Oryx Desert Salt, founded by Samantha Skyring: Why this Desert-Harvested Salt Is Finding a Place in U.S. Kitchens

A South African seasoning brand has gradually expanded its presence on American grocery shelves, with its sourcing and product characteristics forming a central part of its appeal. Oryx Desert Salt, founded by entrepreneur Samantha Skyring, is on shelves in Whole Foods Market, World Market, and available on Amazon. It sits at the intersection of three macro-trends shaping consumer goods right now: health, sustainability, and ethical sourcing. The question more shoppers are asking is what desert salt actually is, where it comes from, and whether it is meaningfully different from what they already have at home.

The Samantha Skyring Backstory Behind Oryx Desert Salt

The brand has an origin story that helps distinguish it within the seasoning aisle. According to the company, Skyring walked 75 miles over seven days through the Namib Desert to the Skeleton Coast in July 2000, encountering several oryx gazelles along the way. Those encounters stayed with her, and when she later learned about an ancient salt source in the remote Kalahari Desert, the company name and ethos came together naturally.

As a newly single mother rebuilding her life, Skyring sold her home, bought 34 tonnes of what the company describes as pure Kalahari salt, and began building Oryx from her dining table, treating each difficult step not as a setback but as a redirection. That hands-on, founder-led approach has carried through every stage of the business, including the brand’s most difficult chapters. 

The growth of Oryx Desert Salt has been driven by Sam’s passion and vision. When COVID-19 wiped out 60 percent of turnover, and total sales slid back to where they had been four years earlier, Skyring spent several months intentionally targeting the Whole Foods category buyer, finally securing a national U.S. listing 18 months later in September 2021, a milestone that brought the hand-packing of the products in-house. Oryx Desert Salt now employs more than 45 people, the majority of them women. 

A 280 Million Year Old Aquifer, the source of Oryx Desert Salt

One characteristic that distinguishes Oryx Desert Salt is its source: an underground brine deposit in the Kalahari. According to the company, Oryx Desert Salt is naturally harvested from a mineral-containing underground aquifer located roughly 155 miles north of Upington, South Africa, which is estimated to hold 55 million tonnes of brine. The reservoir is renewed by subterranean streams flowing through Dwyka rock formations dated at around 280 million years old, meaning the water moves through layers that existed long before dinosaurs walked the earth. The salt water is brought to the surface, laid on open pans, and sun-dried under the extreme African sun, where summer temperatures can reach 115 °F, enabling the brine to crystallize in just four weeks, sun-dried in a single lunar cycle, under the stars, with the desert wind. The company describes the finished product as unprocessed salt containing no anti-caking agents or additives and says its testing has not identified certain plastic, industrial, or pharmaceutical contaminants. This Kalahari desert salt is clean and in a category entirely different from table salt and sea salts on the market.

Why Oryx Desert Salt Does Not Contain Microplastics

For shoppers asking about the difference between sea and desert salt, the contrast mostly comes down to source purity, and this is where Oryx Desert Salt offers one point of distinction from competing products. Sea salt is derived from ocean water, and some studies have detected microplastics in a high proportion of the sea salt samples tested. Published reports have documented several sources of ocean pollution, including historical radioactive-waste disposal, agricultural runoff, and sewage discharge from ships. Skyring says testing has also detected heavy metals and trace pharmaceutical compounds in some sea salt samples. She argues that the composition of ocean water can affect the resulting product, complicating longstanding perceptions of sea salt as a premium alternative to table salt.

Kalahari desert salt is sourced from an underground aquifer renewed and sustained by subterranean streams that flow through rock strata hundreds of millions of years old, which, according to the company, is isolated from many sources of ocean and surface-water pollution. This underground source is central to the brand’s use of the terms “unprocessed, unpolluted, and uncompromised.” According to the company, the source distinguishes its salt from ocean-derived varieties and may be relevant to consumers interested in clean-label sourcing.

What Nutritionists Say About Oryx Desert Salt’s Mineral Content

The mineral content question is where things get more nuanced. Oryx Desert Salt naturally contains minerals such as magnesium, zinc, potassium, and calcium, as well as the full spectrum of trace minerals infused by the ancient rock strata, alongside sodium in a balance and ratios the human body understands, unlike processed table salt, which is stripped down to pure sodium chloride during refining and mostly includes anti-caking chemicals like sodium ferrocyanide or aluminum silicate. An unprocessed salt like Oryx Desert Salt retains the trace minerals that occur from its natural source.

Nutritionists generally note that the amount of trace minerals consumed in a pinch of any salt is small, so unrefined salts should not be viewed as a substitute for a mineral-rich diet. That said, for consumers interested in natural hydration minerals, premium natural salt, or biohacking salt benefits, choosing an unrefined option with no synthetic additives can be a reasonable everyday upgrade.

Beyond the nutrition conversation, chefs tend to choose salts for flavor and texture, and Oryx Desert Salt has earned a steady following on that front. The flavor is described as gentle, rounded and full, which makes it useful both during cooking and as a final touch on finished plates, similar to how Maldon or fleur de sel are typically used in U.S. kitchens.

How Oryx Desert Salt Says Its Refill Model Has Reduced Bottle Waste

The sustainability piece is another area where Oryx Desert Salt separates itself from category competitors. The brand emphasizes a refill-and-reuse philosophy, with its signature salt grinder featuring a durable ceramic mechanism rather than a plastic one, which the company says helps reduce the potential for plastic particles to enter food. The driving principle is to encourage shoppers to buy a grinder once, then purchase refill boxes for as long as the grinder lasts, often refilling more than twenty times over, which makes Oryx Desert Salt a cost-effective, sustainable salt brand and one of the more environmentally friendly salt options now in U.S. retail. According to the company, its refill model prevented the need for more than 1 million additional bottles in 2025.

According to Oryx Desert Salt, a percentage of every sale supports partner initiatives involving the Khomani San and Mier communities of the Kalahari through the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park Destination Foundation, as well as Project Biome, a regenerative rewilding program.

Where to Buy Samantha Skyring's Oryx Desert Salt in the U.S.

For American shoppers, the practical question is where to buy it. Oryx Desert Salt is stocked at Whole Foods Market, World Market, and available on Amazon and the Oryx Desert Salt webshop. 

Thanks to their long-lasting ceramic grinder heads, each Oryx Desert Salt grinder can be refilled 20 times or more. For anyone reevaluating their pantry staples in 2026, it is one of the cleaner, more transparent options now on shelves.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not substitute for professional medical advice. If you are seeking medical advice, diagnosis or treatment, please consult a medical professional or healthcare provider.