smart superfoods as powders, capsules and gummies in about 11,000 stores and online.

Curtis shares her journey to entrepreneurship in the premiere episode of Innovating Forward in San Francisco.

Listen to learn more about how she built ethical supply chains with small farming communities, navigated early funding challenges and leveraged consumer research to refine products.

Curtis also discusses the pivotal role Amazon played in accelerating e-commerce growth and providing real time customer insights. In 2025, Amazon independent sellers in California saw about $440,000 in average sales, with more than 831 million items sold, according to data from Amazon. Additionally, more than 60% of sales on the e-commerce platform come from small to medium-sized businesses like Kuli Kuli.

Learn more about Amazon’s e-commerce services for small businesses.