Behind the Brand
SoCo, also known as Seeds of Collaboration, was founded by Israeli natives and tahini lovers Goni Light, Yonatan Sela, and Dana Harary. Growing up in Israel, Goni and Yonatan consumed top-quality tahini on a daily basis. It was a staple at the kitchen table and accompanied almost every meal. When they moved to the US, however, they were disappointed to discover that they couldn't find quality tahini anywhere. Meanwhile, Dana, who had been on the Israel-USA line for years over years, had the same tahini challenge.There were products that were called tahini, but for this tahini connoisseur group, it was like calling frozen pizza a real pizza. They decided to take matters into their own hands and introduce the real deal to America.
Goni and Yonatan started making homemade tahini and selling it in Brooklyn, NY. When the New Yorkers went crazy for their product, they knew they had something special. They opened up a tahini stand at Burning Man in the Nevada desert and received the same reactions. Following the positive results, Goni and Yonatan formed SoCo, bringing on their friend and fellow Israeli native Dana Harary shortly after. They partnered with sesame seed growers to source the best sesame they could find and worked with a Palestinian tahini expert to slow-roast and stone-grind the seeds. Through these collaborations, the SoCo team strives to encourage economic collaboration between the Israeli and Palestinian communities. On top of producing the tastiest and creamiest tahini, the SoCo team donates 1% of proceeds to MEET, a nonprofit connecting young Israeli and Palestinian students in business.