We need you on our team!
Harmoneat is a social business based in Yangon, Myanmar. We are a food truck and cooking school. Our aim is simple. To bring communities together. Through food.
AUD 28,300 will enable us to begin operations by renting out a kitchen, hiring our team and purchasing essential supplies and equipment.
But AUD 56,580 will help us buy the all-important truck, and will enable us to begin our transformative work immediately!
What will your support help us do?
Simple, really. Your support will help us buy a truck! Along the way, your generous contribution will enable us to rent out a prep kitchen, hire our winning team and buy supplies and equipment.
Once we get off the ground, with your help, Harmoneat will operate a social business - meaning we'll invest all profits back into our business. We hope that in twelve months time, with your support, we'll be fully sustainable.
Why a food truck?
Myanmar (formerly Burma), is a country of around 60 million people geographically sandwhiched between China, Thailand and India. It is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world with 135 officially recognised ethnic groups and many more unrecognised.
Having just emerged from 60 years of military rule and decades of civil war, trust between communities is extremely low. Fractures between ethnic and religious groups threaten the nation's fragile peace, hinder development and keep people in poverty.
Harmoneat believes in conflict transformation. That is, we understand that conflict is perpetuated by individual actions, perceptions and behaviours. We think that food offers a non-confrontational way to challenge individual perceptions and begin to build
new trust between different communities.
Our plan is to use food to celebrate Myanmar's ethnic diversity. The food truck will serve one dish per day - the recipes will be derived from communities all across the country. Noodles from the Eastern Shan state one day. Seafood salad from the West's
Rakhine State the next. Each dish sold will come with some information about the recipe, a bit about the community from which it has been derived, and recipe card too. It's a subtle message. But one we hope, over time, will begin to establish positive associations
with diversity and promote the message that, together, communities in Myanmar can tackle the big societal issues.
The truck will become a moving beacon of trust, tolerance and collaboration.
But our conflict transformation approach won't stop there. In addition to our food, we'll be building communities through:
- Our team, who will be an example of inter-ethnic, interfaith co-operation
- Promoting positive discussion about diversity, at the truck but also online through our social media sites and at special events
- Our cooking classes, that we run to educate visitors about Myanmar's cultural diversity
- Our partnerships, with suppliers from accross the country, with collaborators who share our vision and with supporters who want to donate to a unique cause.
This initiative, though funded from resources outside the country, will be
a locally run and led operation. We have no interest in being the face of Harmoneat operations - rather, we want to work with local partners and entrepreneurs to develop this initiative into a truly unique social business. Over the next twelve months,
the Harmoneat team will be working towards financial sustainability.
For further information on our approach, have a look at our website http://www.harmoneat.com
How does it work?
The Harmoneat cycle begins with you. Once you provide your generous support, we purchase the truck, hire the team and rent out a prep kitchen.
We can then prepare and sell delicious Myanmar food at a range of locations across Yangon, using social media and our web platform to share stories of diverse cuisines and build positive associations between communities.
To ensure that we can sell our products at a competitive price, we will subsidise our wares by offering cooking courses for visitors and expats in Yangon. This will enable our food and message to reach more people, and also allows us to educate visitors
about Myanmar's culture and history.
Because we're a social business, all of our profits will be invested back into the growth of our business. We hope to become Myanmar's most well recognised social enterprise, and a global example of local-level peacebuilding.
What's in it for you?
Excellent question! Apart from being forever in our hearts, we have some oustanding and unique rewards on offer to say thanks for your critical support. Check them out on this page and choose which reward you will receive for joining the Harmoneat team.
You will also join a global network of contributors and partners who are working together to make this happen. Without local level peacebuilding initiatives like ours, Myanmar - and it's millions of people - face an uncertain future.
So join our team now!
This is your once in a lifetime opportunity to help change the future of Myanmar. Myanmar's first food truck. And the country's most amazing, well-recognised and ambitious social enterprise yet. Most importantly, your contribution will have a genuine impact
on the lives of thousands - feels pretty good, right?
