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Kori Chilibeck started Earth Water within months of graduating university. The idea came as an evolution, as Kori traveled to 32 different countries throughout the duration of his schooling. This extensive travel truly opened his eyes to the state the world was in. The defining moment came as Kori was trekking to base camp on Mount Everest. While at approximately 17,000 feet, his group passed an old man carrying a huge bundle on his back. He was in bare feet, torn pants, and a t-shirt. Through an interpreter, they spoke with this man and learnt that he was paid hardly 25 cents per day to carry his load up to the base of the mountain. When they asked the man what he was carrying, he said he wasn’t sure, but that he knew he could never afford whatever it was. Upon asking to look inside the bag, Kori discovered that it was cans and cans of Cola.
Kori realized that either directly or indirectly, the world’s largest companies were making enormous profits literally off the backs of the world’s poorest people. He thought to himself, why couldn’t a company compete against the biggest companies in the world, operate in an environmentally friendly way, have great products, pay their employees competitive wages, and at the end of the day give their profits back to those who need it most. Thus, the concept for Earth Water International was born.
Kori did some research and learned that the lack of food and clean water is the leading cause of death throughout the world, primarily among children under five years of age. It wasn’t that a cure needed to be found for something unknown; rather, the answer was to provide clean drinking water and food to poverty stricken people worldwide.
With this in mind, Kori approached the United Nations in hopes of securing a partnership. After months of sending emails, faxes and packages, and relentless phone calls, Kori was finally able to get a meeting with a Canadian office in Ottawa.
Kori cashed in his life savings, sold his bike, borrowed money from his parents and girlfriend, and used up the rest of his student loans in order to make Earth Water a reality. On October 29th, 2004, Kori sold his first bottle of water. He had one customer in Edmonton on the first day, with local media present for the launch. The next day the phone started to ring, and over the following three years, the company expanded throughout North America and Europe.
As the company grew and its offerings expanded beyond water, Earth Water began looking for a partner that fit its mandate to provide life essentials to some of the world’s poorest people. The organization that really fit this vision was the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), specifically their schools meals programme whereby children are encouraged to attend school, during which they are provided nutritious meals. WFP’s school meals programme ensures that children are given every reason to attend school and earn an education, while also being provided with food they would otherwise not have access to. The Earth Group of companies is proud to support WFP’s school meals programme and the investment in education for children today, which ensures a brighter future for coming generations.
Today, the Earth Group of companies, comprised of Earth Water, Earth Coffee and Earth Tea work with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), donating 100% of their net profits from global sales to fighting hunger through its school meals programmes globally . WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. Each year, on average, WFP feeds more than 90 million people in more than 70 countries.
