The African Business Review July-August 2014 | Page 81

purchasing as the norm, even after they graduated from college.
By the dawn of the 21st century, a cohort of elite young
professionals, along with an older generation who had long
been committed to conscious purchasing, had begun to represent
an important market demographic. The “Cultural Creative”
demographic, defined as those consumers who include moral or
environmental considerations in their purchases, is now estimated
as nearly 30% of U.S. consumers. While some of these people
only occasionally use moral considerations in their purchases,
others have developed a sophisticated network that tracks the
ways in which workers, women, and the environment are treated
in supply chains around the world.

To complete the understanding of the historical influences
on the contemporary movement towards “Meaning as the New
Luxury,” it is important to understand the growing appreciation
in the west for indigenous cultures. In the 19th century, the
west was, for the most part, simply racist. Most elites regarded
western civilization as superior to other cultures and civilizations
(and their own European cultures as better than all the other
European cultures). But in the 20th century, artists such as
Picasso and thinkers such as Jung acknowledged that there
was something to be learned from traditional cultures that had
previously been regarded as simply “primitive.” By the 1960s
there was widespread interest in the practices of other cultures.
Indian yoga, in particular, began to be widely practiced.

Today there are yoga studios across the U.S. Lululemon is
an entire upscale brand devoted to sexy yoga attire - and many
of the fit young professional women are eager to show off their
well-crafted butts in Lululemon yoga wear.

Although I was born in Senegal and educated in Germany
and France, my professional life has taken place in the U.S. One
of my first jobs was in Silicon Valley. The San Francisco Bay
area, including Silicon Valley, is the world’s leading hub for the

The “Cultural Creative” demographic,
those consumers who include moral or
environmental considerations in their
purchases, is now estimated as nearly 30%
of U.S. consumers.

“cultural creative” demographic. Many of the young professionals
there, including the wealthy young tech entrepreneurs, are very
serious about including moral and environmental decisions in
their purchases.

I launched my first company, Adina World Beverages, after
a trip home to Senegal. I discovered, to my chagrin, that the
Senegalese were no longer serving Bissap, our hospitality beverage
made from hibiscus, when guests came to their homes. Instead
they now regarded Bissap as a low-status beverage for poor people
- the middle and upper classes all served Coke, Fanta, or other
western beverages. I love my culture, and was saddened that our
own healthy and delicious beverage of Teranga (the Wolof word
for hospitality) was disappearing. Upon returning to the U.S., I
realized that the Senegalese would only respect their own culture
when it became respected in the U.S.

I created Adina starting with a hibiscus beverage. The
cultural creative demographic loved our beverage. Investors put
in tens of millions of dollars in capital and we were able to roll
out the beverage nationally at Whole Foods Market, Wegmans,
and through United Natural Foods, Inc., the leading supplier of
natural and organic foods. Despite our successes, over time I

realized the brand no longer represented my true aspirations.

I created my second company, Tiossan, in order to
focus more clearly on my true goal: The creatio