World Economic Forum Visits Human Nature!

The World Economic Forum visits Human Nature's Flagship Store!

The World Economic Forum visits Human Nature's Flagship Store!

It was a great privilege for all of us at Human Nature to open our Flagship Store doors and welcome the social entrepreneurs’ community of the 23rd World Economic Forum (WEF) on East Asia last May 21, 2014. As it is the first time for the Philippines to host the WEF on East Asia, Human Nature was fortunate enough to be the only store and social enterprise visit in the delegates’ series of WEF meetings and conferences.

The World Economic Forum delegates at Human Nature's Flagship Store

World Economic Forum delegates from Switzerland, India, Cambodia, and Bangladesh gathered together to feast on an organic and sustainably made banquet: sausages by Hamlet, cheeses and carabao milk by Gourmet Keso, Purple Passion ube jam by the Enchanted Farm, peanut spread by First Harvest, barbecued chicken by the Enchanted Farm Cafe, coffee by Kape Maria and Cafe de Sug, and iced tea by Bayani Brew - all made with love by the Enchanted Farm’s finest social enterprises.

Filipino social entrepreneurs and awardees of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship were also part of the contingent. Among them were Senator Bam Aquino, current chair of the Senate Committee on Trade, Commerce, and Entrepreneurship and the Senate Committee on Youth; Jaime Ayala, Founder and CEO of Hybrid Social Solutions Inc. (HSSi), Philippines; Mark Ruiz, President of the small stores micro-finance program Hapinoy; Tony Meloto, Founder of Gawad Kalinga, a foundation that aims to end poverty for 5 million Filipino families by 2024; and Reese Fernandez-Ruiz, President of Rags2Riches, a high-end Filipino fashion brand that serves as a sustainable livelihood platform for poor communities.

Human Nature president and co-founder Anna Meloto-Wilk shares Human Nature's story with WEF delegates

The morning’s speaker and Human Nature’s president and co-founder, Anna Meloto-Wilk, shared the story of Human Nature’s humble beginnings and its resolute commitment to caring for the poor, the environment, and the Philippines.

“We sought to make natural personal care products that are accessible, affordable, and reachable – while addressing the needs of the poor,” Anna shared. “We strive to optimize rather than maximize profit, we go beyond what makes the best business sense and focus on what is best for the Philippines and the poor.”

As an organization, Human Nature challenges traditional business practices in the Philippines, enforcing a no-firing policy among its regular employees and offering a basic minimum wage of 61% higher than the legal minimum wage. “Our goal is to pay double the minimum wage by year-end,” she added.

Human Nature Store Specialists with Senator and social entrepreneurship advocate Bam Aquino

Unlike other business models and beauty brands, Human Nature works closely with its partner farming communities to develop their skills and capabilities, increase the quality of their produce, and create a market for the products that their ingredients are used for – one success story being Human Nature’s citronella farms and bestselling Bug Shield Oil and Lotion.

“Much of what we need for beauty products – soybean oil, passionfruit seed oil, sunflower oil, elemi oil – these can be grown in the Philippines,” Anna explained. “We invest in farming communities, helping them master the technology, so we can eventually source all of these materials locally.”

For as long as non-inclusiveness persists as the dominant business model, the key to real, sustainable progress will remain to be courage, innovation, and love – for the poor and for our country. “What businesses can do is look at the thresholds: What is keeping the poor, poor? And then cross it,” Anna dares.

“True progress is where nobody gets left behind,” she smiles.

The World Economic Forum is an International Institution committed to improving the state of the world through public-private cooperation. The 23rd World Economic Forum on East Asia will be held in Metro Manila, Philippines on May 21-23, 2014. For more information and updates, follow the official WEF Twitter account and #WEF.