Regeneration & Resilience Finance & Investment

Now Is the Time to Double Down on Building Resilient Brands

Values-driven finance and investment, fueling enterprises that produce long-term social and environmental benefits, are key to creating a resilient economy.

Brand Provided | By Jasper van Brakel | Published 1 month ago | About a 6 minute read

Image: Diaspora Co.

Uncertainty over tariffs, the regulatory environment and resulting economic shifts have prompted intense anxiety among business leaders and investors. Hopefully, it will also prompt serious questions — even soul-searching. In times like these, it’s essential to ask: What kind of economy do we want?

RSF’s answer is one that prioritizes shared value over extraction, relationships over transactions, and lasting positive impact over short-term gains. We believe a long-term, values-driven approach to finance and investment focused on enterprises that produce durable social and environmental benefits is the key to creating a resilient economy that benefits all stakeholders.

That belief drives our commitment to regenerative finance and our borrowers’ commitment to building regenerative brands. The companies profiled below exemplify an approach designed to revitalize communities and natural resources and promote mutual wellbeing. And they are the reason we see this not as a moment to retreat but as an opportunity to double down on impact.

Fair trade and regenerative food: Lotus Foods and Diaspora

Lotus Foods has proved itself resilient — with the help of flexible financing from the tail end of the Great Recession through the first Trump Administration’s tariffs on China and the COVID-19 pandemic — and capable of scaling both the business and its impact. Since 2009, the certified B Corporation has sold organic, fair trade, non-GMO rice from farmers in Cambodia, Indonesia and Madagascar who pioneered a regenerative agroecological technique that uses 50 percent less water and 90 percent less seed while producing 2-3 times higher yields. Since then, Lotus Foods has been responsible for saving 7.8 billion gallons of water and 73,000 tons of carbon emissions, and raised the living standards of more than 5,000 farm families by paying organic and fair-trade premiums.

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Recently, Lotus Foods teamed up with social entrepreneur Konda Mason to help Black smallholder farmers in the South grow specialty rice using System of Rice Intensification methods, which Lotus Foods calls More Crop Per Drop®. The effort is part of the Jubilee Justice Rice Project — which aims to help participants reclaim their heritage as experienced rice farmers, regenerate their land and reap full value from their labor. They have not yet produced the volume Lotus needs to put Jubilee Justice rice on store shelves — but, as Mason told Civil Eats, “We’re getting there.”

Diaspora Co. similarly seeks to remake an ancient industry. Mumbai native Sana Javeri Kadri founded the company in 2017, determined to undo destructive elements of the commercial spice trade rooted in colonization and grow something better.

The company works to get freshly harvested, heirloom spices to consumers as quickly as possible and with high ethical standards. It sources spices directly from sustainable smallholder farms in India, paying them an average of 3-5 times the commodity price. Diaspora’s aromatic spices typically arrive to consumers within six months of harvest — compared with 2-7 years after harvest for commodity products. RSF’s working capital ensures the company can continue to pay farmers premium prices on time and support regenerative agriculture practices tailored to each region.

Impact-focused CPG companies such as these are well positioned to weather the current economic storm, due to brand attachments based on quality and values. The NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business has found that sustainable products sell at an average 27 percent price premium over conventional products, and that products made without harmful ingredients are a consumer priority. That leaves Diaspora, which tests all its spices for pesticide and other chemical residues, in a strong position to maintain market share.

Clean energy for all: Sunwealth

Clean energy companies typically have a positive environmental impact; those in RSF’s portfolio stand out for making sure everyone benefits. Sunwealth brings solar power to homes, businesses and institutions in lower-income communities and communities of color that the solar industry historically has ignored. The clean energy investment firm takes a community-first approach — partnering with local developers to create jobs; offering documents in multiple languages; and structuring contracts in ways that work for individuals with low credit scores, small businesses without standardized energy-efficiency ratings, and nonprofits providing essential services.

Sunwealth CFO Omar Blayton challenges the conventional “wisdom” that solar power-purchase deals in lower-income communities are inherently risky: “How about you charge them less for their power, and they become less risky and pay you back?” he asks — noting that in its 11-year history, Sunwealth has never experienced a default.

To date, Sunwealth’s projects have generated over 2,000 lifetime job years, $196 million in revenue for local solar developers and installers, and $150 million in lifetime savings for consumers; and prevented more than 1.6 million metric tons of carbon emissions. RSF loans have supported more than 52 Sunwealth solar installations; and with a continuing flow of flexible capital, Sunwealth is targeting $1 billion in new projects by 2029.

Innovation that fights hunger and food waste: Goodr

Goodr’s integrated, holistic approach to solving both a social justice challenge and an environmental problem is a particularly powerful illustration of the regenerative approach. The eight-year-old company leverages intuitive technology and nationwide logistics to reduce waste at the source, get surplus food into the hands of people who need it, and minimize the environmental impact of food production.

On the food waste side, Goodr works with large businesses including Bimbo Bakeries, Emory University and IHG Hotel Group to redirect excess food to people experiencing food insecurity. Food that’s no longer fit for human consumption gets diverted to Goodr’s organics recycling and waste management programs. Meanwhile, the company addresses hunger with a dignity lens — collaborating with nonprofit organizations to provide access to foods that people want and distributing food directly through pop-up markets, mobile stores and semi-permanent grocery stores where people can shop for free.

As of last summer, Goodr had served almost 35 million people. In 2023 alone, it provided 2.2 million meals, prevented 7.8 million pounds of CO2 emissions, diverted 4.6 million pounds of waste from landfills, and facilitated $4.6 million worth of food donations in the communities where it operates.

“My ultimate goal is to inspire others to see that a business can do well by doing good, and to create businesses that solve problems,” founder Jasmine Crowe-Houston told us. “I think we as a country tend to put systemic challenges into a bucket of things that only nonprofits can solve. But our success shows that business can lead the way.”

We share that conviction. And as long-term partners with our borrowers, we plan to support them throughout this period of economic uncertainty with patience and creativity — regardless of how the federal government’s priorities change.

If we all make regeneration our North Star, we can build the economy we want — for ourselves and for future generations.