Melina Taprantzi, Founder of Wise Greece on circular food innovation to scale impact from individuals to ecosystem

“We always provide food supplies that we would give to our children”

In 2013, in the depths of the financial crisis, when Melina Taprantzi visited a regional social grocery supplying food for the unemployed, the only thing that was available on the shelves was razor blades.

This stark reality was a turning point for Melina, who has since focussed her energies on building Wise Greece into a uniquely circular Social Enterprise that now supports over 100 small Greek farmers and food producers to grow and export 2500 food products - including award winning innovations such as salads in a jar and mushroom flavoured sweets!

Profits are used to buy food from the same producers to supply soup kitchens and charitable institutions across Greece, with over 180 tons of food donated to support over half a million people in need so far.

Have a listen to Melina’s incredible story in our latest podcast, with insights including:

How to design social enterprise business model generating positive compound Impacts from indivuduals to ecosystem

Equality lessons learned from over 20 years of being a woman on the workplace

Why being overreactive to natural disasters can have limited or even negative Impact

Tips for start-ups: Why having a brilliant idea is not enough; and how to genuinely bootstrap with limited funding

Investment opportunities across the Greek education, tourism, food, services sectors

Why social enterprises are part of the real economy

Why a career in impact is about enjoying the grind and celebrating every small win

Why being adaptable is the core skill that students (and all of us!) need to develop

And more - including how to send the finest herbs via postcard....!

www.wisegreece.com

World Bank SDGs and Her

“When I stepped into my career I stepped in as a ‘man’. After 10 or 20 years you get to discover your female side more.”

#food #foodinnovation #compoundimpact #equality #socialenterprise #womenintheworkplace #socialgood #circularimpact

Investing for Purpose

Impact Frontiers

https://impactfrontiers.org/norms/five-dimensions-of-impact/

OECD wellbeing Index

https://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/

UN SDGs

https://sdgs.un.org/goals

Social Value International

https://www.socialvalueint.org/

Impact Europe

https://www.impacteurope.net/

Global Impact Investing Network

https://thegiin.org/

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