In October 2007, Jennie Dundas and Alexis Miesen opened their ice cream shop, Blue Marble Ice Cream, with the mission to offer a "super-premium" ice cream that used organic, sustainable ingredients.Blue Marble also exclusively uses biodegradable bowls, spoons, cups, and have built their stores out of reclaimed wood, energy efficient appliances, and tabletops made of compressed sorghum.
Even more sweet (!) is that after meeting a Rwandan drummer, Odile Gakire Katese, in 2008, they launched an ice cream parlor called Inzozi Nziza in Butare, Rwanda. Inzozi Nziza means, "Sweet Dreams" and operates with the employment of Katese's all-woman drumming cooperative. Many of the women in this cooperative were direct victims of the 1994 genocide. Blue Marble, with the help of BPeace, a nonprofit organization that helps prepare women in conflict-affected areas for employment, taught the women in the drumming cooperative management, accounting, business planing, customer service, quality control, and ice cream making.
As a result of Inzozi Nziza, these woman are able to feed, clothe, and provide for their 70+ family members. The ice cream parlor's economic significance is great as they also source from local dairy farmers, coffee bean growers, and beekeepers.
Inzozi Nziza is Rwanda's first ice cream shop. They are looking to be entirely employee-owned in the coming years. They are still looking for solutions to expensive import costs, unpredictable government interventions, and high taxes.
Here is co-founder Alexis Miesen talking about her business:
I think that our discussions these past few weeks have had a lot to do with intention and purpose for a firm. And I think that companies like Blue Marble Ice Cream are working to both combine their purpose of providing great ice cream with the intention of promoting more socially responsible practices. I don't know that we all *need* ice cream (although I think I do!), but the economic opportunities provided by such business ventures are undoubtedly invaluable to growing communities.
Sources:
http://www.bluemarbleicecream.com/
http://www.oprah.com/spirit/Helping-Rwanda-Blue-Marble-Ice-Cream-Jennie-Dundas
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Making-a-difference/Change-Agent/2011/0617/Inzozi-Nziza-a-social-enterprise-in-Rwanda-sells-ice-cream-and-trains-entrepreneurs
Sweet article, Nicole! I think we too often try to look at the "big picture" solutions at the expense of losing sight of all of the "Small wins." The story of Blue Marble and Inzozi Nziza is proof that impact can happen at any scale.
ReplyDeleteNicole, I really like your post and the video brings home a number of things that we have discussed in class - the realization by the founder that corporate entities could be doing more and their enterprise incorporated this vision; that entrepreneurship is about not just a seeing a need, but understanding if it is a true opportunity; and that sometimes the things that seem almost improbable (ice cream in Rwanda?) are still risks to be taken for the potential opportunity and impact it brings to the community.
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