We first heard of the concept of Impact Investment when Joji Pantoja (CEO, Coffee For Peace) participated at the a Regional Forum on the topic “Investing in Inclusive Business in Asia”, on November 28-29, 2012, Asian Development Bank Center, MetroManila, Republic of the Philippines. Photo by Joji Pantoja.
Imagine.
Coffee For Peace Canada. A group of Canadian investors who see life and reality from the lenses of Peace Theology and are committed to help build justice and peace among coffee farming communities around the world.
These are women and men who are convinced to invest in companies like Coffee For Peace that aims to generate specific beneficial social or environmental effects in addition to financial gain. They are involved in Impact Investments.
IMPACT INVESTMENTS
Impact Investments are investments made into companies, organizations, and funds with the intention to generate social and environmental impact alongside a financial return. Impact investments can be made in both emerging and developed markets, and target a range of returns from below market to market rate, depending upon the circumstances.
The growing impact investment market provides capital to address the world’s most pressing challenges in sectors such as sustainable agriculture, clean technology, microfinance, and affordable and accessible basic services including housing, healthcare, and education.
(Global Impact Investing Network)
Imagine again. A Coffee For Peace bistro somewhere between a university campus and a business complex in one of the most economically dynamic and populous place in Canada. It’s attached to another building where customers sipping their cup of Coffee For Peace look through a glass wall through which they see the green beans being poured into a roasting machine, packaged, and then loaded to vehicles to be distributed to various coffee outlets, churches, beverage shops, offices, community centers, and restaurants throughout the region.
Imagine further. Coffee For Peace Canada can be the hub of an international operation where investments can be directed to countries like Colombia, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia. These are some of the countries where coffee grows and where communities committed to Peace Theology are present.
Because socially and environmentally responsible practices tend to attract impact investors, companies like Coffee For Peace can financially benefit from committing to socially responsible practices, and investors also tend to profit. A 2013 study by Global Impact Investment Network found that over 90% of impact investors reported that their investments were meeting or surpassing their projections.
Impact investing appeals largely to younger generations, such as millennials, who want to give back to society, so this trend is likely to expand as these investors gain more influence in the market. By impact investing, individuals or entities essentially state that they support the message and the mission of Coffee For Peace, and they have a stake in CFP’s welfare. As more people realize the social and financial benefits of impact investing, more companies will engage in social responsibility.
Coffee For Peace is an inclusive development project of PeaceBuilders Community. CFP is now separately registered as a business corporation with the Securities and Exchange Commission of the Philippines.
A group of Canadians who have been involved in business is now in the process of forming a Canadian corporation called Coffee For Peace Canada. Their vision is to set-up a business company as a hub for Impact Investment to provide capital to CFP’s social business operations.
