Sodagueli

Profits and Ethics go hand in hand: There’s always room for integration.

Sodagueli, SLNE, is a company created by two young entrepreneurs, David Carballo and Eliezer Marrero, whose objectives of a sustainable social and economic development mark a corporate philosophy based on spirit of excellence and the value of solidarity. Their business was born due to a competition in which they took part in 2008. They define themselves as qualified people, with a huge experience in graphic arts and cleaning services.

The Sodagueli products are:
• Big format printings: The company uses last generation printers that provide qualitative products with a perfect finishing touch, always taking into account environmental care. Due to the width of the sector they work using all kinds of material: canvas, linen, photographic paper, vinyl, etc.
• Other prints: The company also offers the customers the possibility to purchase any sort of printing products such as leaflets, flyers, brochures, posters, cards, envelopes and papers. Sodagueli has a design department specialized in logo designing who can create a corporate image.
• Merchandising: The company supplies merchandising products for companies, such as: pens, agendas, pen drives, desk calendars etc.
• Customized textile: They create working uniforms, sport kits, or whatever clothes have to be customized with corporate image or any other logo.
• Cleaning Services: Sodagueli offers cleaning services for residences, offices, and malls.

When we found this company we realized we were looking at a company created by two young people who were interested in ethics. This makes us think that youngsters are becoming more conscious about ethics and social corporate responsibility. The idea they defend is to try to insert people with problems into the society and to offer them the possibility to see life in a different manner.

Disabled people are one of the main objectives of Sodagueli. They have a team composed of men and women, aged between 22 and 55 years, all with mental and physical disabilities. Moreover, they also contract youth who are or have been in the system of protection and/or judicial measures. Therefore, they adapt their work to personal needs and encourage the development of their employees, without renouncing to economic enterprise.

Solidarity is, in some sense, their brand image. They are running a profitable business while they are offering work to people who deserve a great opportunity. As they say, they create jobs by providing economic and social benefits to our society. Moreover, the company is also concerned with protecting the environment and since 2009 it is encouraging recycling and the use of products that do not harm the environment.

A possible challenge the company might face in the future could be the introduction of other ethical businesses and it could consequently face competition in the sector. To improve its business, Sodagueli could think of creating other products and expanding the regions of selling. Also, since the end of 2008 the company is trying to get recognition as a Special Employment Center. Another challenge the company faces is being able to employ more people. At the moment the company is in need of more personnel, but cannot employ more people because the Administration does not cooperate. Concretely, the Canarian Employment Service does not pay the subsidy to contract people indefinitely because “in a year they haven’t had time to revise the dossier”. Moreover, the Canarian Government does not pay the subsidies to the “Canarias Emprende 2008“ because they do not have enough money. The case is the same for the “Cabildo de Tenerife”.

We know Sodagueli is an ethical company because it receives collaborations of private non-profit organizations, such as the Coordinating FUNCASOR and Physically Handicapped of the Canaries, which help them to select the personnel. Also, their values and initiative reflect an ethical procedure, they became semi finalists with their project of business in “Canarias Emprende 2008“, awarded by the Ministry of Economy. The founders had experience with coordinating children activities and different projects for NGOs. Nowadays, they are linked to the Canarian Association for the Help of Children, to whom they offer resources for their activities and part of Sodagueli’s profits. We also talked to the founder, David Carballo Arrocha, which made us even more sure about the fact that this company is ethical. We would like to thank him for his contribution.