Martha Ysabelle San Juan
Francine Tiongco
Raymond Yang
Kyla Masangkay
De La Salle University Manila
Pia Manalastas
Keep this story going! Share below!
Nama’s mission is to create an ecosystem through microgreens to produce healthy food options that promote sustainable consumption and responsible production for people and the planet. Nama wants to let consumers experience the farm-to-table lifestyle to showcase how crucial sustainable consumption and production are to the environment.
Following the 17 UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development (SDGs), Nama Microgreens can foster 6 SDGs respectively, SDG 2 - Zero Hunger, SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being, SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities, SDG 12 - Responsible for Consumption and Production, SDG 13 - Climate Action, and SDG 15 - Life on Land.
Nama strives to continue growing with the various range of products they sell daily with the following Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
1.) SDG 2 - Zero Hunger: Nama seeks future direction to address that hidden hunger for kids and people with comorbidity like those who are undergoing dialysis, have diabetes or even high cholesterol. These people are usually much more conscious of what they eat. Nama is also catering for the upper middle class to the middle class, also making it more accessible. The majority of what we are intaking doesn’t meet the daily nutritional requirement people should have. That is one of the perspectives or aspects Nama is looking into in the consumer market. One way of addressing it is by looking into numerous studies showing that there are many vitamins and minerals in microgreens.
2.) SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being: One of the most present SDGs that Nama portrays because the sole purpose of Nama as a whole is promoting microgreens as a superfood that can help improve healthier diets.
3.) SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities: As Nama adapted to the vision, people in urban environments with small space areas can grow plants. Microgreens as young vegetable greens that are approximately 1 - 3 inches tall, can be a perfect green vegetable that is very convenient to produce, as they can be grown in convenient locations, such as windowsills, outdoors, greenhouses, and more.
4.) SDG 12 - Responsible for Consumption and Production: Nama provides an additional solution to a healthier diet with microgreens. Why microgreens? Comparing other common greens, for example, common lettuce. People usually think that lettuce is nutritious, but in reality, it mainly contains water and fiber, which does not provide many vitamins and minerals. There still needs to be more of a gap between what we take in and what makes us full, and what we perceive as benefits towards the common vegetables. Microgreens, conversely, are packed with antioxidants and nutrients like iron, zinc, potassium, magnesium, and copper.
5.) SDG 13 - Climate Action: Nama is looking at the idea that once people are aware of where their food comes from, they will be more concerned about it, as urban farming contributes to the promotion of this awareness of where our food comes from in terms of climate action, betting on the effect of people not wasting their food; therefore, they will not.
6.) SDG 15 - Life on Land: Once people become more aware of how they consume food, things like mental health consumption should eventually slow down, and ultimately, life on land should return, even though we are still in an urban farming environment and cutting down on food miles and other things like that. Even though Nama’s products are more just a garnish than a severe fix, Nama promotes urban farming. It raises awareness of its advantages so that people can become self-sufficient on their land and can make the most of their own space. Less land is needed to be cleared for agriculture, which significantly impacts the environment.
Nama Microgreens is a social enterprise that helps its consumers grow food in an increasingly-urbanized Metropolitan Manila. Traditionally, to feed a growing population, a predominantly agricultural system has to expand to keep up with the food demand, which often entails the destruction of wild ecosystems. Armed with a mission to feed people sustainably, Nama brings the "farm" experience closer to home by providing microgreens and their respective grow kits, which fit well in the limited space of Metro Manila.
The enterprise was founded by Eldrin Lee and Skyrene Bacalso, who both have a vested interest in starting a venture that would help the community become more conscious of how food is being sourced. Eldrin runs the operations of Nama. Eldrin takes up the role of ensuring the quality of the crops, while Skyrene ensures that Nama's finances are in order. While conceptualizing Nama, the pair saw the potential of urban farming and how it can aid in achieving sustainability both in the food and in conserving our green earth, given that 13.42 million hectares of land in the Philippines is used for agricultural land (Statistica, 2022), with an ever-growing population this number is expected to grow further. Apart from the lack of land space, hidden hunger still affects people in the Philippines, which refers to the lack of proper minerals and vitamins our body needs, regardless of how much we eat. Nama aims to tackle these problems by growing nutritious plants through urban farming. As Lee mentions, "Microgreens contain more vitamins and minerals than their mature counterparts. For example, baby or microgreen arugula has more vitamins and minerals than mature arugula." Currently, Nama has about 8 - 12 microgreens kits it serves restaurants and consumers alike. Lee also explains, "All of Nama's microgreens are grown indoors. In this endeavor, the company also ensures the quality of the microgreens grown indoors through constant care and pesticide-free for safe consumption. After two weeks, the microgreens are shipped off to restaurants or clients looking for healthier alternatives; this is a truly urbanized farm-to-plate model." Nama helps its consumer realize the sustainability saved on food miles and conservations our Philippine natural ecosystem from unsustainable farming practices. The business' hit its significant milestone when it won and secured funding from the Young Farmers Challenge Fund (YFCF) by the Department of Agriculture of the Philippines. Nama has rooted itself in the core values of promoting food sustainability and awareness of how food is sourced, and it has been doing it through its business activity. Through every batch of microgreens sold, Nama hopes that it is doing its part in eliminating hidden hunger and spreading awareness of urban farming to lessen the food miles we spend.
A glimpse into the inner workings of Nama Microgreens
As previously mentioned, Nama is a Japanese word for being "fresh" or as is. The idea of Nama Microgreens came about when the company owners realized that Japanese products emphasized the importance of providing high-quality products to their customers. Moreover, the Japanese philosophy of kaizen plays an essential role in business, as it is highlighted in the everyday work and responsibilities of the people of Nama. In Nama, continuous improvement (along with innovation) is of great significance.
Also, as said, the company sprung from a movement to shed light on the issue of agricultural shortages in the Philippines and worldwide. In the country, Lee and Bacalso saw the potential of urban farming in the metro. "Everyone and everything lies on the planet," Lee mentioned during the group's interview with him. With how niche the industry is, the co-founders saw this as an opportunity to embark on their Nama journey, given the unrealized benefits this has for its market and the environment.
With Lee's expertise and knowledge of sustainability, he reached out to Basalco, inviting her to be a part of the startup and contribute to the company's numbers and the accounting aspect of running a business. This was a perfect match since it is one of Basalco's ultimate dreams to tap into communities and build her own cafe business. Moreover, as Lee stated in the interview, Sky Basalco is versed in handling design and systems. This team is how Nama organically grew.
Out of all the vegetables in the market, lettuce and herbs are usually the most commonly available to consumers. With this realization, Lee mentions, "thought of a unique way to offer healthy food to the people, especially given the limited spaces in the city - which led to his discovery of microgreens." With a lower barrier of entry and cost, Lee said, "they created a company that focuses on cultivating microgreens and catering to health enthusiasts and restaurants." Microgreens, being a superfood in itself, contains more vitamins and minerals than their full-grown counterparts, as Lee mentioned during the interview. Currently, Nama has 8-12 microgreens in its repertoire of products, which they cater to different restaurants and cafes. Additionally, the company has harvested microgreens and tree microgreens in various forms.
Having sustainability as one of the integral business components, Nama strives to make the company inclusive. Currently, the company caters to the upper-middle class and the middle class. Still, they are working on making its offerings more accessible to the other social classes. Moreover, Nama strives to aid in the issue of hidden hunger. This issue refers to different people's inadequate daily intake of vitamins and minerals. Being in the business of cultivating, catering, and selling microgreens aids in the alleviation of the before-mentioned issue. Lee mentions, "we want Nama to help solve that hidden hunger issue for kids and people who want to live a healthier lifestyle."
Moreover, regarding the SDGs Nama has incorporated into their business, the aspect of urban farming significantly alleviates the destructive issue of deforestation - land no longer needs to be cleared out to make space for farms since growing microgreens can be done in the comfort of peoples' homes. Regarding Nama's impact on climate action, the company emphasizes that consumers do not waste their food. The nature of urban farming helps promote consumer consciousness on how food is sourced.
As per Lee, "we see ourselves as a garnish, not a solution to everything." The business of microgreens has significant impacts on the environment and the people. Though Nama has various benefits and positive impacts, it is still up to the consumer to carry out its mission.
For the short term, Lee says, "Nama is still expanding to the different parts of the market and testing new types of innovation. It takes a lot of research and studies to find the niche." However, in the long run, Lee mentions, "the way I can see Nama for this communing years is to elevate our microgreens. We actually started putting out new types of products that we can offer to the market, like edible flowers." "Besides flowers, maybe in the long term effects, Nama can even produce their mushrooms," as Lee states.
The founders have forward-looking visions to grow and advocate for healthy living to a broader audience through their product, microgreens. The above innovations benefit the business by building upon its sustainability branding and attracting new markets. As stated by Lee, Nama does not use pesticides or strong chemicals in producing its products. The business commits and continues to stick with natural ingredients and agricultural practices to preserve the nutrients better and prevent contamination of the plant, the soil, and the water used. More so, urban farming contributes to the accessibility of affordable and fresh produce as much as promoting nutrition and eating healthier. “I would like to see urban farming as not the whole solution but as a way to help address those food miles and at the same time address the unsustainable practices that the current agricultural industry is doing. There is this level of self-sufficiency in the urban farming segment. And one part is encouraging people to eat healthier,” Lee shared.
For these reasons, more and more health-conscious consumers of those in urban areas seek to try out Nama’s microgreens. This could lead to the business tapping more regular consumers aside from chefs, restaurants, and cafes and merging the company and the founders’ advocacy for nutrition, healthy consumption, and even preserving the local ecosystem ties well with the sustainable branding of Nama.
Nama, although still small, is on a sustainable journey towards a different approach to providing accessible and healthier foods to the less fortunate. Significantly, Nama's business innovations promote an understanding of the current agricultural setting in the Philippines. As the country's population increases, the same way plantations or agricultural lands switch to subdivisions to accommodate more people. In this case, urban farming presents an alternative way to produce food without needing a hectare of land. Not only does it lessen the food miles, which in turn helps lower its overall price, but it also provides a way for people in the city to appreciate planting and farming.
Regarding pricing, microgreens are considerably more expensive since they grow faster, are healthier, nutritionally concentrated, are more appetizing, and take up less space (Broadbent, 2021). To shell out less money, there is always an option to buy Nama's sprouting seeds and take on the challenge of planting and regrowing microgreens. Although, it should be noted that not all types of microgreens can grow again after being cut. Still, Nama fills the gap with the convenience and accessibility of varieties of fresh microgreens to Filipinos around the National Capital Region (NCR). The densely populated cities in Metropolitan Manila could easily have microgreens in their dining areas with Nama's farm-to-table model.
Additionally, there needs to be more spotlight on microgreens being the superfoods in the Philippines. Nama is one of the first businesses in the country that plants and sells microgreens online. Hence, the business has helped society start general discussions and possible opportunities with another alternative to growing mature vegetables. Little does the public know that microgreens contain more vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants than their mature counterparts (Pinto et al., 2015). In general, consuming vegetables lessen the risks of developing diseases. Some diseases linked to microgreens that lower the risks of obtaining and accelerating such illnesses are diabetes, Alzheimer's, heart problems, and other cancers (Petre, 2018). Since microgreens have more nutrients and are smaller in size, these are excellent options for having healthier diets. Besides Nama selling fresh microgreens for consumption, the business also provides grow kits. This allows consumers and the community to experience having to grow one and appreciate the value of producing one's food. As unsustainable agricultural practices have the tendencies to cause pollution from harmful chemicals such as pesticides and fertilizers, among other things, having the option to have people produce their vegetables lessens even a little of the damage it can do to the environment. As Lee stated, "human life depends on the interactions and the environment we have for it now." We can start by choosing healthier and more sustainable food options.
Get stories of positive business innovations from around the world delivered right to your inbox.
Eldrin Lee, Co-Founder
Nama, from the Japanese term “fresh,” first began as an urban farming movement to bring more awareness to the current agricultural shortages that the world is facing today. Dedicated to giving the public an astounding delicacy so fresh that it is newly harvested, co-founders Eldrin T. Lee and Skyrene R. Bacalso saw the potential of microgreens and their nutritional worth beyond what is typically used by chefs or food experts as a simple yet elegant garnish. They saw potential growth where microgreens could be one of the many solutions to help people consume a healthy fresh diet, and with that, Nama was born.