Pantry Files: Ora Founder, Gabriel Perera
Beyond its gorgeous branding, Ora’s philosophy, certified organic ingredients, and approach to protecting our planet make this Australian Practitioner Strength wellness brand truly inspiring and stand out amongst the crowd.
In this edition of Pantry Files, we had the pleasure of speaking with Ora’s Founder, Gabe Perera about his journey from the corporate world through Ayurvedic studies to founding this beautiful brand. We also get a peek into Gabe’s pantry and hear about what’s inspiring him in the kitchen and beyond!
Can you tell us about the genesis of Ora?
I worked out that I’ve been in the natural product industry for the better part of 20 years working with some of Australia’s best brands - as an Executive at Blackmores, running practitioner businesses and health food store brands, and working across product development, M&A and manufacturing in different countries around the world. Before that, I studied Law and worked as a commercial litigator, in strategy with Accenture and even ran a Cardiac Catheterisation Laboratory.
It was really when I was travelling as a young person through India that I first encountered Ayurvedic medicine. I came back to Australia and studied and completed a diploma in Ayurveda. So as far as the genesis of starting Ora - I've had a lifelong passion for natural medicines, natural products, and herbal medicine and I knew I wanted to do a better standard of product than I had been working with historically. Not to say that many of those products weren’t great, but there’s been significant shifts in things like the rise the organic agriculture which has meant we can now sustainably source high quality organic certified herbal extracts, medicinal mushrooms and plant-based vitamins for example, but also the global supply chain for natural product ingredients has improved to such an extent over the past five years that I thought it was the right time to build a range of products that really established a new standard both in terms of formulations, but also design - products that I, and people like me would want to buy as self-confessed ‘supplement snobs’.
"Ora is about translating my experience as an Ayurvedic practitioner working with great brands for the past 20 odd years into what I believe is a new standard of natural products"
Ora is a range that’s designed to be literally the best possible formulations made with the best ingredients from around the world. The way that we approach things is a bit different to other brands. We look at formulation the same way a great chef would look at building a recipe. Like any great recipe, everything begins with the quality of ingredients that you select. In the case of a chef, it's that they know the person that farms the meat, grows the broccoli, harvests, and processes the wheat. We take the same level of care in terms of selecting individual ingredients and excipients (non-active ingredients in the product) that go into every single formulation.
Put simply: We provide sophisticated men and women with premium Practitioner Strength supplements and expert guidance so they can finally feel energised and take charge of their health.
What are some of the ways Ora is focusing on circularity and protecting the planet?
Circularity is actually built-in to our supply chain with our organic ingredients, sustainable and regenerative sourcing practices and formulations/packaging. In addition, as a brand, from day one of our operations we've been participating in initiatives such as 1% for the Planet, which as we grow becomes more meaningful as a contribution from a revenue point of view. But I don’t feel that this is really a point of difference, I think it’s just good business because it’s now not that difficult to do. I’d say that any brand that doesn’t incorporate sustainable practices or says it’s impossible is not correct anymore.
One of the things that has stuck with me that people like (Functional Medicine Doctor) Dr Mark Hyman say is that the most powerful vote that you can make for the type of supply chain, the type of ingredients, the type of planet culpability is what you buy and what you consume. We’re fortunate that we’re buying millions of dollars’ worth of ingredients every year so if we can buy those ingredients from a little bit better suppliers than we are having a better impact in that way.
Image: Ora Organic Greens Superpowder
Do you have a routine or daily ritual for well-being?
I feel like I’ve gotten better at this over time. The realisation for me is that even if you have a lot of the core knowledge, you’ve done training in a particular health discipline, or you’ve studied meditation or you’ve practised yoga for years, it’s actually only a part of the puzzle and it needs to be consistently applied over time. What I try to do, without becoming too prescriptive, is have a template for how I have an Ayurvedic dinacharya, or a daily routine. For example, that would be to hit hydration in the morning, do a form of Vedic meditation every day, and do some exercise daily in the morning. I also follow what I call a Plant-Forward, Wholefoods diet.
The key variable for me is ensuring that chronic stress doesn’t become the whole of your existence. That’s significantly easier to say than it is to do. Particularly in a small business when it feels like everything is on the line. For example, taking off this weekend, going to the countryside to ride a gravel bike is a terrible idea, practically speaking, as I’ve got a to-do list that’s 400 items long. But I know that I’m a much better human being if I take time to do some sports and if I spend time with friends.
I'd also emphasise the importance of sleep. In our family we really prioritise sleep so it’s all of the things you’ve read about. Blue light glasses from sundown, no devices in the bedroom, cool bedroom, as much darkness as possible. In our case, Profound Sleep before bed. Just those little things.
You prioritise those lifestyle elements and then in every instance supplementation should be the bonus, the icing on the cake, unless you’ve got a serious health condition. Don’t start with supplements, start with foundational practices, lifestyle and diet and then, supplements are really that next level up.
Can you describe your pantry in three words or phrases?
Organised, eclectic and interesting.
I have to give credit to my partner - our pantry has spices and ingredients from two or four major cuisines around the world but they are all in these beautiful jars with handwritten labels. It makes it a lot easier to start thinking about cooking if you’re not looking for stuff and you generally know where things are. I suffer from male domestic blindness so I’m not constantly searching for things and it’s actually a pleasurable experience to walk into the pantry and go, ok cool, what do we have, what can I use? We’re quite good about restocking as well so it makes it easy to cook the things you want.
Image: Gabriel's Pantry
Are there any pantry products or ingredients that you simply cannot cook without?
I do quite a lot of sport and strength training and I find that I’m always protein deficient. One of my challenges is that I find it really hard to eat enough protein. To help address this, I will typically have a vegan protein, really high quality, high absorption with a great amino acid profile (one that I actually formulated). I’ll have that daily, sometimes twice daily, just to try and get 20-30 grams of additional healthy protein a couple of times a day. I’ll always add in our Ora Organic SuperGreens which is always excellent value on Wholesome Market. I find that helps with sleep, muscle recovery and ensures that I’m getting the plant-based vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that my body needs - particularly as I get into my forties! For me that’s a real staple.
From a cooking point of view the lockdowns were great for me for improving my culinary skills. I started cooking more and for us cooking staples come from our local organic market. Done well, it’s actually no more expensive than going to a local grocery store and this fresh organic produce, particularly vegetables, have become the cornerstone of our meals.
How do you find inspiration in the kitchen?
My family is full of foodies so one of the most satisfying things for me is cooking a meal where everyone comes back for seconds. That’s super rewarding so I’m always looking for recipe inspiration from recipe books such as from Poh from Masterchef who just released a new book full of easy to cook recipes so we are working our way through that. I’ve also made a commitment to try and cook more Italian food this year. I set myself not really goals but projects in the kitchen, either to master a dish or master the basics of a cuisine.
Do you have a favourite thing to cook or a go-to meal?
I cook a lot of Sri Lankan food. My dad is Sri Lankan and you have to travel about an hour and half to get to an “authentic” Sri Lankan restaurant in Sydney so I thought, let’s figure out how to make three to six dishes that we like to eat. Sri Lankan dhal..or a black curry that can be chicken or vegan, crab curry, hoppers...these are the basics that are the go-to for me now.
What’s inspiring you right now, what’s next?
You can probably tell that I’m very passionate about the products I sell. For us, the next phase of what we need to do is to really engage with our consumer, the person who takes our products, uses our products, experiences transformation from our products, that’s really our focus for the foreseeable future.
We are going to do a couple of very select collaborations on product development with some leading practitioners, giving them a platform to Co-Create Wellness with us and develop the product they’ve dreamt of for the last decade or so. And we’ll do that together as a partnership so I’m super excited about that.
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