Fortune USA – September 2019

80

FORTUNE.COM

In 2013, EssilorLuxottica, the

world’s leading producer of eye­

wear, launched 2.5 New Vision

Generation (2.5NVG), a line of

more affordable (but still stylish)

prescription glasses targeted at

the 2.5 billion people around the

world—almost entirely in low­income countries—

who suffer from uncorrected poor vision. After much

engineering work, the company now makes glasses

that cost as little as 50¢ a pair to manufacture, and

that retail for no more than three to four days’ pay

in a given country. France­based Essilor has also

created new business models to sell them, partnering

with governments and NGOs to train entrepreneurs

in dozens of countries, who now offer vision­testing

and lens­fitting services. In the six years since the

program’s launch, Essilor estimates it has enabled

access to vision services for 200 million people, more

than 25 million of whom now use a pair of 2.5NVG

glasses. The company expects the initiative to be­

come profitable in many places in a few years.

Farmers in de-

veloping coun-

tries often sell

their crops in cash

deals that lack

formal records.

AB InBev has part-

nered with startup

BanQu to provide

blockchain-pow-

ered supply-chain

software to thou-

sands of farm-

ers in Zambia and

Uganda—creating

immutable trans-

action records

that can help them

build credit histo-

ries and financial

independence.

Food spoilage is a

global problem,

but synthetic

chemicals that

protect food cre-

ate problems too.

This Danish bio-

science firm pro-

duces more than

30,000 strains

of “good bacte-

ria,” which it har-

nesses to various

ends—from lac-

tic acid cultures

to extend yogurt

shelf life to micro-

bial products that

reduce antibiotic

and pesticide use

in farming.

THE LIST 17– 28

NO. 19

Anheuser-

Busch InBev

Giving farmers

a history.

LEUVEN, BELGIUM

Keeping

Poverty

From

Obscuring

People’s

Vision

EssilorLuxottica

A global eyewear
company sells
glasses for as little
as 75¢ a pair.

CHARENTON-LE-PONT,

FRANCE

NO. 18

Chr. Hansen

Saving food,

naturally.

HORSHOLM,

DENMARK

17

NO.

CHANGE

THE

WORLD

A coffee farmer in Myanmar takes a low-tech eye

test with the help of Essilor-trained screeners.

COURTESY OF ESSILOR