Wholesome Sweeteners holds fast to a "Fair Trade, Not Aid" philosophy. Wholesome pioneered fair trade certification for sweeteners and in so doing, fostered ever-widening agricultural and community development programs while providing stable economic resources for our cooperative partners in developing countries. We have created a viable economic incentive to protect communities, traditions and the environment. This means that farmers can compete against factory farms, keep their land (and buy more), send their kids to school, develop the quality of their crops and build community resources. Fair Trade CertifiedTM is is our guarantee that we pay the farmers a set premium for their crops. The money is wired directly from our accounts to the cooperatives' accounts in Costa Rica, Malawi, Mexico and Paraguay. Since the first quarter of 2006, when Wholesome Fair Trade Certified the granulated sugar line, we have paid more than $1,000,000 in premiums to our cooperative partners. Fair Trade Certifiied is a promise that Farmers cooperatives are paid directly (no middlemen) The members receive a set price for their crops that is fair and reliable The cooperative has access to loans and additional premiums for community and business development   Who plays ... and how? The Farmers & Cooperatives who agree to grow crops and produce goods in keeping with specific social and environmental standards. TransFair USA & Fair Trade Labelling Organizations International, 3rd party certifiers, who make sure that agreements made are kept—by all parties. TransFair also offers programs to cooperatives that help them develop business acumen and promotes the Fair Trade message in the US. Importers (including Wholesome Sweeteners) who pay the farmers cooperatives directly according to prices set through international agreements. Consumers who now more than ever express their social and environmental values by supporting the farmers and companies responsible for bringing Fair Trade Certified products into the market. Look for the Fair Trade Certified™ logo It’s the only independent, third-party consumer guarantee that companies have complied with strict, audited economic, social and environmental criteria for particular products, and are creating a more equitable and sustainable trade system for producers. Social Benefits of Fair Trade Fair Trade Certified cooperative members are generally very small producers managing their farm with their own and their family's labor-force. Their farming operations are small, but solid. They just need a little help moving into the global marketplace. Fair Trade provides opportunities for the social and economical development of ALL of the members. Each person has a voice in the cooperative's investments and programs. When consumers see a product with the Fair Trade Certified label, they are guaranteed that farmers received a fair price and all of the other benefits of the fair trade system.  Interested in learning more about the evolution of Wholesome Sweeteners' Fair Trade Certified programs? Follow this link ...

Wholesome Sweeteners Fair Trade Certified products   The Fair Trade Certifiers TransFair USA Fair Trade Labelling Organizations International

Wholesome Sweeteners Fair Trade partners and their projects

Paraguay We are grateful to Fair Trade for the huge help that producers received, even though our certification is still very recent. The financial support producers receive makes a big difference.      --Roberto Rojas, Cooperative President Active co-op members: 933 Average farm size: 2-5 hectares (~5-12 acres) Premiums invested in: Crop diversification, biodiversity projects and environmental education: Planted citrus trees to help diversify economic opportunities and the women of the coop planted and tend a medicinal garden, teaching the traditional cures to new generations. Improved communication: Installed a radio station that broadcasts to the entire community (it’s especially useful for tracking cane prices, harvests, road conditions and weather) Community & farm infrastructure: Invested in roads and bridge repairs that connect about 80 members to the rest of world. They also acquired a truck and tractor for excavating, leveling, hoeing, and easier transportation to the mill, which reduces travel time for the members and improves the marketability of the sugar cane. Micro-credit: Initiated a credit program that provides members with low-interest loans. Healthcare services: Maintaining the co-op’s only ambulance; subsidized dental care for its members; Another coop makes dental and medical consultation available to the entire village while subsidizing its members’ costs. Technical assistance: Providing resources to help the members produce citrus and medicinal plants in addition to the cane crop.  Office construction: Building cooperative offices and a resource center. The facility is equipped with a fully functional dentist and doctor’s office, waiting rooms, restrooms, a large meeting room and a small kitchen.		Malawi The premiums from Fair Trade sales have increased our income and our status. We're also assured of sustainability in our business--part of the premium money is invested in the plough-out and planting program.     --Exford Dimo, Cane grower and co-op board member Active co-op Members: 282 Average farm size: 2.5 hectares (6.1 acres) Premiums invested in: Access to safe water: Drilling water wells that bring safe water to villages. Previously, people carried water from the Shire River, where crocodiles have killed several water-gatherers, and the unsanitary water supply frequently causes diseases such as bilharzia, cholera and dysentery.  Electricity: Bringing power to the village, which previously had no access to electricity. Medical supplies: Supplying 20,000 tablets of the medication required to treat bilharzia, a common and deadly water borne disease. Schools and a new clinic: Providing building materials for the construction of schools. They plan to build a school for children in remote villages and a secondary school near the co-op’s offices. New crops: Helping replant 12% of the members’ land every year. Credit: Providing co-op members with small, low-interest loans.		Costa Rica I think that Fair Trade brings security. We sow the cane thinking it's going to get a good price. But what happens? When the time comes, the price is bad. I know that if I sell to a Fair Trade buyer that I'll get fair treatment. I'm sure that the buyer will be monitored and will buy at a fair price.      --Alberto Hernandez, co-op member Active co-op Members: 48 Average farm size: 3 hectares (7.4 acres) Premiums invested in: Infrastructure: Building a community-owned sugar processing mill Environmental sustainability: Implementing reforestation projects that add help restore the area’s biodiversity and building organic furnaces that can burn the crushed cane, called bagasse.

In Paraguay, for example, more and more local farmers are receiving training and help from a local sugar mill and are converting to organic farming practices. In turn, the mill funds a school for all employees’ children, provides medical facilities which include a fully qualified doctor, and workers with more than five years of service are awarded a plot of land and an interest-free loan with which to build a home and farm.