JICA & IDB Lab SDGs Program “TSUBASA”

Value Way’s predecessor (Altarena Co., Ltd. / RIO COFFEE) was selected for the JICA & IDB Lab SDGs Business Support Program “TSUBASA”, targeting Latin America and the Caribbean.

About TSUBASA

The TSUBASA program is a joint initiative by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and IDB Lab (the innovation laboratory of the Inter-American Development Bank). It supports Japanese companies in deploying SDGs-aligned business solutions in Latin American and Caribbean markets.

Our Focus

The program enabled our team to explore coffee traceability infrastructure deployment in Central American origins — specifically Guatemala’s Huehuetenango region, where high-altitude Arabica production supports thousands of smallholder families.

Significance

This program marked a critical step in our journey from a Japanese specialty coffee roaster to a traceability technology company. The experience in Latin American supply chains informed the design of our CoPASS™ (now CoffeeID) platform and directly led to the founding of Value Way Inc. in October 2023.