Every month COTA celebrates an inspirational stories from our members who are radically transforming our food system and making waves in the organic world. This month we are excited to feature an interview with Camino, a COTA member since 2007, a founding organization of our association.
Tell us about your organization and the people who work there.
Founded in 1999, La Siembra Co-operative is an Ottawa-based worker-owned co-operative committed to a model of equitable trade that is rooted in co-operation and the social solidarity economy.
Under the Camino brand, La Siembra were Canadian pioneers of Fairtrade and organic cocoa and sugar, and has earned market leadership status as one of Canada’s top Fairtrade and organic food suppliers with extensive brand recognition among ethical and health conscious consumers. La Siembra has established a solid reputation as a values-driven supplier of premium quality, fair trade and organic certified products.
La Siembra has been trading directly with democratically organized farmer co-operatives for over 20 years and pays producers a guaranteed minimum price that provides a stable source of income while driving value for Canadian consumers and its national retail and manufacturing partners.
La Siembra employs workers who commit to both a governance model and a business model based on shared values and a common democratically controlled purpose.
What are you trying to achieve through your vision, mission, and purpose?
Through our vision, mission and purpose, La Siembra aims to improve the livelihoods of family farmers, support rural economic development in the global south, and support the health and well-being of communities at home and abroad through economic co-operation.
Our highly recognizable brand symbol – the Camino Swirl, represents the path that connects small-holder farmers and consumers. It is through that connection where democratic and sustainable food systems can be created.
How was the organization founded? What are the origins of the organization?
By the late 1990s, small-farmer allied organizations and alternative traders organizations (ATOs) in the US and Canada committed to ethical trade were working hard to build citizen consumer movements around global coffee and banana markets.
Combining their work in international development and education, the founders of La Siembra formed the co-operative to address the issues of inequality and exploitation between cocoa growers and manufacturers, with sugar and other allied products to bring to the Canadian market under a fair trade model.
Chocolate, which has always been dominated by large corporations and dependent on child or indentured labour, was the perfect vehicle to reach and educate intergenerational consumers about social and economic justice issues facing small farmer communities and the importance of fair trade and democratic governance in addressing these inequities.
Please share highlights of your organization’s innovation, inspiration, and dedication to organic.
All of Camino products are certified organic, including the bulk and specialty ingredients we manage for our manufacturing and food production partners.
With the 20+ years we have in managing international and small-farmer value chains, we have seen tremendous growth and demand for organic cocoa and sugar products, especially during the pandemic. Bulk sales now make up more than 25% of our revenues as consumers increase their demand for organic food. Manufacturers and existing food brands concerned with the health and wellness of their consumers are revaluating their supply chains and switching to more sustainable and regenerative practices to meet consumer demand.
The growth in the organic market in Canada, either directly as a Camino branded product or indirectly as a trusted supplier of fair trade and organic ingredients, has resulted in a tremendous increase in volume and premiums for our producer partners in the global south.
How does your organization interact with organic – either directly as a grower or with your suppliers?
You cannot look at any of the issues facing farmers, and not realize that virtually all our food is from petro-chemical-intensive farming systems controlled by a handful of corporate land owners. The consolidation on both ends of the value chain – small-holder access to land and markets, as well as the distribution and availability of consumer goods on the shelf resulted in the illusion of choice. None of which have been empowering for small-scale producers nor ecologically sustainable.
As 100% fair traders our commitment to working with small-scale organic farming co-operatives ensures that farmers are paid a living income at the farm gate and that the fair trade, organic and quality premiums they receive are sufficient enough to incentivize sustainable and sound land management that is both productive and prosperous.
In addition, we ensure that there is ongoing engagement that supports the work of the co-operatives and their producer members to overcome technical challenges and food safety on the ground, either through co-operative to co-operative learning and knowledge exchange, or by directly supporting community led projects and research addressing issues of organics and food safety in cacao production.
What gets you most excited about the organic community and your involvement in it?
The issues that get me excited about the organic community is how new social and environmental movements have engaged with us. It has become holistic in its approach and it encompasses, and almost demands, a political lens, outside of the regulatory environment. Of course, compliance is an important component to ensuring consumer confidence and safety, but the real work and change is happening in the way global food systems are being confronted by citizen consumers demanding more from us. In the long run that will be good for the organic community and for farmers.
What advice do you have for newbies in the industry?
Our advice to newbies in the industry is to participate in the eco-system fully and understand every part of the supply chain. Do not just rely on the suppliers to meet the technical and food safety standards you require. Truly engage to understand how to better support farming partners and invest in organic and regenerative practices that make their community and food supply healthy, the same way we are working here in Canada.
What are your hopes and dreams for transforming the food system to be more ecological?
My hopes and dreams for transforming the food system is that consumers will see themselves as part of the chain and engage with us beyond having a temporary transactional moment with us and our brand.
We need consumers to help us democratize our food system, to support the social solidarity economy and build markets for organic producers. People who want to see our food system change for a healthier, more democratic and fair one, can support organizations like ours by making small and incremental changes to their purchasing choices. We invite them to join us on the Camino.
About the Author, Kelly Storie
Kelly has been a part of the co-operative and solidarity community for over 25 years and is the Executive Director of La Siembra Co-operative (Camino), a fair trade mission-driven workers co-operative dedicated to small-farmer livelihoods and economic democracy.
To learn more about Camino, visit https://camino.ca/