Innovation

Since the beginning, burgreens mission is to make healthy, ethical and sustainable food as delicious, fun, convenient and accessible as junk food while empowering local farmers and women though a responsible supply chain. Their homemade starch is free from MSG, chemical flavoring enhancers, preservatives, colourings and toxic food chemicals. This is good for the customers health(SDG 3) as their food is healthy and does not lead to sore throat or any diseases. Burgreens foods are also palm-oil free. Palm oil is the main Driver of deforestation(SDG 15) in Indonesia that causes the extinction of orangutans and is also damaging to your health when heated.

Burgreens source most of their ingredients directly from smallholders, mid-sized farmers and food artisans(SDG 8) who apply sustainable farming and food production at a premium price. Burgreens not only treat them like suppliers but rather like family.

Burgreens also employ underprivileged women(SDG 1,4&5), by employing them, they are more likely to spend it on their children’s education which will impact the poverty alleviation.

Burgreens also frequently organise fun educational events on healthy and sustainable living from movie screenings, farmers markets to healthy cooking workshops to help kick off a healthy and green lifestyle.

Inspiration

The owner Max and Helga, a young vegetarian couple, wanted to make a healthy, ethical and sustainable lifestyle mainstream in their hometown. This made them open the business in January 2013 while also testing a social enterprise model that marries positive impact and financial sustainability.

Overall impact

Many parties get a good impact on this innovation. For instance, farmers get a much better price for their plantations compared to selling to other restaurants and people who crave for junk food but are on a diet can also eat at Burgreens. They seek to help obesity by making burgers a vegan food with healthy ingredients. Women also are impacted as they try to employ underprivileged women. Burgreens aim is to empower these women for better equality in decision making at home, help their children go to school and decrease domestic violence throughout Indonesia.

More Indonesians are now also more aware of the effect when you eat junk food. Burgreens regularly organised educational events to kick a healthy and green lifestyle. This is crucial as the overweight and obesity rate continues to grow in Indonesia with overweight as much as 23% and obese people as many as 5%. Every now and then, Burgreens conducts a cooking class with famous chefs for the public to learn and see how easy it is to make healthy foods at home.

Business benefit

This innovation has been launched and opened in certain places in Jakarta since 2013 like Pacific Place and Darmawangsa. The increase of number of stores indicates that Burgreens is generating many profits. This is because Burgreens continues to promote its business in a manner that its customers think that is is very good for their diet. Although Burgreens profit margin is low because of paying farmers good amount of money for their plants, many customers admire that and come even more often just to support its mission and vision. Women for instance come to their store as they want to raise women abuse awareness. As many women come to the store, Max and Helga is able to have a little chat with them and this can lead to a new menu being made. Expanding the menu leads to more curious customers to try put their food, hence increase their revenues.

Social and environmental benefit

Healthy living through consumption exclusively benefits our body condition. Since burgreens serve vegetarian foods and are expert in nutritioning, they innovate in order to help society with having lower cholesterol, having lower blood pressure, reduced risk of heart disease, and basically being healthier. Most importantly, burgreens are conditioned so that more people are more aware of health issues and must be concern towards their daily living consumption.

Another benefit is that there will be an increase of underpaid farmers and how the farming industry have changed over the decade. Right now, children are not advised to become a farmer as it is paid very little. Burgreens on the other hand promotes its farmers and pays them very good money and tells their regular customers to buy directly from the farmers for better and healthier vegetables.

Interview

Max Mandias, Owner