East Bali Cashews: Empowering East Balinese women and farmers one cashew at a time

Nadia Putri - University of Michigan Ross School of Business

In 2012, Aaron Fishman travelled to rural East Bali as a healthcare volunteer and was amazed by the beauty of this region. But, he soon discovered that behind the beauty, East Bali is an impoverished region of farmers. 98% of people who live in Desa Ban (Ban Village), Karangasem Region, East Bali are cashew farmers. Farmers sold raw cashews to traders who shipped them overseas for processing. Aaron saw an opportunity to create a sustainable economic solution for these farmers and their families through agriculture and food processing. That’s how East Bali Cashews (EBC) was born in Desa Ban. Now, EBC employs more than 400 people with the majority being women from local area.

Factory employee carries a bucket of cashews to the splitting machine

The company has touched many lives of people in Desa Ban, as beautifully expressed by Ibu Lasmi, “I’m only a high school graduate, yet, the company believes in me and my potential. Never would I have imagined moving up from a daily worker to managing more than 50 workers myself.”

 

Nadia Putri - Ross School of Business

In addition, not only focusing on its social impact, EBC also puts high importance on its product quality. Boasting a wide variety of unique ingredients from East Bali, the company is aiming to deliver tropical indulgence from Desa Ban to consumers worldwide.

This summer, I’m honored to be chosen as one of WDI Global Impact Fellows to work at EBC as a business development intern. As a rapidly growing social enterprise, one person at this company wears many hats and so do I. My role in the company is divided into two: while I’m at Desa Ban factory, I’ll be working on quality improvement projects and also summarizing the company’s impact on women employees. In comparison, while I’m at Bali/Jakarta office, I’ll be looking into US market entry strategy. I'm very excited to be back in home country, working at a company that delivers real social impact to the community.

My first couple of weeks at EBC factory has been quite eventful. While in Desa Ban, I’m staying at EBC’s campsite (called East Bali Immersion) where I get to sleep in a tipi. As a city girl myself, it’s an amazing feeling to wake up to rooster crows, sleep to cricket’s sound, and shower under the open sky.

My bed and belongings inside East Bali Immersion's tipi

At the factory, everyone is very welcoming and open to share their stories. It’s especially humbling to see such high curiosity and willingness to learn from the factory employees. This serves as my daily reminder that situation you grew up or lived in does not define who you could be. More stories to come!