When you buy an interrupcion* product, you are fueling progress along the Fair Trade* Sustainable Development Path toward a sustainable future!
Commitment
Our commitment to producers ensures that your purchase makes a Positive Impact in producing communities and supports progress along the Fair Trade* Sustainable Development Path:
- Fair Price and Payment Terms to Producers
- Social Premiums for Investments in Producing Community
- Producer Development Assistance from ACI
- Transparency, Progress Measurement and Certification
Fair Trade* Sustainable Development Path
interrupcion* 's Fair Trade model engages producers committed to improving the long-term social, economic and environmental sustainability of their producing community while providing resources for incremental improvement along the Fair Trade* Sustainable Development Path from sustainable to alternativo!
You can see where along the Path producers are by visiting our product pages and checking each interrupcion* label for your product's sustainability rating: sustainable, fair trade, organic or alternativo!
Fair Price and Payment Conditions to Producers
Fair Price
A Fair Price always covers the cost of production and a healthy profit margin to provide a dignified livelihood for producers and resources for investment in the quality, capacity and sustainability of production. For the majority of our producers, this equates to about 5-10% above the market price.
In a few markets, such as blueberries, the market price received by producers exceeds Fair Price criteria. In these cases, interrupcion* pays the market price while investing in Social Premiums and Producer Development Support.
Fair Payment Conditions
interrupcion* is developing innovative risk-management tools with partner financial institutions to ensure that producers are paid in full as soon as the product is ready to leave the farm. While these financial tools are being developed, interrupcion* is committed to paying at minimum 10% before harvest, 40% upon delivery from the producer and the final 50% within 90 days of receiving the product.
Social Premiums for Investments in Producing Community
4% of interrupcion*’s gross revenue on each product is deposited into a Social Premium Account for farmers and harvest workers to invest in the social, economic and environmental sustainability of their production and community.
Social Premium investment decisions are made democratically by a committee of elected worker representatives or by cooperative producer assemblies depending on the type of producer organization involved. Producers and workers receive support from Asociación Civil Interrupcion* (ACI), our non-profit development partner, in developing social investment proposals that apply to the producing community’s specific needs.
Potential Social Premium Projects:
- Kindergarten for worker’s children
- University scholarships
- Retirement funds
- Micro-loans for small-enterprise
- Community gardens
- Public health programs
- Organic certification
- Cooperative strengthening
- Product quality improvement
- Alternative income projects
- And many more!
Visit our Product Pages to see up-to-date Social Premium totals generated from your purchases and progress made on projects funded by Social Premiums.
Producer Development Assistance
1% of interrupcion*’s gross revenue goes to fund Asociación Civil Interrupción* (ACI), our Buenos Aires based non-profit partner that works to assist producers in meeting Fair Trade Certification criteria and continually developing the social, economic and environmental sustainability of their production and community.
ACI’s Work
- Identify South American producers that can benefit from Fair Trade and are committed to collaborating along the Fair Trade* Sustainable Development Path
- Provide producers with technical assistance for meeting Fair Trade Certification social / environmental criteria and advancing along the Fair Trade* Sustainable Development Path
- Coordinate and fund Fair Trade inspection and certification services
- Seek grant funding to invest in the economic sustainability of small-producer production (i.e. quality improvement, capital investments and access to affordable loans)
- Collaborate with producers and worker committees to responsibly invest Social Premiums
Transparency, Progress Measurement and Certification
We partner with the Institute for Market-ecology (IMO), a respected Fair Trade certifier with over 20 years of social and organic certification experience, to provide transparency, progress measurement and certification of our processes and products.
IMO’s work
- Verify producers receive a Fair Price and Payment Terms
- Audit annual Social Premium investments
- Audit traceability of interrupcion* products
- Measure producer progress toward Fair Trade Certification and beyond
- Provide Fair Trade Certification to producers that have reached compliance with Fair Trade social, economic and environmental criteria
