The Economic Ripple Effect: How Your DRUERA Purchase Supports the Kalawana Community

Every purchase has a story. This is ours.

When you buy a product online, where does your money actually go? Does it disappear into some corporate black hole, or does it do something real? Something human?

We started DRUERA twenty years ago with a radical idea: what if every purchase could plant a seed in a community thousands of miles away? What if your morning cinnamon tea could help send a kid to school, preserve an ancient craft, or keep a family healthy?

For us, this isn't a side project. That's the whole point. Our entire business is built around what we call 'True Partnership' – a model that goes way beyond fair trade certifications and actually changes lives in Kalawana, Sri Lanka.

Today, we want to show you exactly what happens when you choose DRUERA. We're going to trace your money as it ripples through our community – from the hands that peel your cinnamon to the kids who dream bigger because of it.

Ripple #1: Beyond Fair Wages – Creating Generational Artisans

Let's start with the basics: wages. We pay our artisans 120% above the local market rate. But here's the truth – that's just the starting line. The real story is what happens next.

See, there's a crisis happening in Sri Lanka. The ancient art of cinnamon peeling – this incredible skill of rolling paper-thin bark into perfect quills – is dying. The master peelers are aging, and young people are leaving for city jobs. The craft was literally vanishing.

So we created something radical: the DRUERA apprenticeship program. Let me tell you about Nimal. He's 19, with this quiet intensity that tells you he's absorbing everything. Before joining us, he was about to follow his friends to the city for construction work. 

And now he's training under Master Peeler Rajitha. While Nimal learns this centuries-old craft, he's earning a salary that helps support his entire family. He's not just making money – he's becoming a guardian of cultural heritage.

So far, we've certified 47 new peelers through this program. But one story still gives me chills: Ruwani. She started as an apprentice three years ago, quietly determined to prove that women could master this craft. Last month, she became our region's first female master peeler. 

But the real victory? She used her earnings to buy a small plot of land – something that was practically unheard of for a young, unmarried woman in her village. Her father told me, "Now the other families see what's possible."

That's your first ripple: when you buy DRUERA cinnamon, you're not just getting a spice. You're helping save a craft that's older than most countries.

 

Ripple #2: Investing in Health and Well-being

Here's how we see it: a fair wage helps a family pay a doctor's bill. But true partnership helps prevent the illness in the first place.

That's why we created the Community Health Fund. It's not an afterthought - it's built directly into the price of every bag of DRUERA cinnamon you buy. 

• Clean water systems for family homes, because we found many peelers were spending earnings on treating waterborne illnesses
• Ergonomic tools designed with doctors to prevent the chronic back pain and hand injuries that ended careers early
• Annual health screenings that catch issues before they become crises
• Preventative care programs that teach families about nutrition and hygiene

"You can't produce a healthy product with an unhealthy community," says Mike de Livera. 

"Our investment in clean water and better tools isn't charity. It's a fundamental part of our quality control. Healthy, respected artisans create the world's best cinnamon. It's that simple."

Your purchase means a peeler doesn't have to choose between putting food on the table and protecting his health. It means his children grow up stronger. It means his knowledge and skill can be passed down without being cut short by preventable suffering. That's a ripple that doesn't just last for generations - it actually helps ensure there will be generations to come.

 

Ripple #3: Fueling the Local Economy – A Web of Support

This might surprise you: when you buy DRUERA cinnamon, you're not just supporting cinnamon farmers. You're supporting an entire local economy.

I learned this during my last visit to Kalawana. I was having tea with our lead peeler, Rajitha, when he pointed out something incredible. "That knife in my hand," he said, "feeds three families before it even touches cinnamon." He was right. The same money that pays his wage also supports:

• The Toolmaker: The special bronze peeling knives our artisans use? They're handmade by a local blacksmith whose family has been making tools for three generations.
• The Food Vendor: The daily meals for our workers come from a woman named Priya, who runs a small catering business from her home kitchen.
• The Local Crafters: The beautiful woven coir sacks we use? Made by a women's cooperative that started with just three members and now includes fifteen.
• The Transport Team: All our local transport is handled by a father-son trucking team from the next village. The father told me this work put his daughter through nursing school.

Your purchase creates what economists call a "multiplier effect." Every dollar doesn't just stop at the farm – it ripples outward, supporting dozens of small businesses that form the backbone of Kalawana's economy.

 

Ripple #4: Sowing Seeds for the Future – Education and Empowerment

The truest measure of our impact? It's not this year's harvest. It's what happens to the next generation.

It's not this year's harvest numbers or our profit margins. It's what we see happening with the next generation - the light in a child's eyes when they talk about becoming a doctor, the confidence of a young woman starting her own business, the pride of parents watching their children achieve what they never could.

That's exactly why we created the Educational Trust. It's our way of making sure that the benefits of your DRUERA purchase don't just stop with today's workers, but continue to grow for years to come. A fixed percentage of every single sale goes directly into this fund, and here's exactly what it makes possible:

• University scholarships that have sent 10 students to study sustainable agriculture, business management, and environmental science - one young woman just returned with a degree in agroecology and is already helping us implement better water conservation methods
• School supplies and uniforms for 86 children at the local primary school - something so simple, yet it means fewer families have to choose which child gets an education
• Vocational training programs that have helped 23 women start small businesses, from tailoring to mobile phone repair shops, creating new economic opportunities beyond farming

I’ll never forget meeting Chathuri. Her father’s been a cinnamon peeler with us for fifteen years. She’s studying agricultural science now, up in Colombo. But what struck me wasn’t just her ambition — it was her heart. She told me, “I want to come back. I want to help my father manage the land the right way — blending what he knows with what I’m learning.”

That’s what hope looks like here. Young people who see the value in tradition, but also the promise in innovation. Because the truth is, we’re not just growing cinnamon. We’re growing caretakers — the next generation of farmers and thinkers who will protect Sri Lanka’s biodiversity long after we’re gone.

As Mike de Livera likes to say, “The most important crop we grow isn’t cinnamon — it’s future leaders.” And he’s right. The spice is what we ship. But the legacy? That stays in the soil.

Ripple #5: Revitalizing the Land – The Quiet Reward

Some ripples you can see right away — new jobs, stronger communities, better harvests. And then there are the quiet ones. The ones you only notice if you stop and really look. 

Healthier soil. Clearer water. The sound of native birds returning after years away. That’s the real dividend.

In Kalawana, we see it every day. Because our partner farmers aren’t scrambling to chase the next quick profit, they can think longer term. They plant with care, protect what’s growing, and use regenerative methods that don’t just sustain the land — they bring it back to life.

When we invited Dr. Anjali Sharma, an agronomist and South Asian agroforestry expert, to visit the farm, her reaction said it all.

“What’s happening in Kalawana is remarkable,” she told us. “By giving this community economic security, DRUERA has helped them practice a kind of farming that’s also reforestation. They’re restoring soil health, improving water retention, and creating real biodiversity. This isn’t just ethical sourcing — it’s regeneration in action.”

That line stuck with me: regeneration in action.

Because that’s what it is — a living proof that when a community thrives, the land heals too. Your purchase doesn’t just bring Ceylon cinnamon into your kitchen. It keeps forests standing, rivers clean, and future generations rooted in the work of protecting them.

A healthy planet and a healthy community — they’re not separate goals. They’ve always been the same story.

Conclusion: Your Purchase is a Partnership

So, where does your money really go when you choose DRUERA?

It pays a master artisan a wage that lets her dream bigger.
It funds an apprenticeship that saves an ancient craft.
It provides clean water that keeps a family healthy.
It sends a bright student to university.
It supports a web of local businesses.

This isn't just a transaction. It's a partnership. We don't have a separate charitable foundation because our entire business is designed to create impact.

We invite you to be part of this story.

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