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Impact ID: 686

fair trade chimichurri steak & vegetable sauce

interrupcion* fair trade
What is this?
A traditional Argentine compliment to grilled and otherwise prepared meats and vegetables. This rich savory sauce has a zesty, tangy finish and is made with vinegar, herbs and tomatoes produced in the Mendoza Province of Argentina.

1. Lino Granda

Small-Scale Aromatic Spice Cultivation
Lino Granda has lived in the Medocino district of Chilecito (Population: 400) for 30 years producing aromatic Rosemary, Thyme and Sage on his small farm. It’s evident that Lino takes pride in everything he does, from creating delicious spices using organic compost to raising prize-winning goats. He also believes that age should never slow you down: at 70, Lino is attending classes to learn how to distil his spices into aromatic oil and attempting his first mushroom garden. “A tree dies standing!” he likes to remind his visitors. In the 80s, Lino was part of a small, local spice cooperative that failed due to financial trouble and an unfavorable political climate. Today Lino produces independently, but still has dreams of joining with his fellow local spice producers to rebuild the cooperative. “We need to come together, so we can share the costs of new drying racks and maybe even make our own spice brand”, he explains. interrupcion* is working with Lino and Roberto Alcaraz S.A. to use a portion of Linos harvest for our 2008 Chimichurri production. With resources from Fair Trade, Lino will be able to invest in needed equipment to increase the value of his harvest, provide better safety gear for his workers and just maybe bring his old cooperative back together.

2. Roberto Alcaraz S.A. (c)

Process Local Ingredients into Chimichurri Steak & Vegetable Sauce
Roberto Alcaraz used his knack for mixing local ingredients to create amazing flavors into a livelihood for his family and over 60 workers. Through tough times during the 2001 Argentine economic collapse, Roberto worked restlessly to save his small business and protect a source of income for his employees, the majority of which are women. Today, Roberto has ensured that all of his workers are employed legally, working in safe conditions and earning above the national minimum wage. Additionally, Roberto has committed to developing a long-term relationship with Lino Granda and paying 5% over the regional market price for Rosemary and Thyme, the principal spices used in Chimichurri, to be used in 2008 production of our Chimichurri Steak & Vegetable Sauce. Every purchase of interrupcion* fair trade Chimichurri Steak & Vegetable Sauce supports this medium-sized operation, it’s Fair Trade relationship with Lino Granda and demonstrates to other businesses in the region that profitability and social responsibility go hand in hand.
Premium Investments 2008-2009:

Asociación Civil Interrupción, our non-profit partner in Argentina, conducted several worker assemblies to decide the fair trade premium investments.

During this assemblies, workers decided to donate their premium money to finance a chirugical intervention of a 8 year old girl that lives in their neighborhood.

Fair Trade Certification Associación Civil Interrrupcion* has worked with Lino Granda and Roberto Alcaraz S.A. for the last 6 months in making important changes in their operations to qualify for Fair Trade Certification. Among other accomplishments, we are proud of Roberto and Lino for developing a Fair Trade commercial relationship that provides preferential pricing and long-term planning in a local market that often treats raw materials like nameless, faceless commodities. The desition of our third party certifier was issued. The Chimichurri value chain is Fair Trade Certified. We look forward to working with these producers in investing premiums for improving the social, economic and environmental sustainability of the producing community.