SOCIAL MISSION

Fenik is a lot more than an outdoor brand. Originally known as "Evaptainers", Fenik began as a class project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with the goal of making refrigeration more accessible to everyone. More than a billion people live without refrigeration and the result is that millions of tons of food are wasted annually. This has a massive impact both on the environment and vulnerable rural families in developing nations. 

Since we first challenged ourselves to do something about this problem 5 years ago, we have worked to create affordable, modular and completely mobile refrigeration units that preserve produce along the supply chain. Our designs utilize evaporative cooling, rather than more energy-intensive vapor compression refrigeration, allowing for less expensive, electricity-free cooling anywhere. Rudimentary Evaporative cooling devices have proven to be effective for agricultural use, tripling or quadrupling the shelf-life of most produce. Our company has taken these inventions and upgraded them for modern and commercial use. Using state-of-the art materials and improved design, we’ve created more effective, more durable, easier to use, mass-producible units. Our discoveries are patent pending and there are currently no other devices similar to ours in the market.

We aim to innovate in other ways. Our unique business model leverages profits from our sales in developed nations to reduce the price of the Yuma 60L in emerging markets. This will allow us to ultimately reach many more people than with a traditional donation model. 

Over the last three years we have been working with rural families and farmers in North Africa to field test and improve our designs. We have been supported by organizations and foundations including USAID, National Geographic and The Siemens-Stiftung Foundation. For more on our work in developing markets see our explainer video below.