Why I set out to make a different kind of toothpaste.
I’m Adam Sulayman, a Leicester pharmacist, chocolatier and the founder of Sewak. After nearly two decades working in healthcare, I wanted to create an oral-care product that brought useful tradition and modern formulation together.
I kept coming back to the same question.
Why did so many toothpastes feel and taste almost identical, even though people’s needs and preferences are not?
Through pharmacy I had spent years listening to people talk about sensitivity, sore or uncomfortable gums, plaque, bad breath and the struggle to find products they genuinely enjoyed using every day. At the same time, I was fascinated by Miswak and its long history in oral care.
I did not want to put Miswak on a box as a marketing story and stop there. I wanted to explore whether its heritage could inspire a genuinely modern toothpaste with its own character.
From an idea to a real formula.
Start with real problems
I began with the everyday concerns people repeatedly raised and the kind of brushing experience I felt was missing.
Refine the formula
Over two years, the formula was adjusted and reconsidered to bring Miswak extract, black seed oil and a distinctive floral-lemon freshness together.
Take it to production
Now the challenge is moving from development into a first full run of 5,000 tubes without losing the purpose behind the product.
Built with the community, not behind closed doors.
We could have treated Sewak like a conventional product launch, but I wanted people to see the journey and help shape what the brand becomes.
Every pre-order moves us closer to the first 5,000-tube production run. It helps demonstrate that there is room for a British independent oral-care brand built around thoughtful products, honest communication and a genuine relationship with the people who support it.
The Road to 100,000 is not just a sales counter. It is our plan to use increasing scale responsibly, reduce costs where genuine manufacturing savings are achieved and make Sewak accessible to more people.
Sewak did not begin in isolation.
Before creating Sewak, I founded Salahuddin Dates, an independent Leicester food and chocolate business built around ethical sourcing, direct relationships and community support.
Building Salahuddin Dates taught me how important it is to listen to customers, be open about the journey and create products I am personally proud to put my name behind. It also showed me that a small business can still help fund clean water projects, support homeless people, back grassroots sport and contribute to local causes.
That experience helped shape the principle behind Sewak: create something useful, grow it honestly and use the business to do some good.
A brand that should do some good.
My other work has shown me that even a small independent business can support clean-water projects, homeless people, grassroots sport and local community efforts. I want Sewak to grow with the same spirit.
Our ambition is to build a brand supported by its community and, in return, to use that growth to support communities too. That means listening properly, sharing progress honestly and finding practical ways for Sewak to contribute as it becomes established.
This is only the beginning. The first goal is simple: make the toothpaste properly, earn people’s trust and reach the first 5,000 tubes together.
Support the first production run