by Charles Gladden
BELIZE CITY, Fri. June 9, 2023
Owner of Cocolove, Indira Andrewin of Punta Gorda Town, Toledo District is the winner of the Best Sustainable Entrepreneur Award Belize for MicroPitch 2022-23, which was sponsored by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
This year’s MicroPitch fell under the theme, “Sustainable Businesses: Positively Impacting People and Planet”.
Introduced in 2019 as an initiative under the framework of the Technical Assistance Programme to Financial Sector Operations in the Caribbean of the European Investment Bank (EIB), MicroPitch is a Business Plan Competition for Caribbean entrepreneurs combined with Business Support Training.
The MicroPitch provides a platform for Caribbean entrepreneurs to present their businesses and innovative solutions to potential financiers, mentors, and sponsors. Additionally, it offers holistic support to Caribbean entrepreneurs to enhance their business development skills through pieces of training and coaching, provides access to a strong network, and boosts their visibility.
Andrewin’s business, Cocolove, which established itself as a small business approximately 8 years ago while she was in high school and then blossomed official in 2020, fits the description of the competition, as she highlighted to Amandala that it is a skin and body care brand that uses eco-friendly glass packaging along with growing and sourcing its ingredients such as cocoa from local farmers, and is created in a lab that generates its electricity via solar.
During the exclusive interview, Andrewin revealed that she had delivered her newborn son a week before her she was able to present her pitch to the panel.
“I didn’t know how I was going to do this. I was having a lot of struggles with motherhood and trying to breastfeed and juggling this competition,” she said. “I was deprived of sleep. My baby was not getting any milk. I was just not in a good space; and since I got the email that I was a part of the semi-finalists, I was like, let me just try. So, I had help with the father of the child and my mom, and they watched him; and I just tried to put together some thoughts … even though I was in that space. I always try to be optimistic and see what I can do and work with what I have,” Andrewin added.
Andrewin told Amandala that she was confused, as she didn’t know that the majority of countries that participated in the competition would have a winner; but overall, she expressed her emotions as happy and grateful.
“I want to thank the people at the MicroPitch Caribbean for organizing these competitions to help entrepreneurs, along with UNDP to help fund the project, and my family for helping me and standing by myself,” she expressed.
Andrewin was gifted a check for $8,000 Bzd for her prize.