DSM
DSM
Providing nutritious meals in low income communities of Indonesia.
BCTA MEMBERSHIP STATUS
Alumni
SECTOR
Agriculture, Food & Beverage
HEADQUARTERS
Netherlands
REGION OF INITIATIVE
Asia & Pacific
SDG CONTRIBUTION
Some 30,000 children are expected to benefit from nutritious foods in low-income areas of Jakarta from DSM's initiative. The global science-based health and nutrition company has also pledged to establish 10 KeBal cooking centers by 2015, and further educating 20,000 households in Indonesia by 2015.
In Indonesia, an estimated one-third of children under the age of 5, nearly 8 million in total, suffer from the effects of malnutrition. To address malnutrition, DSM has partnered with KeBAL, a Mercy Corps piloted food cart program designed to provide nutritious and high quality food options, while raising community awareness around nutritional issues. The program also plans to create a self-sustaining business model that can be spun off and will create employment opportunities for local Jakartans. Launched in 2009, the KeBal model provides healthy food to street vendors and support to cooking centers in urban neighborhoods, local schools and community organizations.
As part of the project, the central kitchens and cooking facilities offer an easy way to effectively fortify food in large volumes rather than as plate by plate. The food carts also provide a socially innovative way to reach young people with less traditional access to healthy meals. The company has been successful in reaching low-income populations who traditionally do not have access to the educational tools related to early childhood development learning.
With support from other key partners (Rabobank), the KeBAL project, which translates to My Child's Café, has grown from a small nutrition project piloted my Mercy Corps, to a social enterprise with two central cooking centers and 22 carts as part of their franchise business model. The company hopes to develop new products, markets and distribution channels and expand the nutritious meal concept across Indonesia with the expertise of DSM.