“BURNing” The Battery

By Jo Opot on June 03, 2016

On May 26, six renowned Bay Area chefs and more than 100 guests came together for a night of food and social impact in honor of Acumen and our investee, BURN, a producer and distributor of highly-efficient, affordable cookstoves in East Africa.

The event took place at The Battery, a private club located in San Francisco’s financial district, and was hosted by Acumen partners and Battery co-founders, Michael and Xochi Birch. The chefs, which included Traci Des Jardins of Jardinière, Nicolai Lipscomb of The Battery, Orlando Pagan of The Village Pub and Eskender Aseged of Radio Africa, showed off their culinary prowess by preparing a range of foods using only BURN cookstoves. Guests sampled a variety of dishes from different cultures including Pork Chile Verde, Benachin, Dol Sot Bibimbap, New Caledonia Blue Prawns in Marcona Almonds, Castelvetrano Olives, Harissa, Wild Mushroom Falafel with Shiso Raita, and lamb Bunny Chow with Pickled Green Mango and Chili Roasted Pineapple.

Also in attendance were Acumen President Carlyle Singer and BURN CEO Peter Scott who shared remarks about the company’s mission to create clean-energy products that transform the lives of low-income customers while reducing harm to both humans and the environment.

“BURN is revolutionizing the cookstove industry in sub-Saharan Africa by reducing emissions by 65% and charcoal use by 58%. In terms of impact, these stoves are helping families living in poverty save money – $100-$200 per year  breathe cleaner air, and reduce household sick days because families have better respiratory health,” said Peter Scott. “We’re grateful to Acumen for enabling us to deliver more products to more customers and to the Battery for hosting this very special evening.”

Special thanks to Michael and Xochi Birch and the Battery for hosting the event, Stacy Horne, Emily Walsh and everyone at the Battery for helping coordinate a successful evening, all the staff at BURN, and BURN General Manager, Boston Nyer, who also cooked at the event.

(Photo: Chef Traci Des Jardins)

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