La Siembra Cooperative
Ottawa, Ontario
CAIC Ventures into Fair Trade Cocoa with La Siembra Cooperative Inc
The Canadian Alternative Investment Cooperative (CAIC) recently approved a loan to La Siembra Cooperative, an Ottawa-based worker cooperative that markets fair trade organic sugar and cocoa based products in North America. La Siembra's fair trade products support an alternative trading model that ensures that fair prices are paid to men and women cocoa and sugar farmers in Latin America and the Caribbean.
CAIC's Mission Statement states that CAIC invests in groups working for positive social change that promote alternative economic structures and which act as a catalyst to structural change. CAIC wanted to support the concept of fair trade (an alternative trading model) to live out our mandate while protecting our members' capital. We were able to do both with this loan.
La Siembra's Cocoa Camino product line is sold throughout Canada and is expanding distribution into the United States. Products that are certified Fair Trade guarantee consumers that farmers receive higher than world market prices including the payment of organic and social premiums that are used for development programs that are decided by the co-op members themselves.
CAIC's loan played and important part in growing the capital needed to grow this fair trade worker cooperative.
Website: www.lasiembra.com
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