Business ideas that make the world a better place

Conflictfood – using trade to leverage change 

Conflictfood is in quite a traditional line of business. The Berlin startup sells food, spices and teas. What makes it unique is that the products it sells come from regions affected by conflicts and crises. Salem El-Mogaddedi and Gernot Würtenberger set up their business in 2016 as a way of directly selling fairly traded coffee, tea and ginger from Myanmar, saffron from Afghanistan, freekeh (roasted green wheat) from the Palestinian territories, pepper from Cambodia, and tea from Ukraine. Conflictfood aims to help their suppliers become economically independent by opening up new markets for their products. 

Teachsurfing – learning on the go 

People often take a lot with them on their travels. But alongside everyday items, they also take valuable knowledge with them. Sharing this knowledge with people all around the world is the idea that inspired Teachsurfing. The Hamburg startup was founded in 2015 by Gretta Hohl and Miganoush Magarian. Their service is built on a platform which allows knowledge providers (or “teachsurfers”, as they are known - and potential learners around to register. Teachsurfers run free workshops and seminars in educational settings or non-profits wherever they are. For the teachsurfers, the benefit is that they get to meet people in the country they are visiting in their day-to-day lives, while travelling to places which are often off the beaten track for tourists.  

Share – do good while you shop 

The principle behind Share sounds simple but it can do a lot every day. Every one of the more than 100 products in Share’s range includes a donation to support social projects around the world. Share’s range includes foods, drinks and hygiene products. The startup from Berlin was set up in 2017 by Sebastian Stricker, Ben Unterkofler, Tobias Reiner and Iris Braun. Share works with partners such as the World Food Program, Welthungerhilfe, Caritas, Save the Children, and Aktion gegen den Hunger.