NEWS
GreenTalk with EquifruitBack to News
07 Apr 2021
What inspired you to create a Fairtrade and Organic accredited banana brand?
Equifruit’s founders were very motivated by Fairtrade as a mix between business and community development, and saw a gap in the Canadian market for Fairtrade bananas. The company changed hands in 2013, and the new management team is focussed on changing Canadian mindsets about bananas. Bananas are the cheapest fruit in your produce section – but only because some invisible person back at origin is making up the difference through low wages and poor working conditions. We want those invisible people to be seen, to have their work valued. A small price increase in Canada has a big economic effect at origin.
What were the main challenges you faced in order to get it launched; and are you still facing these challenges today?
Our greatest challenge is overcoming decades-long thinking of bananas as simply a cheap commodity. We do a lot of education about the state of the banana industry and the importance of Fairtrade at multiple levels: from the senior management of supermarket chains, to retail produce buyers and of course, to consumers at point of sale or through our website & social media.
What were the most memorable, defying moments during this time?
From a commercial perspective, it’s always exciting to start a new retail partnership, as we know that the more Fairtrade bananas we sell here in Canada, the greater the impact for our producers. Through Fairtrade, we respect floor prices for the fruit and also contribute US$ 1 / 40lb case as a “social premium”. The social premiums are used by the cooperatives we work with to invest either in capacity building for their business needs or in community development projects. Let’s say we work with a new customer who’s selling half a container of Equifruit’s organic, Fairtrade bananas / week: this is equal to US$ 480 / week, or nearly US$ 25,000 per year in social premium contributions. So from a social mission perspective, It’s very motivating to visit projects which have got funded by the Fairtrade social premium, such as investments in local schools and health centres, knowing that Equifruit had a role in generating those funds.
What helped you to see it through to the end?
We haven’t seen the end of our project! We want Equifruit’s Fairtrade bananas to be available everywhere, to be mainstream and no longer a niche product. We are very involved in the World Banana Forum, and thus connected to a broad network of stakeholders in the banana industry, from small producers, worker unions, producing company export organizations, large traders and (mostly European) retailers. We have deep discussions about how to achieve a fair distribution of value along the supply chain, or about the working conditions of banana workers – and the more we understand about the challenges for those at the beginning of the chain, the more motivated we are to continue our work to build the market for Fairtrade fruit in Canada.
What are your plans for the next 5 years?
World Fairtrade Banana Domination. 😊 With volume comes impact for growers and plantation workers in producing countries. We are very motivated by steadily increasing our volumes of Fairtrade bananas and by taking Equifruit’s Fairtrade bananas mainstream.
www.equifruit.com
Equifruit’s founders were very motivated by Fairtrade as a mix between business and community development, and saw a gap in the Canadian market for Fairtrade bananas. The company changed hands in 2013, and the new management team is focussed on changing Canadian mindsets about bananas. Bananas are the cheapest fruit in your produce section – but only because some invisible person back at origin is making up the difference through low wages and poor working conditions. We want those invisible people to be seen, to have their work valued. A small price increase in Canada has a big economic effect at origin.
What were the main challenges you faced in order to get it launched; and are you still facing these challenges today?
Our greatest challenge is overcoming decades-long thinking of bananas as simply a cheap commodity. We do a lot of education about the state of the banana industry and the importance of Fairtrade at multiple levels: from the senior management of supermarket chains, to retail produce buyers and of course, to consumers at point of sale or through our website & social media.
What were the most memorable, defying moments during this time?
From a commercial perspective, it’s always exciting to start a new retail partnership, as we know that the more Fairtrade bananas we sell here in Canada, the greater the impact for our producers. Through Fairtrade, we respect floor prices for the fruit and also contribute US$ 1 / 40lb case as a “social premium”. The social premiums are used by the cooperatives we work with to invest either in capacity building for their business needs or in community development projects. Let’s say we work with a new customer who’s selling half a container of Equifruit’s organic, Fairtrade bananas / week: this is equal to US$ 480 / week, or nearly US$ 25,000 per year in social premium contributions. So from a social mission perspective, It’s very motivating to visit projects which have got funded by the Fairtrade social premium, such as investments in local schools and health centres, knowing that Equifruit had a role in generating those funds.
What helped you to see it through to the end?
We haven’t seen the end of our project! We want Equifruit’s Fairtrade bananas to be available everywhere, to be mainstream and no longer a niche product. We are very involved in the World Banana Forum, and thus connected to a broad network of stakeholders in the banana industry, from small producers, worker unions, producing company export organizations, large traders and (mostly European) retailers. We have deep discussions about how to achieve a fair distribution of value along the supply chain, or about the working conditions of banana workers – and the more we understand about the challenges for those at the beginning of the chain, the more motivated we are to continue our work to build the market for Fairtrade fruit in Canada.
What are your plans for the next 5 years?
World Fairtrade Banana Domination. 😊 With volume comes impact for growers and plantation workers in producing countries. We are very motivated by steadily increasing our volumes of Fairtrade bananas and by taking Equifruit’s Fairtrade bananas mainstream.
www.equifruit.com
