Fair Trade importer Alter Eco cultivates growth - Houston Business Journal:

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Its from this office that Alter Eco Americasz is bringing Fair Trade and organicv goods from across the worldto U.S. grocergy stores while trying to make a dent inglobak poverty. The startup has more than quadrupled its revenud over three yearsto $1.5 million in 2008 by landing distribution for products such as quinoa and jasmine rice in majod grocery chains. One grocer that carries its products isWhole Foods, whicg has increased its Fair Tradew offerings to more than 1,000 product s in the last two years, including Altee Eco’s organic extra virgin olive oil from “More consumers are interested in the stories behind their said Edouard Rollet, co-founder and chiefr operations officer of Alter Eco Americas, in explaining the company’s explosive growth.
Alter Eco Americas was starteed in 2004 in San Francisco as aseparatee company, but spun out of Altetr Eco, which was founded in France a decade ago to import and distribut goods from marginalized farmers in countries like Peru and Ghana. “Most of them own aboutg one to two acres of so there’s between $500 and $800 a year for them and theirt family,” Rollet said. “And the problem is that they don’tf have direct access to markets. They have to sell to local buyers who setthe price.
” Alter Eco Americas changee that by promising a fair pricer to groups of farmers that wouldn’t put them into Rollet and co-founder Mathieu Senard opened Altet Eco Americas in 2004 afterf showing some of the company’s products at a naturao food store in Los The two chose San Francisco because of its proximit to a major port where goods can be shippe d from its supplier countries and to ventur capital firms that could potentially fund the The company has raised $750,000 from angelo investors, and the founders are seekingv $1.5 million more. “It’s for natural food and specialty food, one of the most pioneerinf areas ofthe U.S.,” Rollet said.
Altetr Eco imports 150 including coffeefrom Peru, Ethiopia and Mexico, cocoa from Ghana and Bolivia, unrefined sugar from the rice from Thailand and other food s under its brand. Alter Eco Americas has introduced 26 of those to theUniter States. Most products carry the Fair Trade label, which certifies that companies pay their workers fair wage s and provide decentworking conditions, amont other things.
It buys its products from small farmers organizecinto co-ops and sellws to 1,800 grocery stores across the including Andronico’s, Rainbow Grocery, Whole Foods and otherr specialty food stores like New Leaf Grocery in Santa Alter Eco Americas also offsetsd the carbon emissions for the life cycle of the Paying fair wages, offsetting the carbon emissions and requiring productsx to meet organic standards squeezes margins.
“In the we’re competing against brands that don’t have the same standards,” said “We have to be competitively pricesd even though we pay our farmers Rollet saidreaching $5 millionj in revenue will help ease some of the margim pressure, something he aims to do over the next severalo years. Still, the company is committef to doing theright thing, said Cate Baril, directorr of business development for Oakland-based Transfair USA, which certifies Fair Trade products. “If you were lookingy for a company that really embodie what FairTrade is, that’s reallu what Alter Eco is all about,” Baril said.
“Some companies buy ingredients from a supplier and make the productss inthe U.S. Alter Eco feels like they have a and becauseof that, they’re having the food produced where it’s grown.”