The New York Times ran an interesting but rather incomplete article yesterday, discussing the split over anti-malaria bednet distribution strategies in Africa and the apparent demise of “social marketing” as a legitimate approach to reducing illness on a large scale. The article focuses on an ongoing debate in the aid community over whether or not insecticide-treated bednets, produced by Danish and Japanese makers and purchased by aid agencies, should always be given way in mass quantities for free.

Evidence provided in the article points to the failure of “social marketing” techniques (advertising, branding, and selling of essential goods with social value through local distributors, sometimes at heavily subsidized prices) to reduce local, short-term rates of malaria infection as fast as the massive free hand-outs of nets by aid agencies. Senator Tom Coburn (R) Oklahoma was quoted as going so far as to say that, “We knew social marketing doesn’t work."

But let’s take a step back. First, who, in this case, is conducting the “social marketing”? It's the aid industry. What is the aid industry designed to do? Raise, collect, and then deliver charity to those in need.

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In a recent interview with New Ventures staff, CBPAK founder Claudio Bastos discusses how his company is bringing a unique solution to Brazil's massive packaging industry.

PDF version available here

Claudio Bastos had plenty of reasons to found his sustainable packaging company, CBPAK, in 2002. He had a strong academic background as an engineer, decades of executive-level experience managing business turnarounds, a unique product and, he adds, a drive to create a business that would leave a better future for his children. “The world is changing,” Claudio explains, “I needed to be involved in a business that takes care of the planet.” He decided to create a company that would meet these criteria while helping to satisfy a vast market demand for biodegradable packaging materials.

This material is the primary CBPAK product, a polymer made from cassava starch that, when mixed with a special adhesive, is compressed in CBPAK’s patented machines to be thermo-molded into virtually any shape.

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