Our social entrepreneurship partners
IKEA works with social businesses to create global products that create job opportunities for those who need it most. We also run programmes and make investments that support social entrepreneurs around the world.
We are proud to introduce some of our partners, read on to learn more.
Ahlod/Kawacom White Nile
Location: Africa
Product: Organic coffee
Participants: Involving 28,000 people, 14,500 for IKEA
Initiated by Ugandan coffee company Ahlod/Kawacom, White Nile started out to cultivate high-quality, organic Arabica coffee sold under the name PÅTÅR at IKEA. Part of the project is to improve sourcing practices, farm management, and everyday family life by working closely with farmers and local communities. The project aims to increase women’s independence and opportunities.
Classical Handmade Products
Location: Bangladesh
Product: Home furnishing products from sustainable and natural materials such as jute, banana leaves and recycled fabric waste.
Participants: 3,400 people, 800 for IKEA.
CHP, Classical Handmade Products is a social business that makes sustainable, handwoven home furnishing products. Their factories are in rural areas where work is rare, creating job opportunities for those who need it most.
CHP has decided to focus on hiring and training social groups that traditionally struggle to find work in Bangladesh, such as women and people with different abilities, giving them both social and economic empowerment.
Doi Tung DP
Location: Thailand
Product: Handmade textiles, pottery and paper products Participants: 400+ people, 140 for IKEA
Doi Tung has a mission to ensure that its people are self-reliant without compromising the environment or their own cultural values. They have revived natural forests devastated by opium production and improved healthcare and education. Handicraft is one of the ways to create long term livelihoods for its tribal groups.
Industree Production Transformation
Location: India
Product: Sustainable banana fibre products
Participants: 1 700+ people, 1 100 for IKEA
Website: industree.org.in
Industree has changed the lives of thousands of artisans and their families. All artisans are voting members and make joint decisions about how to invest their profits. Due to the efforts of Indian social enterprise Industree Producer Transform, rural women earn a living through their artisanal skills.
Jordan River Foundation
Location: Jordan
Product: Textile products
Participants: 250+ people, 240 for IKEA
Website: jordanriver.jo
In 2017, IKEA decided to team up with the non-profit organisation Jordan River Foundation (JRF) as a response to the war in Syria. So far, the collaboration has created jobs for around 250 refugee women and local women in Jordan. Through a sustainable income, around 1,200 family members are positively impacted.
Ramesh Flowers
Location: India
Product: Natural fibre products
Participants: 750+ people, 375 for IKEA
Website: rameshflowers.com
Ramesh Flowers works in harmony with nature creating exquisite home and lifestyle products using natural botanicals. Today Ramesh Flowers has grown into a company that proudly employs over 1000 people, 81% of the workers come from local villages where jobs for women are rare.
Rangsutra
Location: India
Product: Handmade embroidery, textile and grass weaving
Participants: 1400 people, 820 for IKEA
Website: yunussb.com
The collaboration with Rangsutra has created livelihoods for 1100 people and has resulted in several IKEA collections and global products. The artisans are mostly female, and the majority are also shareholders in the company, which has a mission to empower women in the rural areas, most whom have never had a job outside of the home before. The artisans come from villages and small towns across the country, including Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Kashmir, and Manipur.
SAITEX
Location: Vietnam
Product: Home furnishing products from sustainable and natural materials such as jute, banana leaves and recycled fabric waste.
Participants: 4,000 people, 150 for IKEA in first phase.
Website: sai-tex.com
Vietnamese denim manufacturer SAITEX integrates environmental and social sustainability, transforming their business from linear to circular.
They have a highly efficient industrialised factory set-up, showing that social businesses do not need to be small or in the handicraft sector – they can be big, high-tech, and profitable while at the same time tackling all aspects of sustainability.
SAITEX provides people often excluded from society and the job market with work, equal pay, dignity and respect. One focus is on people with disabilities and youth from disadvantaged backgrounds. SAITEX has the ambition that these groups will make up more than 20% of the workforce by 2025.
Spun
Location: India Product: Home furnishing products from sustainable and natural materials such as jute, banana leaves and recycled fabric waste. Participants: 2,200 people, 400 for IKEA. Website: welspunindia.com
Spun is a social initiative that empowers women through the production of crafted, sustainably produced textile products from sustainably sourced cotton and fabric waste.
The eight training centres hire and teach women crafts such as embroidery, resulting in employability and handcrafted home furnishing products. The women gain valuable skills that support them to improve their lives and social status, both at home and in the community.
Spun was founded by Welspun Group in India, one of the world’s leading home textiles manufacturers. Their operations and training are run by the registered non-profitable trust Seva Gram.