Author Archive
La Siembra
Established in 1999 with the vision to connect southern cocoa and sugar producers with Canadian consumers in a sustainable manner, La Siembra has built a national brand out of their offices in Ottawa of Fair Trade and Organic cocoa, sugar and chocolate products known widely as Cocoa Camino. They currently have 21 retail products available [...]
Fundación Solidaridad
The recent earthquakes in Chile have naturally caused concern over the welfare of our customers. Shared Interest has worked with the Chilean handicraft organisation, Fundación Solidaridad since 2001. The company began work as part of COPACHI in 1974, supporting the production and sale of handicrafts made by political prisoners detained in prisons and detention camps [...]
Customer Focus DWP
Shared Interest has worked with German Buyer organisation DWP since 2000. DWP were founded in 1988, and started life in a basement. Since then they have gone on to occupy the rest of their building and perhaps more importantly, to establish cooperative trade relations with more than 50 producer groups in 30 countries. DWP currently [...]
Bananas, Mangoes and Pineapples + Fair Trade = AgroFair
The Netherlands based, AgroFair Europe B.V. is a fresh fruit company, co-owned by farmers in Africa and Latin America. AgroFair introduced the first fair trade fresh fruit into Europe ten years ago and its products are now sold in Europe and the USA. The organisation imported the world’s first fair trade bananas in 1996 and [...]
Customer Spotlight – Cepicafe Peru
Cepicafe, one of Shared Interest’s most established Peruvian Coffee and Cocoa customers has recently been visited by the famous choclatier – Pierre Marcolini. Marcolini came in search of Peru´s white gold: the Porcelana variety of cacao, so named for its white-coloured cocoa pod from which the beans are extracted. This delicate strain of cocoa, it [...]
Customer Focus – Dukunde Kawa Cooperative (MUSASA)
MUSASA was founded in 2000 with 300 founder members and was legally incorporated in 2002. The cooperative is located in Ruli sector of Rushashi district and cultivates its high quality coffee near a mountain gorilla habitat of central Rwanda. In 2003, Musasa cooperative built a washing station in Rushashi district with the help of a [...]
Customer Focus Zaytoun
Zaytoun became a customer of Shared Interest in 2008. Zaytoun is a community interest company established in 2004 to support marginalized farming communities in Palestine.
Customer Focus Equal Exchange Inc
We have been working together with Equal Exchange, Inc since 1995. The facility we operate with EEI is a unique one. They operate a buyer line of credit for their fair trade purchases and also guarantee a line of credit for producers who either do not have access to a Shared Interest account or do not have enough credit available on their own line.
New Lending in Kenya
A new Export Credit Facility and Term Loan has been approved for handicraft group Bega Kwa Bega, based in Korogocho, one of Nairobi’s largest slums. Bega Kwa Bega is a Kiswahili expression meaning shoulder to shoulder. The goup was founded in 1991 with the help from the Catholic Church in Korogocho to help rehabilitate girls and women rescued [...]
South American Fairtrade Coffee Harvest Kicks Off!
Many of our South American coffee producer groups are gearing up for this year’s harvest. Depending on their altitude, harvest can start as early as March and last until November. So what a better way to kick off the harvest than by lending nearly 1 million dollars to one of our larger coffee producers? Established [...]