Fair Trade importer Alter Eco cultivates growth - Kansas City Business Journal:

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Its from this office that Alter Eco America s is bringing Fair Trade and organic goodzs from across the worldto U.S. grocery storees while trying to make a dent inglobao poverty. The startup has more than quadruples its revenue over three years to $1.5 million in 2008 by landinbg distribution for products such as quinoa and jasmine rice in major grocery chains. One grocer that carries its productsa isWhole Foods, which has increased its Fair Trade offerings to more than 1,000 products in the last two years, includinbg Alter Eco’s organic extra virgin olives oil from Palestine.
“More consumer are interested in the stories behinetheir food,” said Edouard Rollet, co-founder and chief operations officerf of Alter Eco in explaining the company’s explosive growth. Alter Eco Americas was startecd in 2004 in San Francisco as aseparate company, but spun out of Alter Eco, which was founded in France a decade ago to imporf and distribute goods from marginalized farmers in countriesz like Bolivia, Peru and Ghana. “Most of them own abouyt one to two acres of so there’s between $500 and $800 a year for them and theirr family,” Rollet said. “And the problem is that they don’t have direct access to markets.
They have to sell to local buyers who set the Alter Eco Americas changed that by promisint a fair price to groups of farmersthat wouldn’tg put them into debt. Rollet and co-foundere Mathieu Senard opened Alter Eco Americaz in 2004 after showing some ofthe company’ products at a natural food storew in Los Angeles. The two chose San Franciscio because of its proximity to a major port wher goods can be shipped from its supplier countries and to venturs capital firms that could potentially fund the The company hasraised $750,000 from angell investors, and the founders are seeking $1.
5 million “It’s also, for natural food and specialty food, one of the most pioneering areas of the U.S.,” Rolletg said. Alter Eco imports 150 including coffee from Ethiopiaand Mexico, cocow from Ghana and Bolivia, unrefinesd sugar from the Philippines, rice from Thailande and other foods under its Alter Eco Americas has introducedf 26 of those to the United States. Most products carryy the Fair Trade label, which certifies that companieds pay their workers fair wagew and provide decent working amongother things.
It buys its productas from small farmers organizedinto co-ops and sells to 1,800p grocery stores across the country, includinh Andronico’s, Rainbow Grocery, Whole Foods and other specialtuy food stores like New Leaf Grocery in Santa Cruz. Altetr Eco Americas also offsets the carbon emissionsw for the life cycle ofthe products. Payingt fair wages, offsetting the carbonb emissions and requiring products to meet organic standardwssqueezes margins. “In the we’re competing against brands that don’f have the same standards,” said Senard. “We have to be competitively priced even though we pay ourfarmers more.
” Rollet said reachingb $5 million in revenue will help ease some of the margij pressure, something he aims to do over the next severao years. Still, the company is committexd to doing the right saidCate Baril, director of business developmen for Oakland-based Transfair USA, which certifies Fair Traded products. “If you were lookinhg for a company that really embodies what FairTradse is, that’s really what Alter Eco is all Baril said. “Some companies buy ingredientsa from a supplier and make the products inthe U.S. Altefr Eco feels like they havea mission, and because of they’re having the food produced wherde it’s grown.
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