OTAGO was born as a direct consequence of the success of Khmer Green Charcoal (KGC), a char-briquettes production company based in Cambodia (KGC).

KGC was initially created in 2008 as a project of two NGOs (GERES – Group for the Environment, Renewable Energy and Solidarity; PSE – Pour un Sourire d’Enfant) to provide an environmentally sustainable, healthier and better quality cooking fuel to the Cambodian population, who still heavily relies on traditional charcoal deriving from illegal logging and which therefore represents a serious cause of deforestation. In addition, KGC also has a strong social aspect, still from its origins, by providing socially fair jobs to some of the poorest communities in the suburbs of Phnom Penh and facilitating schooling for their children (in collaboration with PSE).
After a difficult start, Carlo Figà Talamanca (founder of OTAGO) took over KGC in 2012 and since then it started developing and growing the company, leading it to financial sustainability within 4 years. Today KGC is a world leader in char-briquettes production, for its products’ quality, advanced production technologies and highly efficient operations. Besides dominating the Cambodian market, KGC exports its product to Japan and Europe.
By leveraging the experience gained during the development of KGC in Cambodia, OTAGO was created with the aim of replicating KGC’s business model in Asia, Africa and Latin America.