Simplicity Spirulina Farm

In the beginning of the 1990s, the late Swiss Bonaventura Chanson founded the beachside Community Simplicity with the vision of starting a spirulina farm. He collected a lot of information and did various laboratory scale experiments pertaining to spirulina cultivation. He also introduced spirulina for consumption within the Auroville community.

After Bonaventura's passing in 1996, Hendrik van Poederooijen (from the Netherlands) and Tejas Joseph (from Kerala/India) decided to realize Bonaventura's vision and started the project to establish the spirulina farm at Simplicity.

The first spirulina culture was prepared in kitchen bowls, then poured into small basins. The very first spirulina was harvested in February 1998.

Hendrik took up the challenge to further develop spirulina farming not just for Aurovilians and for local nutritional projects, but for domestic and international trade as well. He founded Aurospirul, which over the years earned a solid reputation for its high quality, sun-dried spirulina.