Jasberry is an organic rice brand with very high antioxidants and has world-class standards in both America and Europe. It is a Thai-made rice brand that is famous internationally.
Jasmine Berry, an organic rice brand that originated from Jasmine Berry Co., Ltd., a social enterprise that initiated a new model for Thai farmers with Jasmine Berry rice by choosing to use agricultural innovations, changing the cycle of traditional Thai rice with a new model, pushing Thai rice far into the world market. Currently, there are more than 2,500 farming families participating in the project.
In this episode, we will get to know Jasmine Berry Company Limited and the story of the farming profession, an important profession because they are the backbone of the nation, but they have become one of the poorest professions. We will understand the methods and business models that will help Thai farmers escape the poverty trap from an interview with Ms. Palmy Pornthida Wongpattarakul, the company’s co-founder.
The beginning of Jasberry Co., Ltd.
Palmy said that she started working in finance, but when she started working, she didn’t like it. Even though it was a job that helped people who already had money to have more money, after doing it for a while, she started to question her career goals. The longer she worked, the more she disliked herself. After studying for her MBA and almost graduating, it was time to find another job. Palmy tried to look for a job that paid better than the finance job she used to do, but it turned out that there weren’t any, and she didn’t want to go back to her old finance job. So she started looking for new jobs in other fields.
“Why are Thai farmers poor?”
At that time, Palmy was invited by her friend to work in business planning. She tried to find information and study continuously until she had a question about the poverty of Thai farmers. If we were people who lived and worked in Bangkok, we would never have wondered about this kind of thing. Everyone always tells us that we should respect and feel grateful to farmers, and honor their profession a lot. But why did they become the poorest profession in Thailand? This issue was what sparked Palmy to start studying seriously to find methods and answers.
“Factors of poverty that farmers cannot escape from on their own”
It was found that there were many factors that made the farming profession the poorest profession, and they themselves could not escape from those factors at all, such as the problem of debt from borrowing to plant and take care of rice, being pressured by middlemen, relying too much on government policies, and others. Ms. Palmy therefore began to think of a business model to see if it was possible to find innovations to help farmers in the Northeast, which is the poorest region in the country. After that, Ms. Palmy went to the area to interview farmers, promote organic farming, provide new rice strains to promote them, improve rice prices, create markets that provide good rice prices. Importantly, it took farmers out of government policies that were constantly changing and uncertain, so that they no longer had to rely on the government.
“What is a social enterprise for Jasberry?”
Ms. Palmy explained that social business or social enterprise for Jasmine Company Limited is a business seeking profit like other businesses. However, the purpose of the company that was intentionally established is to create benefits for society or help solve social problems while still conducting business. As the company grows, it solves more and more social problems while making good profits.
“The difficulty of getting started”
In the case of Jasberry Co., Ltd., gaining farmers’ trust was very difficult, said Palmy, especially when starting with the first group of farmers. It took a lot of effort for them to agree to join because in the past, they had received hopes but no real help many times. As a result, Palmy had to talk to many groups of farmers, communicate directly with each farmer, and explain the project to them. In the first year, less than 100 farmers joined. But after a year, the results began to be tangible. The farmer groups started telling each other about it. Since then, Jasberry has been accepted and trusted by farmers even more.
Jasberry working model
Jasberry has been involved since the rice seed selection process. In the first year, seeds were brought to farmers for selection. In later years, farmers were taught to do it themselves. Farmers who grew seeds were screened for distribution within the network. It was determined that if rice was to be grown for Jasberry, it had to be transplanted. There would be no broadcasting of rice. All rice must be organic according to international standards. Farmers were trained so that they could practice according to the standards.
There is also assistance in providing farmers with finance in the form of a loan project because most farmers are already in debt to the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, making them unable to borrow anywhere else except for outside the system. Jasberry brings in foreign finance to lend without having to guarantee, no need to mortgage the land, and very low interest. It is an alternative for them to have additional sources of funds and to purchase all the produce to process and market the produce for export abroad.
Contract Farming
Palmy said that some people call this type of business Contract Farming, which is not wrong. But what Jasberry does is more than just contract farming. If it is a contract like a large company or a general one, there will be a requirement to buy seeds and fertilizers from the company and there will be a price set for the company to buy the produce. But for Jasberry, it is a contract that gives seeds and freedom to choose fertilizers. You can get them from Jasberry or buy them yourself or make them yourself. But please use organic fertilizers from people in the group who have received proper certification.
“Grouping farmers to create the most beneficial exchange”
Ms. Palmy said that normally, farmers are a profession that does not involve or talk much. However, Jasberry will join together farmers to draw out the knowledge, abilities, and skills of each farmer to maximize their benefits. They will exchange knowledge, share experiences, or trade agricultural products among themselves. For example, farmers who raise cows will be able to sell organic fertilizer to people in the group at a low price because cow dung can be used to make organic fertilizer, which reduces the cost of making organic fertilizer.
How is Jasmine rice different from regular rice?
Jasberry has control from the beginning such as rice seed selection to the harvesting process to ensure good and consistent quality. It is distributed under the Jasberry brand only. 98% is sold for export. Thai people do not know much about it. Although in the beginning, it was sold domestically because the production volume was small, but it could not compete with other rice brands in Thailand because Jasberry Company guarantees the price with farmers. If they have to sell at a lower price to compete with the market price, farmers will be able to sell their rice at a lower price than before. This makes them unable to survive and cannot open their mouths and escape the poverty trap in the end.
“Thai people are not willing to pay more for better quality rice.”
Consumers in Thailand may not be interested in the quality of rice, such as jasmine rice, white rice, organic jasmine rice, or organic white rice. Thais see white rice as white rice and do not see any special grades. Therefore, they may not be ready to pay for different quality. For this reason, Jasberry began to look for markets that emphasized product quality and the quality of life of the growers. This type of market is located abroad. Therefore, the focus of selling products is on the international market in order to be able to control the quality of both the rice and the lives of the growers, and to meet consumers who truly see the value of these things.
How are jasmine berries changing farmers’ lives?
Jasberry will have an organization that will measure the social results, and the results are that farmers who join the Jasberry project have 14 times more income than other farmers and have a better quality of life. Ms. Palmy said that from working here for 10 years, it is very clear that in the first few years, most of the farmers’ children will go to the city to work in factories. But when working here for the 4th and 5th years, she will see that the farmers’ children are more interested in returning to being farmers and joining the Jasberry project because they see the higher income and better quality of life. And more than the money used to measure, it is the quality of life and their happiness that they have their children back to live with them. The children all return to being farmers and continue this career like their parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents.
Participation as a Jasberry Farmer
Ms. Palmy said that the company is still accepting. Today, farmers will be accepted as areas. In order to participate, many factors are required, such as the organic certification, which must be certified as a group, which is quite expensive. Therefore, Jasberry accepts farmers as areas. For example, if interested in joining, the entire village or community must join. Everyone in the area must cooperate in organic farming. There are no chemicals in that area at all, etc.
Conclusion
From the days when it was just a business plan to the days when more than 2,500 farmer families joined, Palmy said that doing business for society, first of all, you have to know what the problem is. At first, Palmy didn’t really understand these social problems. She didn’t understand why farmers were still so poor. They weren’t lazy. They worked. They saved money. And they were poor by choice. But when she tried to experience it, she truly understood the problem. Solving problems requires creative methods of implementation. Therefore, solving social problems in many contexts requires different creative methods. It requires understanding that you can’t just go in and change things. Everyone has their own way of life. Everything has to be gradual in order for there to be sustainable changes moving forward together.
“To change someone’s way of life for the better, we need to make a long-term commitment.”
Thai farmers, why aren’t they rich? | The Practical Sustainability “Friend” Enterprise Society
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Contact channels
Tel: +66-2-691-2370
Email: info@jasberry.net
Website: https://www.jasberry.net
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/siamorganic
Supported by the Office of Social Enterprise Promotion (OSEP)
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