Ethos Foundation

Partnering with rural Cambodians to increase their incomes through sustainable enterprise, and supporting community initiatives.

Auckland

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Cambodia has made significant progress reducing poverty, but half of Cambodians live on less than US $4.15 per day, one third don't have access to clean water and 22% of under five year old’s are chronically under-nourished.

We're increasing the incomes of rural Cambodian coconut growing families to help them meet their basic needs. Small-holder families typically own around 10-15 coconut trees and for many families selling to our cooperative makes up around 40% of their income, helping pay for priorities like their children's education costs. We also support the fair-wage employment of women who hand-squeeze the coconut oil, and once a month we fund meals for up to 120 local school children.

We have a 15 year long sustainable development track record in Cambodia, including a community chicken-raising social enterprise, but our current focus is sustainably supporting coconut growers through business, some of the poorest farmers in the world. We also support a seagrass mapping project in Southern Cambodia, which helps protect vital marine habitat for endangered sea turtles.

More about us

Ethos Foundation (formally Catalyst Microfranchising) exists to create sustainable social impact in Cambodia & New Zealand. We work in tandem with a Khmer purpose-driven business to ethically source coconuts from small-holder family growers in Cambodia. The coconuts are hand-squeezed to produce artisan fermented coconut oil, creating employment for local women. In NZ our partner Ethos & Co produces premium skincare with the unique coconut oil as the hero ingredient. Together, we support community & conservation initiatives in Cambodia (including children’s lunch programme & seagrass mapping) and we donate skincare products to NZ families with skin conditions & fund ecosystem restoration.