B
NARRATIVE VALUE
Certainty
●●○ medium
ABCDEFG
There is no confirmed −; independently verified + decide the position (B). No unreachable strike-through.= non-additive meter
As of: 2026-Q4Status: ActiveCeiling reason: No confirmed −
History2026-Q4BHistory grows each quarter
Inka Moss: Buying mountain moss at a fair price and leaving a fund in the village. The letter is B; certainty is medium. Unconfirmed concerns are placed under “Watching.” (As of 2026-Q4; estimate based on public information.)
Main narrative
Sphagnum moss grows wild in the high wetlands of the Andes. In horticulture it is essential for growing orchids; to the people who live there it was moss underfoot. Inka Moss built a business turning the gathering of that moss into income for communities.
It signs contracts with communities, usually for two to five years and renewing automatically, and pays a fixed price by the sack. Gatherers are trained and given equipment. About 7% of each sale is set aside in a community fund used for local development and facilities. Around 15,000 producers have been involved so far, close to two-thirds of them women. It exports to Japan, the Netherlands, the United States, France, Taiwan, Costa Rica and Ecuador, with turnover rising from $900,000 in 2022 to $1,370,000 in 2023. Harvesting is agreed to stay within limits that do not exhaust the wetland, and the area it treats as protected runs to 7,200 hectares. It is designed as cash income between farming seasons, and that is what sets its character.
One person’s story (N1)
+ A single story
Moss growing wild in the high wetlands of the Andes is bought from communities under two-to-five-year automatically renewing contracts at a fixed price by the sack. Gatherers are trained and equipped, and about 7% of each sale is set aside in a community fund used for local development and facilities. Around 15,000 producers have been involved, close to two-thirds of them women. In one twelve-month project participants' average monthly income rose from £165 to £300. Nature of sources: independent (Positive News and foundation case reports).
Source nature: Positive News / Julius Baer Foundation / T2 industry media. Positive effects are not used to offset negatives.
Positive / negative effects
+ effects
- The positive side of this assessment rests on the single story (N1) above and its source. A per-item ledger of positive effects has not yet been compiled for this organization.T2 industry media
Watching (unconfirmed; not counted in the assessment)- Only a partial contribution to household income
- lack of independent verification of harvesting pressure on the ecosystem
Looking ahead (not included in the assessment)- Expanding volumes and the network of communities.
A second look
Moss gathering accounts for an average of around 25 to 27% of household income; potatoes remain the main source. One source states plainly that moss harvesting has by no means made these communities wealthy. Producer numbers and areas rest largely on company announcements. High wetland is a slow-recovering ecosystem, and no independent verification of whether harvesting volumes are properly managed could be found.
Sources
+N1Positive News / Julius Baer Foundation｜2023｜🔗
How to read this assessment
A Independently verified +, with no confirmed −
B Leans +, with independent backing
C Mixed. A confirmed − sets the ceiling, or much is unverified
D A serious confirmed − sets the ceiling
E A serious − reaches the core of the organization
F Serious and systemic, with little redeeming +
G Only extreme cases
Out of scope An entity whose core purpose is illegal
On hold Independent evidence is scarce on both + and −
- Reachable upper bound (ceiling): a confirmed − sets the ceiling, and independently verified + decide the position within it. + do not cancel out −.
- The weight of evidence is not symmetric: only confirmed − are counted; the volume of disputes or allegations goes under “Watching.” + are counted from independent evidence, while an organization’s own PR is treated as “reference.”
- Size is not value: scale is not used in the assessment. Matters that stay within money or competition—investors, shareholders, sanctions, trade secrets—are also excluded.
- The letter (assessment) and certainty (how reliable the information is) are separate axes.
This is a translation; the Japanese version is authoritative. The assessments here are generated automatically by AI based on published criteria. The operator does not alter individual results. Because they are AI-generated they may contain errors, and they are opinion and commentary, not statements of fact. Where evidence is insufficient, the entry is marked “On hold.” Requests for correction are accepted via the form.
Terms: Narrative Value = an assessment (A–G) of the distance between the narrative an organization tells and its reality / Ceiling meter = a visualization of the reachable upper bound / Watching = unconfirmed matters not counted / Protected stakeholders = people, animals, nature, and future generations. | Generated by: AI | As of: 2026-Q4 | Back to top