Innovation

Coffee for Peace is creating a system for the indigenous people of the Philippines to give them a way to succeed and to help them achieve things that they would not be able to do without the training that they receive from the company. They help people solve their own personal disputes with others while also helping them to earn a livelihood in order to provide for their families. This, in our opinion, is their biggest innovation: instead of having a physical innovation, they help connect people and give them hope.

In a more specific example, we believe that the true innovation of Coffee for Peace is the knowledge that they pass on to the people that they are helping. Their innovation is to train people on how to become coffee suppliers and to practice good agricultural standards. This connects with the UN Global Goals because it can lead to No Poverty and Decent Work and Economic Growth.

Inspiration

The idea for Coffee for Peace started when the CEO of the company, Joji Pantoja, decided to mediate a situation between two different tribes. Usually, conflicts would be solved with violence, but this time the two parties were invited to lay down their weapons and talk over coffee. The two parties ended up agreeing to terms peacefully, and the place where they met is now called the Peace Hut. After the success of this mediation, many others decided to talk in the Peace Hut rather than use violence. In this way, Coffee for Peace was created.

Overall impact

The overall impact of Coffee for Peace is that it has created a community that understands each other and has become more peaceful. It has also helped the local community increase their economic power and have actual jobs instead of being stuck in a cycle of unemployment and poverty. Just by visiting these tribes, you can see a significant change because they are now living in brick houses rather than the bamboo huts that they would normally live in. Coffee for Peace has also created unity for a part of the Philippines that has been divided due to religious differences; they have blurred the lines of difference and created a peaceful community.

These are only the short-term effects that Coffee for Peace has seen. For the long term, they have seen a community become enriched by the coffee that they have made with the company. They are also helping another community replant trees, which will help them deal with flooding in the future. Another long-term effect of Coffee for Peace is that they are creating a larger community with a common goal of peace and understanding of others. This may not seem like a big deal right now, but it could lead to some societal changes in the Philippines.

Business benefit

Last year, Coffee for Peace earned revenues of $45,000, which means that the organization is profitable and can expand into helping more people become coffee farmers. Because Coffee for Peace has decided to have the people that they help join their company, they have increased their local farmer supply count from 100 to 600 farmers. This has helped increase retention and employee well-being because they are a profitable company that has given these people a way to make money and also have increased the number of people working for them. Because of the knowledge and training that Coffee for Peace has given these farmers, they have become world-renowned Arabica and Robusta coffee suppliers. This has also opened new investment opportunities into the coffee market of the Philippines.

Also, because the company has increased its total number of farmers, people from other communities will see that these people are becoming successful and could potentially join the cause as well. This will help increase revenues if more farmers join their company and would also help because the number of employees would increase. This would be great for the company because then they could focus on different types of coffee and possibly create a new market, as they would already have farmers who could grow the types of coffee that they already sell. This would help increase revenues for the business while also helping the people of the Philippines.

Social and environmental benefit

The innovation of Coffee for Peace has helped both society and the environment. It has helped society because it has created an accepting community through peace and has also helped the people who have joined the company have better jobs with higher pay and greater economic power. Coffee for Peace has also helped improve society within the indigenous tribes that they work with; due to their programs, these people have seen economic prosperity and been able to construct actual houses rather than continue living in small huts that could be blown away in strong winds. Coffee for Peace has given these people a better life and decent work and is trying to end poverty in these villages. These societal changes can have a huge impact on the future of these tribes and will most likely continue to help future generations.

While helping with societal problems, Coffee for Peace has also supported the environment through their work. They have started to replant trees that were cut down in the 1940s and 1950s by a mining company. This has helped the village that is planting them with landslides because the village is located on the base of a mountain, and when it would rain a lot of their properties would be destroyed. They have also taught their farmers how to be environmentally friendly when farming coffee. This has helped these farmers be recognized as environmentally friendly and has helped them with business as well, because they are learning how to farm without hurting the environment. In addition, they will teach this way of farming to their kids and so forth, which will create a cycle of environmentally friendly farming.

Interview

Tala Bautista, Vice President, Community Development