Our Philosophy
When Mr Sinouk decided to come back to Laos and start a new adventure, he based his motivations and philosophy based on 3 criterias :
- Starting a business in Southern Laos, his home region,
- Creating a social impact through the creation of jobs for rural communities creating alternative and sustainable revenues,
- Developing a product or exploit commodities that would have an export potential.
Those motivations summarize pretty much the mindset and philosophy of the founder, that today flows in the company’s DNA. Here at Sinouk Coffee, we aim at creating a positive impact on communities, and set up favorable environment of collaboration for our employees, suppliers and partners. Here are a few examples of initiatives we have implemented.
EDUCATION
Education is the cornerstone of a country’s development. Sinouk Coffee supports the school fees for our plantation farmers’ children in Thateng Village and continuously supports schools in Sekong Province with donations.
We also facilitate work schedule for our office staff to enable them to pursue their studies while they are working with us, or needing to take care of their families. In 2018, we signed a MOU with the Lao German Technical college to host students and provide them opportunities to practice their skills within our company while they pursue their studies.
SOCIAL IMPACT
At the beginning of his coffee journey, one of the most important point for Sinouk was to be able to create employment in Southern Laos. He successfully managed to do so with the development of the coffee plantation coffee plantation.
Later in 2010, when Sinouk started the construction of Sinouk Coffee Resort, he had the long term view to develop Coffee Tourism, by highlighting the Bolaven Plateau to be a Coffee tourism destination. In this way, he managed to create more economic dynamism in the region and more skilled staff for tourism development. Today, the Bolaven Plateau is one of the main attraction of Southern Laos and Sinouk Coffee plays a major role in the Bolaven Plateau tourism
In 2019, the company signed a MOU with UNFPA- the United Nation Fund for Population Assistance, to be a partner in the implementation of work and activities focusing on respecting, protecting and promoting rights of young girls and adolescents in Laos.
DIVERSITY, INCLUSIVITY AND WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
In our company, we welcome any individual who is willing to learn, be part of a team, and contribute to the success of our operations. We recruit on potential, rather than academics. The aim is to give chance and opportunities to the most motivated to show their full potential. We also warmly welcome individuals with disabilities and create suitable place for them.
Also, we are an important protagonist in the gender equality. Indeed, by employing more women than men employees, we are seeking to continuously promote women empowerment. In the company, we strongly insist on equal opportunities for both women and men to access management position and responsibilities. We accompany them in their path to become leaders, and give them room to grow in a favorable environment, at their pace. We are employing more women than men staff.
Finally, for pregnant women and young mothers, we accommodate their schedules and work place for their best convenience. Sirina, Director of the company and Sinouk’s daughter, believes in Women Empowerment and Human Capital development as key drivers and philosophy for the development of the company. Thus there is a constant focus on capacity building of the young Lao generation, knowledge sharing and diversity. This is a strong development direction for the company over the next few years. By relentlessly driving Sinouk Coffee and Lao coffee industry to excellence and introducing products and services innovation, Sirina won the “Woman Entrepreneur of the Year” awarded in 2017 by the ASEAN Business Awards Advisory Council (ASEAN BAC).
ETHICAL SUPPLY
We like to direct trade with farmers in order to know where the beans come from and see the positive impact we are creating for these families.
Additionally, we also connect Farmers and processing entities to buyers from the entire world ensuring they receive a fair price.
We like to direct trade with farmers in order to know where the organic premium beans come from and see the positive impact we are creating for these families.
Our Processing and coffee method follow the strict organic IFOAM requirements:
- Health: No use of chemical fertilizers or pesticides.
- Ecology: Respect cycles and ecological balances in nature. Reuse, recycle materials to improve environmental quality.
- Fairness: Equity and respect to all parties from farmers and workers to consumers
- Care: Protect the health and well-being of current and future generations and the environment