It is not about creating thousands of new products, but creating the right products consumers need.
Our Story
Qina which means “Be strong” in Zulu was founded in 2019. The idea for Qina was born when the Founder noticed a gap in the market for domain experts in companies who were developing digital nutrition products. Qina is a digital first company which means that the entire business is run in the cloud delivering services through a select group of nutrition experts.
We are entrepreneurial nutrition scientists at heart, holding qualifications from Bachelors to PhD’s, and with experience from disease prevention to medical nutrition. Qina has grown into a small team, and a globally recognized specialized innovation consultancy and platform providing market intelligence, expert content and consultancy services to startups, SME’s, multinationals and other stakeholders in the industry.
We are unique because we are expert-led and leverage the latest in technologies such as AI, to be more agile, efficient and connected. This means we deliver our services faster, are data-informed removing our own bias, and more transparent about how we work.
Vision
We believe the future of health is Personal. We dream of a world where everybody has access to the right knowledge, data and tools to improve their healthspan and prevent disease.
Mission
Our mission is to bridge the gap between science, technology, consumers and frontline practitioners, to create the next generation of nutrition solutions that have a real impact on health and that all stakeholders can trust.
Meet Mariëtte Abrahams
Mariëtte Abrahams is the CEO and Founder of Qina, Mariëtte, originally from South-Africa, started her career in clinical nutrition in the United Kingdom before moving to a scientific & medical affairs position at a large food company. In 2009 she moved to Portugal not being able to speak the language. Equipped with her scientific knowledge and experience, digital skills and entrepreneurial spirit, she leveraged her network to start providing consultancy services to companies across several verticals before launching Qina in 2019.
Mariëtte leverages her combined expertise in nutrition (BSc), business (MBA) and research (PhD) to advance the industry at the intersection of nutrition, health, technology and society, now known as Personalized nutrition.
She is a thought leader, a published researcher, a regular international speaker, guest lecturer, and moderator. She also serves as an external advisory board member on the Personalized nutrition Initiative at the University of Illinois (US).
She has delivered presentations and keynotes at industry, scientific and investor events such as Vitafoods, SupplySideWest, Food Ingredients Europe, Anuga, Foodmatterslive, Nutrevent, American Society of Nutrition, Canadian Nutrition Society and Future Food Tech. She has also been interviewed in media outlets such as the BBC and Wired