Meet our Producers

WHOLE TRADE FLOWERS BEGIN WITH...MARIA

“Our farm is filled with people who love their job and are very devoted to produce the best and most beautiful flowers that we can.”

Grown on farms in Colombia and Ecuador, Whole Trade flowers are truly gifts that give back. Meet Maria, who lives in Juan Pablo Sesundo, Colombia and works on one such farm where natural resources are conserved and the rights and welfare of workers and local communities are protected. “Every day I come to work with a positive attitude filled with love that makes me want to do my best” says Maria, who works in alstromeria production and has been working on the farm for 11 years. “Our farm is filled with people who love their job and are very devoted to produce the best and most beautiful flowers that we can”.

Maria’s family has benefited from the farm’s foundation, which has provided her children with an education, daily meals and healthcare. “This has been a blessing for me and my family. Thanks to the foundation I was able to give my three children the best possible education. Without the foundation this would not be possible”. Each purchase of Whole Trade guarantee flowers supports the farm’s foundation and families such as Maria’s.

Maria’s two sons currently attend the foundation; while her oldest daughter graduated from the foundation and is now continuing her studies. “Our children are given not only a good education but are provided with daily good balanced meals. This has taught good values and makes us feel part of the farm’s family”.

When asked what she would tell customers buying their flowers in the US, Maria says “by buying flowers from our company , that behind each flower there is a lot of love and dedication, that every flower picked and grown is a sign of love knowing that we care and has helped and benefited us”.

Theo Chocolate begins with… Juanita

Theo Chocolate buys organic Whole Trade Guaranteed™ cacao from indigenous farmers in the remote region of Talamanca, Costa Rica. Juanita Baltodano Vilchez is President of the Talamanca Small Producers Association (APPTA), formed to market the farmers’ organic cacao, raise standards of living and promote an agricultural model that can conserve the fragile tropical ecosystems.

After a difficult childhood, health challenges as an adult and raising her children, Juanita became a community leader and was eventually elected the first woman president of APPTA. She still farms the land she herself bought and is a strong spokesperson for the benefits of Whole Trade. She states that while the stable and above-market prices are critical to APPTA’s farmers, it is not all about the money. Other benefits are equally important, such as the strong sense of ownership of the association felt by the farmers, their resulting self-esteem and tangible benefits such as building a school and a cacao processing plant, and training local extension agents.

Juanita and the staff of APPTA are dedicated to bringing the concepts of sustainable agriculture into the daily lives of farmers through training and collaborative projects such as their own sustainability measurement tool. In addition to international standards, APPTA is now measuring ecological and social sustainability according to definitions set by the farmers themselves.

Whole Trade Roses begin with ... Alfredo, Soraya and Martha

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  Alfredo Monta, Cotopaxi, Ecuador

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  Soraya Falcon, Cotopaxi, Ecuador

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  Martha Chuquiana, Cotopaxi, Ecuador

Alfredo Monta, Soraya Falcon and Martha Chuquiana work growing roses high in the Andes in Ecuador. Aside from the healthier working conditions required for meeting the standards of the Whole Trade™ Guarantee, equitable trade allowed the flower growers to develop a housing fund, computer training courses and a scholarship fund for their children. In addition, the farm offers purchasing assistance for home appliances that improve living conditions for their workers.

Alfredo Monta had been with his current farm for six of the eleven years he worked in the flower industry (as of 2008), including serving on the oversight committee that handles premium payments and as treasurer of the board. Working for this farm permitted him to acquire a hot water heater for his household of nine, where before they had to heat water in a big pot to bathe.

Soraya Falcon began working in the flower industry in 1994. Most recently she has worked on the committee that handles wages and benefits for her farm, as well as coordinating shipments, billing clients and, during harvest, with the roses. Before the premium paid through Whole Trade and organizations like TransFair, Soraya spent hours after work washing her family’s clothing in a cold-water stream. Her hands were painful and she had little time to help her children with their studies. Thanks to the program, she said, she has been able to acquire a washing machine, which has given her more time to help her children with their studies, and warm, painless hands.

Martha Chuquiana is a field worker and served as secretary of the worker’s committee at her farm in 2006, after five years at the farm. She says the best benefit received from the premium price for the roses is improved reading and English courses for the children, and a community project that donated desks to the school. “Not only the children of the workers have benefited, but all of the families that have a child in that school.”

Dr. Bronner’s

It begins with… Dhanoj Meegahapola

In order to create a reliable supply of organic and fair trade coconut oil, Dr. Bronner's founded Serendipol (Pvt) Ltd., a Sri Lankan subsidiary in 2006. There Dr. Bronner’s hired Dhanoj Meegahapola to recruit more than 400 coconut growers and convert them to organic and fair trade practices. Dhanoj was also hired to oversee the Internal Control System, source and purchase more than 15 million coconuts per year and manage fair trade programs.

No stranger to the coconut business, Dhanoj jumped at the chance to share his knowledge gained from working in coconut fiber factories as a teenager, an opportunity that also sparked his love for the “Coconut Triangle,” Sri Lanka’s coconut production center. During high school, Dhanoj also participated in community outreach programs where he helped women set up charcoal-making businesses.

The opportunity to work at Serendipol came as a silver-lined cloud after Dhanoj’s own coconut fiber business failed—due to an economic downturn. A former supervisor saw his potential and offered what Dhanoj calls “an opportunity of a lifetime.”

Today, Dhanoj embodies Serendipol’s commitment to treating employees fairly with respect and appreciation. He states that the best part of his job is the opportunity to blend the company’s commitment to organic and fair trade practices with his passions for providing fair compensation, grower and worker family support, and health care and educational opportunities. His commitment reaches outside the company and includes sponsoring a rural child with money for a school year, a commitment now shared by Serendipol which gives the same support to 47 children of workers and growers.