The Challenge

Life below the poverty line can be a vicious cycle for many in this village. Access to employment depends on the presence of businesses. However, businesses are attracted to places where there is high-skilled labor. Thus, communities such as Sula, with a high percentage of people living below the poverty line, struggle to grow its economy. To date, Sula has the second highest poverty rate (8.98%) in its region of Indonesia.

Located in the famous Spice Islands of Indonesia, this company has been taking steps since 2017 towards providing meaningful community impact through a triple-bottom-line: social, environmental, and financial.

A Solution

Sulamina Chocolate resources fair trade local farmers and promotes best agricultural practices that leads to making and selling chocolate products. Through consignment agreements and microloans, partnering with local farmers, providing management and carpentry training, and giving out plant seedlings to synergize the companies needs for particular fruit, they are empowering locals to see and embrace opportunities.

They strive to be faithful to their motto "life, opportunity, chocolate" which means fair staff wages and benefits, developing new staff skills, empowering staff leadership, fair trade with farmers, promoting plant diversity and agricultural best practices, utilizing solar energy and eco-friendly packaging. 

Business activities geared towards alleviating poverty and promoting economic development:

Target: Provide men and women, in particular the poor and the vulnerable, access to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology and financial services, including micro-finance (Part of Target 1.4 SDG)

Target: Promote and support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises. (Part of Target 8.3 SDG 08)

Target: Promote full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value. (Part of Target 8.5 - SDG 08)

• hire more local full-time and part-time staff, providing benefits and benevolent opportunities,

• buy more raw goods directly from farmers at fair prices throughout the region,

• track the amount of money flowing through this area that would not otherwise exist,

• empower new distributors to sell products, partially through providing micro-loans to help them launch, and

• facilitate leadership trainings that empower and inspire further economic activity that produces a multiplier effect.

Business activities geared towards Sustainable Agricultural Practices:

Goal: Integrate ecosystem and biodiversity values into national and local planning, development processes, poverty reduction strategies and accounts (Taken from target 15.9)

• map plant diversity of farms,

• encourage plant diversity as a way to mitigate risk associated with volatile market prices and promote a vibrant ecosystem,

• transition to renewable solar energy at facilities where possible,

• use eco-friendly packaging, and

• facilitate training on sustainable agricultural practices and track number of farmers embracing these practices.

Sulamina Chocolate resources fair trade local farmers and promotes best agricultural practices that leads to making and selling chocolate products. Through consignment agreements and microloans, partnering with local farmers, providing management and carpentry training, and giving out plant seedlings to synergize the companies needs for particular fruit, they are empowering locals to see and embrace opportunities.

What does your donation go towards?

• Equipment: Chocolate machines such as: refiner, conch, tempering, cooling, packaging.

• Purchasing Raw Goods: Cocoa beans, cashews, etc., directly from farmers as well as other goods like cocoa butter and sugar.

• Facility Expansion: Expanding chocolate kitchen to allow for more staff and machines, upgrading electrical system. Expanding stock room to house more inventory to be sold.

• Distribution: Opening a distribution center to facilitate sales & logistics and include stock room and office space.

• New Employees: Salary for 10 new full-time employees for 1 year (including health and pension benefits).

• Training Materials