Hal Robson-Kanu gets the same buzz out of transforming people’s lives through nutrition as he used to derive from finding the back of the net for Wales.

That may come as a surprise to members of the Red Wall, who will forever be grateful to the former striker for providing one of the greatest moments in the nation’s footballing history.

It was Robson-Kanu’s exquisite turn and deadly finish against Belgium at Euro 2016 in a never-to-be-forgotten quarter-final victory.

Seven years on, Robson-Kanu – who goes by his lesser-known given name of Thomas Robson-Kanu these days – runs a highly successful business, The Turmeric Co.

That goal provided a feelgood factor that went off the scale. Now, though, Robson-Kanu’s very clear faith in nutritious bottled turmeric shots is based on a firm conviction that it has health benefits that last far longer.

He started the company in 2018.

So, what’s the best feeling? Scoring or selling?

Yeah, I would say they are very different feelings. But actually, the outcome in terms of reward, and that feeling, is very similar.

We have serviced over 100,000 customers with our product now and received over 10,000 customer testimonials.

Obviously, they’re two separate and different industries. But if you can positively impact someone’s life, I don’t think there’s anything better than that.

So, whether you’re doing it by scoring an amazing goal and winning the game on the weekend, or whether you’re doing it by delivering a high quality, high functional and best in class product on the market, which is then changing lives for the better, then that’s very satisfying.

You’re helping people become healthier, they’re in less pain, they’re more mobile, and they have more energy so they can be more productive. So, you’re impacting society and individuals on a really large scale, just like football.

 

You were a teenager trying to make your way in professional football at Reading when you first became convinced of the health benefits and powerful anti-inflammatory properties of the humble turmeric plant. What happened?

At the age of 17, I suffered two cruciate ligament injuries in my knee, and found the painful swelling I was experiencing was hampering my performance.

The remedy as far the club’s doctors and physiotherapists were concerned was to give me painkillers and anti-inflammatories. I was popping these things like smarties.

After two weeks my body had a complete adverse reaction. I started passing blood in my urine, had severe nausea, didn’t sleep, and it got to a point where we needed to look at natural ingredients that could support the reduction of pain and inflammation.

You were helped by your father, and you researched more natural remedies and came across turmeric, which you and the family used to create your own blend. How important was that to the creation of the company you run now?

It was a lightbulb moment when I went into the shower one morning and for the first time in two years discovered there was no longer acute pain in my knee.

I then began realising that I was recovering quicker generally than my teammates. I wouldn’t get run down in the winter months as much as others, and I became aware there were real benefits from consuming this blend.

There was a big difference, though, between our own ‘golden elixir’ and the stuff commercial companies were bottling and selling as ‘healthy’ turmeric-based products.

Most of them were apple juice-based, or water-based and had really small amounts of turmeric in them, or else they were actually made from turmeric powder.

You had another lightbulb switch on – why not manufacture your own? How did you move on to that?

We went on a journey from 2016 to 2018, in terms of building a bespoke manufacturing facility, because no juice or no beverage or food beverage manufacturers would produce our product for us, because we were using raw ingredients, high quality ingredients, and the process was very unique.

The Turmeric Co. was born and then it was a case of building a customer base, based on growing an authentic community of enthusiastic users, rather than a multi-million pound marketing campaign.

The company now supplies over 50 different sports teams across the country – including the likes of Cardiff City, Everton and Wigan Warriors – and has over 1,000 elite sports professionals using the product on a daily basis.

But more importantly we’re changing the lives of everyday people who are looking to ultimately recover and lead a happy, healthy life.

 

What’s the scientific evidence for turmeric’s benefits?

We’re very much on a mission to bring health and wellness to anyone who is aware and understands the benefits.

And so a big part of what we did in 2020 was to partner with Nottingham Trent University because we really wanted to validate the product.

We ran a clinical trial on the product, leveraging one of our elite sports partnerships, and ran the trial on a group of elite sportsmen.

The study itself shows a 75% reduction in inflammation, post-activity, in the blood, which is obviously massive because the majority of chronic illness and pain is due to inflammation.

visit www.theturmeric.co to buy yours!