SIAM ORGANIC
Siam Organic works to alleviate poverty among farmers in Thailand by bringing delicious, healthy and innovative products, including organic Jasberry rice, to global consumers. Siam Organic works with farmers from the north-eastern part of Thailand to reduce farming input costs, increase yield and guarantee purchase price, making rice farming a sustainable occupation.

Find out more about Siam Organic at jaspberry.net.

The Story

 PictureCo-founders of Siam Organic
The co-founders, Peetachai Dejkraisak and Pornthida Wongphatharakul, met in their MBA class. They were both troubled by the persistence of poverty among 17 million Thai farmers and failing government schemes for rice farming. Upon graduation, they started to look deeper into the problem and designed a sustainable and scalable business model that could alleviate the problem.

The business model includes providing pure organic rice seeds, organic fertilisers and farming inputs, training farmers on organic farming, exchanging best practices among the farmers, micro-financing and offering a guaranteed market by purchasing all outputs.
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Besides earning higher income from their produce, farmers also benefit from lowered production costs and increased yields. In addition, farmers are trained to grow certified organic Jasberry rice under international standards, ensuring that their products are of the safest and best quality.
"Established with the vision that economic value can be competitively established by creating societal value, our company aims to positively impact the lives of farmers."- Mission statement of Siam Organic
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Healthy wrap made with Jasberry rice

The Impact
Siam Organic is currently working with over 1,000 small-scale farmers who are achieving 14 times higher incomes compared to an average Thai rice farmer; the farmer's’ daily income has risen from USD 0.40 to USD 6. Besides the increase in their income, health conditions of farmers and their families have improved, thanks to the nutritious Jasberry rice that they grow.
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In recognition of its great social impact, Siam Organic recently beat more than 80 startups to come in first place at the US President Barack Obama’s 2016 Global Entrepreneurship Summit ‘Spark the Fire’ pitch competition in Silicon Valley. They were also the winners of the National University of Singapore DBS Challenge, where they competed against 600 applicants.