Vestergaard is a company headquartered in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , , , ) ; it, Losanna; rm, Losanna. is the capital and largest city of the Swiss French speaking canton of Vaud. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway between the Jura Mountains and the Alps, and fac ...

, Switzerland that manufactures

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

tools for people in developing countries. Founded as Vestergaard Frandsen in 1957 as a uniform maker, the company evolved into a

social enterprise A social enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in financial, social and environmental well-being. This may include maximizing social impact alongside profits for co-owners. Social enterprises ca ...

making products for humanitarian aid in the 1990s. It is now best known for inventing the

LifeStraw LifeStraw is a brand of water filtration and purification devices. The original LifeStraw was designed as a portable water filter "straw". It filters a maximum of 4000 litres of water, enough for one person for three years. It removes almost a ...

water filter and the PermaNet

mosquito net A mosquito net is a type of meshed curtain that is circumferentially draped over a bed or a sleeping area, to offer the sleeper barrier protection against bites and stings from mosquitos, flies, and other pest insects, and thus against the d ...

History

Vestergaard was founded in 1957 by Kaj Vestergaard Frandsen, a former farmer and the grandfather of current owner Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen. Kaj founded the company with a friend before doing it alone. The company made linings for jackets and uniforms. Kaj's son Torben took over in 1970. Production was first moved to Ireland and then to Poland in 1989. In 1990, Torben bought up 1 million yards of Swedish army surplus fabric used for uniforms, and turned it into blankets for aid organizations. That was the beginning of a change in focus of the company that continued after Mikkel was persuaded to join the company by his father in 1993. Mikkel had worked in Lagos from the age of 19 running a truck company, which "ignited his passion for Africa." He left Nigeria following a military coup and returned to Denmark to work with his father. In 1997 Torben and Mikkel agreed to split the company into separate female uniform and humanitarian textiles businesses, and then Mikkel bought out his father and stopped producing uniforms. Under Mikkel's leadership the company focused on the business model of humanitarian entrepreneurship, product innovation that improves lives of people and makes a profit. In 1996, the company began supplying

Guinea worm ''Dracunculus medinensis'', or Guinea worm, is a nematode that causes dracunculiasis, also known as guinea worm disease. The disease is caused by the female which, at up to in length, is among the longest nematodes infecting humans. In cont ...

filters to The

Carter Center The Carter Center is a nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. He and his wife Rosalynn Carter partnered with Emory University just after his defeat in the 1980 United States preside ...

. PermaNet bed nets were launched in 1999, LifeStraw was introduced in 2005 and ZeroFly entered the market in 2012. Those early products defined Vestergaard's three focus areas aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals: public health, water and food security. The company moved headquarters from

Kolding Kolding () is a Danish seaport located at the head of Kolding Fjord in the Region of Southern Denmark. It is the seat of Kolding Municipality. It is a transportation, commercial, and manufacturing centre, and has numerous industrial compani ...

to Lausanne in 2005–6, which it said was to better attract specialist employees and due to the presence of international organizations such as UN agencies and the Red Cross in Switzerland. In 2010, the company was around 20 times the size of when Mikkel joined it. Vestergaard has continued to work on product innovations for vector borne illnesses, water borne illnesses and food security. In 2007, due to the increase in insecticide resistant mosquitoes, a new bednet was developed as a combination net with increased efficacy against mosquitoes resistant to insecticides. Vestergaard has been a member of the

UN Global Compact The United Nations Global Compact is a non-binding United Nations pact to encourage businesses and firms worldwide to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies, and to report on their implementation. The UN Global Compact is a princ ...

since 2008 and initiated, then participated in the Bed Net Industry Dialogue hosted by the Global Business Coalition in 2009. In 2012, Vestergaard developed IR Mapper, an online tool for mapping insecticide resistance. Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen stepped down as CEO in January 2020 and was replaced by Michael Joos.

Products

The company has several "disease control textiles" products designed as health interventions for developing countries, including the

water filtration device to prevent

waterborne disease Waterborne diseases are conditions (meaning adverse effects on human health, such as death, disability, illness or disorders) caused by pathogenic micro-organisms that are transmitted in water. These diseases can be spread while bathing, washing ...

, and the PermaNet, a

impregnated with the long-lasting insecticide

deltamethrin Deltamethrin is a pyrethroid ester insecticide. Deltamethrin plays a key role in controlling malaria vectors, and is used in the manufacture of long-lasting insecticidal mosquito nets; however, resistance of mosquitos and bed bugs to deltamethrin ...

to prevent

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or deat ...

. The company also produces ZeroFly, which is a defence against insect pests for livestock and crop protection. Vestergaard also initiates programs to enhance delivery of its products: the company bundles LifeStraw and PermaNet together into a CarePack of preventive health tools to encourage people to get tested for

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immu ...

; LifeStraw has been distributed as part of the LifeStraw Carbon for Water program, where nearly 900,000 water purifiers were distributed in Kenya through funding provided by

carbon offset A carbon offset is a reduction or removal of emissions of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases made in order to compensate for emissions made elsewhere. Offsets are measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2e). One ton of carbon ...

s. In 2014, Lifestraw launched a Give Back program designed to provide one school child in a developing country safe drinking water for an entire school year. The program is funded by retail sales in North America or Europe. * LifeStraw. A

water filter A water filter removes impurities by lowering contamination of water using a fine physical barrier, a chemical process, or a biological process. Filters cleanse water to different extents, for purposes such as: providing agricultural irrigation ...

designed to be used by one person to filter

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as ...

for drinking. It filters a maximum of 1000 litres of water, enough for one person for one year. It removes almost all of waterborne

bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were am ...

and

parasite Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted structurally to this way of lif ...

s. In addition to the classic LifeStraw, the manufacturer also produces other styles on the LifeStraw product: the LifeStraw Family, a larger unit designed for family use, and the LifeStraw Go Water Bottle, which incorporates a LifeStraw filter into a 22-ounce bpa-free sports water bottle. * PermaNet. Vestergaard is the largest producer of insecticide-treated bed nets and has distributed over half a billion nets worldwide. * ZeroFly. ZeroFly products are insecticide-treated materials, including tarpaulins and storage bags.

Recognition

The company was named as a ''

Fast Company ''Fast Company'' is a monthly American business magazine published in print and online that focuses on technology, business, and design. It publishes six print issues per year. History ''Fast Company'' was launched in November 1995 by Alan We ...

'' Top 50 company in 2007. The company won ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econ ...

''’s Social and Economic Innovation Award in 2009.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Manufacturing companies established in 1957 Textile companies of Switzerland Companies based in Lausanne Appropriate technology organizations Swiss companies established in 1957