Canadian Independent Organic Distributor Earns Fair for Life Fair Trade Certification
February 4, 2010 – The Institute for Marketecology (IMO) rings in the New Year
by issuing Fair for Life Fair Trade Certification to a locally-owned Canadian
independent distributor of organic produce, Discovery Islands Organics, Ltd.
Fair for Life was developed as an alternative Fair Trade Certification Program by
the Swiss Bio-Foundation, in cooperation with IMO, in 2006. Since then, Fair for
Life Social & Fair Trade Certification has gained quick acceptance in worldwide
markets, as it offers many complimentary benefits to existing Fair Trade systems.
These benefits include high transparency, social responsibility audits,
requirements for good environmental performance, and the ability to combine
Fair Trade certification with other programs, such as organic certification, for all
major world markets.
Discovery Islands Organics is an organic and Fair Trade importer and distributor
for fresh produce. They carry several product lines, such as bananas from Peru,
and avocados and mangos from Mexico, that are FLO certified, and now also
blueberries, apples and pears that are Fair for Life Fair Trade Certified to origin.
The core principals of the company are in ethical sourcing and ‘grower
development’, as they go far beyond the role of a regular distributor/importer in
being transparent to farmers, and in helping farmers understand the market and
improve their livelihoods. Discovery Islands Organics’ ethnical sourcing policy is
to buy local and direct, first and foremost, and they also work primarily with
grower cooperatives for the majority of their product sourcing. They help to
educate their growers on fair trade, and have supported the implementation of
fair trade certified systems with their growers. Discovery Islands Organics pays
fair prices, and social premiums that are usually well above the base level for fair
trade. They are also active with their domestic growers, and are interested in
promoting domestic fair trade among these producers, especially in the
Northwestern United States, and British Columbia, Canada, regions. Discovery
Islands Organics is active in educating the retailers on the importance of
supporting ethically grown and sourced produce.
“We are happy to see a pioneer in the Northwestern and Canadian organic
movements embrace fair trade among its sourcing practices and company policy.
The combination of organic and fair trade, both domestically and internationally
are important in promoting sustainability through trade.” says Wolfgang Kathe,
Department Manager for Social & FairTrade at IMO.
To learn more about IMO, visit, www.FairforLife.net or www.IMO.ch, or contact
Kerry Hughes at Kerry@IMO-Control.org (North American
Contact) or Anja Ibkendanz at ai@imo.ch (Swiss Contact). To learn more about
Discovery Islands Organics, contact Randy Hooper at
discoveryorganics@gmail.com.
