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NexThought Monday – Solving the Energy Access Problem: In-house distribution + in-house product design
Patrick Walsh founded Greenlight Planet to offer rural, low-income families a clean, affordable, and safe alternative to traditional kerosene lamps. But he and his team quickly discovered that producing a great product got them only halfway home. Walsh says bringing Greenlight’s distribution chain in house, along with its product design, has made all the difference for the for-profit firm.
- Categories
- Energy
- Tags
- distribution, solar, supply chains
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Checking Out Solar at the ‘Light Library’: SunnyMoney designed a distribution model allowing customers to test products before buying
Over the years SunnyMoney, SolarAid’s social enterprise and one of the largest sellers of solar lights in Africa has been inundated with requests to use and test the lights to help build trust and demand without undermining a sustainable market. In response SunnyMoney designed the Light Library, a distribution model that gives would-be customers that opportunity.
- Tags
- distribution, research, solar
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Life Without Cola: ColaLife founder Berry says anti-diarrhea effort didn’t need Coca-Cola’s distribution system, after all
For 20 years, Simon Berry dreamed of including life-saving anti-diarrhea medicine in Coca-Cola crates. After the dream came true with ColaLife, however, he discovered that the piggyback method was actually a constraint; people were buying more anti-diarrhea kits than Coke.
- Categories
- Health Care
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Remote Control: Three Innovative Solutions to Healthcare Distribution in Rural Areas
To ensure health products retain their quality means the entire supply chain – from storage conditions to distribution channels – must be considered. But distribution costs of health products and their associated service provisions in particular are one component of healthcare supply chains that’s often under-considered and therefore ineffectively budgeted. However, this is a new area of focus for many social enterprises that are looking to bridge the logistical gap.
- Categories
- Health Care
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Awakening a ’Sleeping Giant,’ Microfranchise as a Distribution Platform
Hapinoy is an example of a conversion franchising model that attracts existing, independently-owned businesses to a standardized network. The company negotiates bulk product purchases via supplier contracts with Nestle and Unilever, among others. Products are purchased in bulk and distributed via ’Hapidelivery’ to a network of community stores.
- Categories
- Environment
- Tags
- distribution
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To Give or Not to Give: Academics Study Bednet Distribution
On Wednesday, I attended a presentation by Jessica Cohen on her doctoral research experiment (co-authored with Pascaline Dupas) about distribution schemes for anti-malarial long-lasting bednets. The randomized experiment, conducted in rural, western Kenya, aimed to test the difference between...
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Tags
- distribution