Virunga Origins
Doubling happiness
with value-addition and manufacturing at the source of origin
Deliciousness that gives back. Shared happiness throughout the value chain
As a social enterprise, Virunga Origins makes its products locally. Everyone who is involved in the manufacturing process benefits. 100% of all profits go back to Virunga National Park and its surrounding communities. The factories source directly from the producers, which cuts out the middlemen. Virunga Origins employs and trains local workers and prioritizes the widows of the Rangers killed while protecting the Park.
Virunga Origins’ approach is to ensure that the profits from its operations are shared evenly throughout the supply chain. This helps to create and safeguard the livelihoods of local farmers and other actors involved in the process. The chocolate, coffee and chia are made at the source. Profits from Virunga Origins go back to the people who plant, harvest and process the agricultural inputs. That’s what they mean by shared happiness.
Virunga Origins empowers small, family businesses. Communities have greater economic opportunity putting more kids in school, saving endangered trees on the hills, and keeping vulnerable youth out of the militias. It enables the protection of one of the world’s most important parks, giving the Park’s gorillas, chimps, hippos, elephants, lions, leopards, and all its beloved wildlife a brighter future.
Project in numbers
Capacity
Chocolate = 15 tons/month and Coffee = 100kg /hour
World’s first chocolate factory run
100%
on renewable energy
+$500,000
in Sales 2021
Featured Projects
All cases
Kenya
Giving plastic new life
Haiti
Quality education against all odds
