Because injustice shouldn't get the last word.
The women and youngsters we work with in Peru and Kenya face deep poverty and injustice — but they also hold the power to change their own future. Solid exists to help make that possible: fair work, and social support where it's needed most, so families can move from surviving to thriving, in a way that lasts.
A look at the moments that shaped our company.
Luc Verelst founds Solid after an international career in real estate, choosing to give back. Early years support NGO projects across several countries and domains— from clean water to education, healthcare, early childhood development and human rights.
Daughter Lyn Verelst takes over, and Solid narrows its focus to one place for greater impact. Ayacucho is selected — one of Peru's poorest regions, still recovering from the Shining Path conflict, but meeting key criteria: stability, feasibility, and potential for lasting change. In 2026 Solid Peru is officially registered, forming the base for the organisation's work in the region ever since.
Solid starts working with local farmers, offering technical knowledge and coaching to strengthen production chains for dairy, tara, avocado and quinoa.
Support grows beyond farming know-how, into simple housing techniques and healthy practices like clean water use. The Montefino farm — built as a training institute for local farmers — is completed, later growing into an integral farm combining training, innovation and rural tourism.
A deeper understanding of the region's challenges leads to a program for teenage mothers, with midwives and nurses providing home visits — later joined by a shelter for girls affected by violence, and a prevention program.
Believing in the power of fair employment, Solid opens a knitting workshop in Ayacucho. Solid Crafts gives over 150 women fair work and a path toward independence.
Solid connects with Hadithi, a Kenyan non-profit uniting rural women basket weavers around fair income — shared values in empowerment grow into close collaboration.
It started small: in an apartment, a few women from nearby villages with no craft experience. First we tried knitting, then master weavers taught us to weave. The team grew, the apartment became a proper workshop, and recycled sari fabric turned into handwoven, crocheted and kantha-stitched pieces.
The quinoa farmer partnership that began in 2007 grows into Solid Food — a short chain bringing quinoa from farmer to supermarket, through processing and export.
In 2022 Solid tested the B2C strategy, under the TalesBySolid brand, which grew consumer reach and impact. But the B2C channel was cost-intensive, and at the end of 2023, Solid made the call to close it and focus fully on the more scalable B2B model.
After almost 10 meaningful years, the India workshop is transferred to a local partner in 2025 — the model had proven commercially challenging to sustain at the standard we require, and difficult to manage from Belgium. In 2026, Solid and its India partner conclude the collaboration, though the partner continues the work directly. We remain proud of what was built there, and continue to focus our craft production in Peru and Kenya.