Maï Savanh Lao: A Business with Heart

Our 6 months in Asia have been punctuated by meetings with French entrepreneurs who are making a social or environmental impact. We’re filming interviews for the W Project platform.

In Vientiane, the capital of Laos, the social enterprise Maï Savanh Lao ("silk of paradise") has been generating economic wealth to support local populations since 2005.

We caught up with its founder, Philippe Schmidt, a surgeon by trade who still has a very distinct Alsatian accent.

Creating an ecosystem…

Maï Savanh Lao (MSL) started with a simple observation: in Laos, even though NGOs do remarkable work training local people in silk weaving (an ancestral skill in Laos), the populations remain very poor. Why? Because of the difficulty in accessing markets. The women weave beautifully and the silk is high quality, but no one buys their stunning products. However, when Philippe and his wife Elizabeth brought silk scarves back to their friends in France, they were a hit! So, Philippe and Elizabeth decided to set up a social enterprise to create economic opportunities for these women; that is how Maï Savanh Lao was born.

Today, Maï Savanh Lao supports more than 200 families across Laos, from North to South. In the North, women weave silk to create scarves that MSL sells in Europe. In the South, volunteer families raise silkworms that produce high-quality thread. It’s meticulous work that requires great rigor, as the silkworm feeds exclusively on mulberry leaves and must be fed constantly according to a precise cycle. MSL organizes training sessions for these families and helps them start their own silkworm farms. MSL then buys the cocoons from them and handles the spinning process.

…and diversifying

When turned into herbal tea, mulberry leaves are also renowned for their slightly tangy taste and health benefits. Consequently, MSL also launched into mulberry tea production and expanded its farm in Southern Laos to produce pepper, spirulina, hibiscus flowers, tea, and more.

And recently, a miracle seed has appeared: Sacha inchi! This seed, with its exceptional concentration of Omega-3s, is available in many forms: salted roasted nuts for appetizers (we highly recommend them!), oil for all your dishes, protein powder, cosmetic oil, spreads, and more.

Philippe is bursting with ideas and never hesitates to launch them!

Seizing opportunities to help communities

The entire production process respects organic and fair trade standards. At the farm, it’s Michael, a volunteer for the past 3 years, who organizes the schedule: harvesting pepper, planting mulberry trees, spinning cocoons, and so on.

We actually had the chance to witness this and... taste a silkworm! Contrary to all expectations, the silkworm tastes like sweet potato, not bad at all! Once boiled, silkworms are a fantastic source of protein for the farm workers.

Philippe never stops! He is constantly imagining new products, always with the same goal: to employ and help local populations.

The latest innovation is a cereal bar designed for children to fight against childhood malnutrition, which is omnipresent in Laos. This snack is made with Sacha Inchi, the miracle seed very rich in omega and healthy fats, along with coconut, spirulina, and rice, the staple food of the Laotian people. The goal is to create a healthy, accessible, and "made in Laos" product for these youngsters.

A final word from Philippe?

“What matters is letting your heart speak and mobilizing all your energy toward a project that can become a life project.

I use this phrase as my signature: Those who think it is impossible are requested not to disturb those who are trying.

If you have an idea, see it through to the end and share it!

My vision is to give back to those around me what I have received.

Money will never satisfy you, but what you have given to others will bring you much more than numbers in a bank account.”

A little extra from Marion and Maylis:

Every idea is worth taking! Don’t censor yourself: take the gamble of following through on each of your ideas by giving yourself the means to turn them into real projects. And often, one idea can lead to another!

Imagination is a muscle that needs to be worked. And for this one, you don’t even need to go to the gym!