ONE Beverages Making Money by Doing Good

A beverage company that holds the No. 1 spot in its category of drinks was founded on the principle that by doing good, one can make money.

Founder and CEO Rodrigo Veloso says he is among a new generation of business practising conscious capitalism, which sees business as serving a higher purpose than making profit.  

In the case of ONE World Enterprises, founded in 2005, that was to turn a nutritious waste into a healthy beverage.

The Brazilian native says he witnessed first-hand how the super fruits of his country were being wasted by suppliers and producers who only used a portion of the fruit.

For example, coconut water, the original ONE product,  was being discarded in favour of the milk, meat and fibre. The coffee bean — with coffee being the second most traded commodity in the world after petroleum — was discarded. The same was true for the fruit of the cashew nut and acai berries.

This led Veloso to create ONE which produces four juice beverages that are all natural and said to provide superior hydration and a healthy alternative to other energy drinks on the market.

Through the business, Veloso says he is enhancing value to all of the company’s stakeholders, a key tenet of conscious capitalism. Farmers are able to make more money by selling the fruit in its entirety , the company has access to abundant raw materials at an affordable price, investors are making a profit and consumers are drinking a healthy beverage.

“The stakeholder model is the core of the ONE company and if there is something that we struggle with, it’s how to generate value to all of the stakeholders in our company and throughout the supply chain,” says Veloso.

This has meant at times to take the road less travelled. Veloso says they choose to package their drinks in tetra-tech packaging even though it’s not a popular, or common method in North America.

“We chose it because it has the minimum environmental impact and is considered to be one of the most sustainable beverage containers in existence,” he says.

Through his own application of a conscious and successful business model, Veloso says he hopes to inspire more companies and consumers to join a movement that sees business as a force of good in the world.

“It’s just a wonderful, powerful and beautiful thing to have a win-win situation within our whole supply chain,” says Veloso.

-- More to come

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