Apr. 8 2011 : Nicole Skibola
The first 1,000 days of a child’s life (pregnancy through age two) are, according to experts, the most important. It is during this window of time that poor nutrition can affect health, cognitive development, educational achievement and ultimately future economic opportunities. Without proper nutrition, 200 million children never reach their growth and development potential.
International groups like the World Health Organizations and UNICEF have been on the forefront of public health work that focuses on treating severely malnourished children during this critical time. A recently developed intervention is the “nutrition pack” – a food product that treats severe and chronic malnutrition through a highly fortified, nutrient dense paste made from grains, nuts, seeds, milk powder, sugar, oil, vitamins, and minerals. Because the packs do not require water, preparation or refrigeration, they have shifted the treatment of hungry children from doctors in hospitals to a community-based model focused on mothers in homes. Not surprisingly, this treatment strategy is far less expensive and more successful than traditional hospital care. These packs have been heralded by the World Health Organization as having as high as a 95% success rate.
Drawn to the amazing success of nutrition packs – and the fact that they reach just 3% of the hungry children who need them – two social entrepreneurs sought to build child nutrition into a TOMS Shoes-style business model. “We wanted to find a way to empower consumers to make a difference,” co-founder Lauren Walters explains, in describing the origins of his “Two Degrees” nutrition bar line that gives a nutrition pack to a severely malnourished child for every bar purchased. The company name comes from the two degrees of separation the company’s founders see between any developed world consumer and the malnourished child his or her purchase benefits.
Two Degrees does its best to use source materials that are close to its distribution points. For the nutrition bars it sells in the US, it buys nuts and fruit from small American farmers (and fair trade grains from South America); the bars are manufactured in Portland Oregon. The nutrition packs purchased in Africa are locally sourced and manufactured in Malawi, so as not to undercut local farmers and manufacturers. The company is also seeking to sell its bars within companies that reflect its values.
Since Two Degrees’ launch in early January 2011, the healthy energy bar – formulated by former Odwalla chef Barr Hogen, has made its way onto 35 college campuses across the country, it will be carried in all Northern California Whole Foods by May and will launch in all Whole Foods nationally beginning July, 2011.
As the company continues its rapid growth, founders Lauren Walters and Wil Hauser hope that the bars can tie into a larger social responsibility strategy for some of the companies that have begun to carry its products in their cafes and dining facilities. Microsoft, Cisco, CIT, Urban Outfitters, and The Brookings Institute have come on board with the Two Degrees mission by stocking the bars, and the founders are actively on the lookout for companies willing to support the cause. In a phone conversation, they explained, “This is a really exciting opportunity for businesses to engage their employees around the cause of child hunger. By giving them a choice to purchase a bar, they learn not only about our mission but the issue of malnutrition generally. It’s a small thing to an American consumer but carries so much impact for a child.”
This marks an important aspect of corporate social responsibility. It’s no longer just about Boards deciding the beneficiaries of corporate philanthropy, but also giving employees the opportunity to make choices about what brands and causes they would like to support personall.
http://blogs.forbes.com/csr/2011/04/08/making-a-business-of-fighting-child-malnutrition/
The first 1,000 days of a child’s life (pregnancy through age two) are, according to experts, the most important. It is during this window of time that poor nutrition can affect health, cognitive development, educational achievement and ultimately future economic opportunities. Without proper nutrition, 200 million children never reach their growth and development potential.
International groups like the World Health Organizations and UNICEF have been on the forefront of public health work that focuses on treating severely malnourished children during this critical time. A recently developed intervention is the “nutrition pack” – a food product that treats severe and chronic malnutrition through a highly fortified, nutrient dense paste made from grains, nuts, seeds, milk powder, sugar, oil, vitamins, and minerals. Because the packs do not require water, preparation or refrigeration, they have shifted the treatment of hungry children from doctors in hospitals to a community-based model focused on mothers in homes. Not surprisingly, this treatment strategy is far less expensive and more successful than traditional hospital care. These packs have been heralded by the World Health Organization as having as high as a 95% success rate.
Drawn to the amazing success of nutrition packs – and the fact that they reach just 3% of the hungry children who need them – two social entrepreneurs sought to build child nutrition into a TOMS Shoes-style business model. “We wanted to find a way to empower consumers to make a difference,” co-founder Lauren Walters explains, in describing the origins of his “Two Degrees” nutrition bar line that gives a nutrition pack to a severely malnourished child for every bar purchased. The company name comes from the two degrees of separation the company’s founders see between any developed world consumer and the malnourished child his or her purchase benefits.
Two Degrees does its best to use source materials that are close to its distribution points. For the nutrition bars it sells in the US, it buys nuts and fruit from small American farmers (and fair trade grains from South America); the bars are manufactured in Portland Oregon. The nutrition packs purchased in Africa are locally sourced and manufactured in Malawi, so as not to undercut local farmers and manufacturers. The company is also seeking to sell its bars within companies that reflect its values.
Since Two Degrees’ launch in early January 2011, the healthy energy bar – formulated by former Odwalla chef Barr Hogen, has made its way onto 35 college campuses across the country, it will be carried in all Northern California Whole Foods by May and will launch in all Whole Foods nationally beginning July, 2011.
As the company continues its rapid growth, founders Lauren Walters and Wil Hauser hope that the bars can tie into a larger social responsibility strategy for some of the companies that have begun to carry its products in their cafes and dining facilities. Microsoft, Cisco, CIT, Urban Outfitters, and The Brookings Institute have come on board with the Two Degrees mission by stocking the bars, and the founders are actively on the lookout for companies willing to support the cause. In a phone conversation, they explained, “This is a really exciting opportunity for businesses to engage their employees around the cause of child hunger. By giving them a choice to purchase a bar, they learn not only about our mission but the issue of malnutrition generally. It’s a small thing to an American consumer but carries so much impact for a child.”
This marks an important aspect of corporate social responsibility. It’s no longer just about Boards deciding the beneficiaries of corporate philanthropy, but also giving employees the opportunity to make choices about what brands and causes they would like to support personall.
http://blogs.forbes.com/csr/2011/04/08/making-a-business-of-fighting-child-malnutrition/
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