Help me rebuild Coco Khmer

Coco Khmer started as a socially responsible company producing virgin coconut oil and natural skincare products and grew into something so much more. Two years of Covid has almost put an end to an incredible 8.5 year journey - but with your help, I am hoping to rebuild, rehire my incredible team, and keep bringing natural, effective, and affordable products to the world.

 

In 2013, after living in Cambodia for 1 year on a trip that was supposed to last 6 months, I started a small social enterprise that aimed to provide jobs, training, and eventually social and financial independence to socially disadvantaged Cambodian women. It was not only my way of giving back to a country that was so warm and friendly to me, but it also built upon my belief that business can still be profitable while raising up its employees, caring about its customers’ well-being, and helping to protect the planet we all share. With a $2,500 investment and a small team of dedicated women who had previously never made more than $2/day nor had a job longer than 3 months, we boot-strapped Coco Khmer, Cambodia’s first commercial producer of virgin coconut oil and 100% natural skincare products. Over the next 5 years, with a lot of hard work and the dedication of my amazing team, we achieved the following results:

- grew from 6 to 34 staff,

- increased sales to over $600,000/year and turned a profit,

- maintained close to a 100% employee retention rate,

- taught Cambodian literacy to our team,

- offered English classes to those who were interested,

- covered 100% of medical expenses and emergency expenses, including maternity costs

- paid for the education of some of our staff’s children,

- offered a shared-expenses appliance program, where we purchased home appliances such as a washing machine or refrigerator for team members to reduce their burden and improve the quality of life in their homes.

Our team went from downtrodden to proud, and it was beautiful to see them come to work happy and healthy. They pulled themselves out of an unfortunate situation that was beyond their control and grew to stand tall and in charge of their own future. There was no greater feeling of pride I have ever felt than seeing that.

In the beginning of 2020, we had gained international interest for distribution and were just 1 month away from our first international launch event in Singapore - but then Covid hit like a punch in the face. Within 2 months, sales dropped by 90%. No one thought Covid would be as brutal as it has been, so I did my best to hold on and keep all our employees. Slowly, I watched everything we had built fall apart. The saddest day of my life was the day I had to cut my team at a time when work prospects were non-existent, but that wasn’t the end. Next, I had to vacate my facility because I couldn’t pay rent. I fell into a deep state of depression. I was helpless on a stormy sea, with my business, savings, and 8.5 years of hard work swept away. The thought of my team, their families, and the impact we had is what kept me motivated. I couldn’t quit and I couldn’t fail them without fighting to the end, so with what little energy I could gather, I made a plan to revive the business. I spent time researching and formulating new products, meeting with people, and thinking about how I could rebuild. That hard work, my inability to let go, and the love from good, patient people around me, allowed me to pull myself out of my depression and gave me the strength I now have to make my plan a reality.

I want to build on Coco Khmer’s reputation as a producer of effective and affordable natural products that people can trust. Coco Khmer started as a company producing virgin coconut oil and natural skincare products, but now it can become something so much more with the growth of our all-natural, coconut-based, Personal Care line and the addition of our all-natural Home Essentials & Green Cleaning line.

To make this happen, I am hoping to raise $6,000 to buy materials, cover some wages, and have a couple of months of operational expenses so we can produce, market, and sell enough product to become sustainable again. Since 2013, we have been helping improve lives and build communities for disadvantaged women. Covid took that from us, but with your help we can bring it back stronger than ever - to create a company that goes against the culture of greed by proving that you can make healthy, natural, effective, and affordable products, invest in your employees, protect the planet and still make a profit.

More details will follow in future posts but for now, thank you for taking the time to read our story.

Love you all.