Suthat Ronglong, Founder & CEO of Do in Thai Co. Ltd. opened his session with a heartfelt question: “as my life is not sustainable, I have a chance to ask… what is a sustainable life?”
Born prematurely due to the presence of heavy metals in his body, Ronglong and his doctors continued to face questions about his health and life. That uncertainty about life led him to search for ways to help others live and do business in a more sustainable manner. In doing so, he changed his community and country.
Speaking about the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP), Ronglong explained the three pillars of “Moderation, Risk Management and Reasonableness”. In his quest to find a way for more people in his country to incorporate this philosophy into their lives, he created Foodwizdom, a food sustainability platform.
While large companies might have their own sustainability departments to carry out audits on their sustainability indicators, small scale farmers had few resources and incentives to do so. By tracking indicators such as cost of production, waste management, water usage, or “Key Behavior Indicators” as Ronglong called them, Foodwizdom made the information available to them in a way that was easy for them to understand and thus further act on. Foodwizdom has also enabled the farmers to create their own brand identity, carry out online marketing, obtain customer feedback and conduct e-commerce.
Ending the session, Ronglong circled back on his first question, providing a response, but not an answer. He said, “as life is in no way sustainable, I therefore have created something that is going to last longer than my life.”
Regina Oon, SB Barcelona 2016 Volunteer, IESE Business School