Name: Mariana Mendoza
Product: cacao
Member since: 2006
Founded in 2005 with the aim of improving the living conditions of small-scale cocoa producers, Ecuador’s Fortaleza Cooperative made it their first priority to gain technical training in production and post-harvest management. Now that the farmers have established diversified and productive plantations that include cacao, banana, coconut and timber, they are working to catalyze their business. The co-op fosters international collaboration to consistently improve product quality while increasing yields and attracting new partnerships.
Name: Mariana Mendoza
Product: cacao
Member since: 2006
Thanks to Fair Trade we are able to sell our cacao at fair and stable prices. Before we were organized as a coop, many of us didn't know how to take true advantage of our plants' capacities and would ruin them with pesticides and fungicides."