For Immediate Release
December 22, 2014
Softengine, in cooperation with SAP and Boyum IT, to help Edesia feed
malnourished children
WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. — December 22, 2014 — Softengine, an SAP® partner, today announced its
efforts to work with Edesia, underscoring its commitment to improving the world we live in. Working
together with SAP and Boyum IT, the companies are contributing technology and professional services inkind to Edesia, a nonprofit organization that produces innovative ready-to-use foods for the treatment and
prevention of malnutrition globally. Edesia’s products are delivered to malnourished children worldwide
through distribution partners, including UNICEF and the World Food Programme. Edesia is now in the
process of implementing the SAP Business One® application – with assistance from Softengine and its
partner Boyum IT – to better manage growth, significantly increase efficiencies and as a result, reach more
malnourished children than ever before.
As part of SAP’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program, SAP announced a campaign in May 2014
calling on its partners to nominate charitable organizations of their choice to receive an in-kind donation of
SAP Business One. Softengine chose Edesia as the recipient of the SAP donation. Additionally, Edesia will
receive donated products and services from Softengine and Boyum IT for this technology implementation.
Edesia, an organization dedicated to serving malnourished children across the globe
Six years ago, Navyn Salem, a mother of four young girls, set out to build a factory and social enterprise in
Providence, R.I., with the very special purpose of manufacturing peanut-based, ready-to-use therapeutic
and supplementary foods used to save and change the lives of malnourished children around the world.
She has worked tirelessly to grow her nonprofit organization – Edesia – from a small startup to a thriving
organization with 55 dedicated employees. Along the way, the Edesia team has reached over 2.5 million
malnourished children in 44 countries across the globe.
In 2012, Edesia’s founder Navyn Salem traveled to Haiti, where she met with schoolchildren participating in
a trial of a new ready-to-use food. Photo by Karen O’Hern
Over one billion people worldwide are underfed and malnourished, due in large part to endemic poverty
and subsequent lack of access to diverse, nutritious foods. Of particular concern are the millions of
malnourished children under the age of five, who not only struggle to survive, but are often doomed to a
life of poor health and low productivity, fueling an endless poverty cycle for his or her family and
community.
The scale of this problem is massive and far-reaching. According to UNICEF, there are at least 51 million
children in our world under the age of five who are suffering from acute malnutrition, a condition directly
responsible for at least one million young children dying unnecessarily each year. Some 17 million of these
children have severe acute malnutrition and require treatment with specialized foods, such as Edesia’s lifesaving therapeutic foods; while the remainder have moderate acute malnutrition and could greatly benefit
from Edesia’s nutritious supplementary foods.
Edesia is currently in the process of expanding its facility, in order to achieve increased cost efficiencies and
significantly higher production volumes—reaching 230% more malnourished children each year as a result.
Now, more than ever, Edesia needs integrated financial, production, quality, inventory and warehouse
management systems that provide accurate, real-time data. For Edesia to continue responding effectively
to the needs of malnourished children around the world, data needs to flow seamlessly across all
departments so the team can make the best business decisions possible.
At Edesia, the measure of its success is the number of children it reaches with life-saving and life-changing
products. Working with Softengine, SAP and Boyum IT, and the innovative technologies and services being
provided by them, Edesia will reach even more children.
About Softengine
Based in Los Angeles since 1996, Softengine is an SAP gold partner and has received two Global Solution
Partner Awards from SAP for the SAP Business One® application: Leadership in Innovation in 2009 and
Industry Solution Leadership in 2010. Softengine is a leading provider of solutions delivered on-premises or
via a hosted-cloud service to small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) that have outgrown their accountingonly and legacy applications. Softengine leverages the innovative functionality of the SAP Business One®
application to deliver highly flexible, end-to-end solutions. Softengine solutions are complemented by a full
range of industry-specific extensions specifically designed for the food industry and services to promote
rapid return on investment. The company distinguishes itself by aiming to get the job right the first time eliminating downtime, reducing support calls and saving customers’ time and money. It means minimal
interruption to ongoing business.
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All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.
For more information:
Contact Barry Lederman: 818.704.7000, [email protected] – PST www.softengineusa.com