50 years of ethical trade

Since 1967, Sambu Group has focused on sustainable coconut farming and ethical trading which benefits the local farmers it works with. The company’s goal is to build a self-sufficient and environmentally friendly ecological system. The growth of Sambu Group, in its own words, means the growth of its community of Indonesian farmers.

Welcoming the age of transparency and conscious consumerism, Vice-President Director Tay Enoku says “we have actually been doing this for a long time, even before this concept emerged. For us it’s not so much always about the profit, but about how we can best sustain the coconut farmers in the long term.” Born from difficult circumstances, the land where a community of several hundred thousand now live is inaccessible by land. Its swamps, abounding in marine mud and clay, provide a saline environment which is ideal for coconut palms.

“To not only focus on short term economic benefit, but on developing a long term growth model, is what differentiates us from others.” This ethos, devised by his grandfather and father before him, has been proven right. Equipped with the infrastructure of medium-sized towns, even offering the brightest students scholarships at foreign universities, the communities are thriving.

Enoku concludes by reaffirming his company’s founding principles: “This model is a highly social one and can only work if we keep it that way.”