Giumarra has worked with the Salazar family for more than 20 years to market their
watermelons and grapes grown in Sonora, Mexico. The farm is family owned and operated.
Erika Salazar
The Salazar family has had a social responsibility program in place since 2009, providing employees and their families with free child care, weekly medical checks, housing, meals, education, and transportation to and from elementary and secondary school.
"We are extremely proud to work with the Salazar family because of the long-standing community programs they have in place," says John Corsaro, executive vice president of the Giumarra Companies. "Fair Trade will allow us to further benefit the community in which the farm operates, while partnering us with like-minded customers who want to pursue this cause."
John Corsaro
Giumarra customers who now purchase watermelons or grapes grown on the Salazar ranch have the option to buy fruit bearing the Fair Trade label. The product is sold at a premium, with the additional funds going to a worker council fund for the employees of the farm.
The funds support community development programs, such as micro-lending, education, or housing projects, which are voted on by the worker council.
"Fair Trade USA has experienced great growth, especially in produce. We are excited to be a part of this and definitely hope to expand the program to include some of our other products and growers," says Erika Salazar, East Coast business development manager for Giumarra.
"We are pleased to be working with the Salazar family and Giumarra to bring even more benefits to the workers that harvest their watermelons and grapes. Fair Trade Certified products offer retailers and consumers a unique opportunity to directly contribute to improvements not only at the farm level, but also in workers’ home communities, which sometimes lack basic services like secondary schools and clean water," says Paul Rice, president and CEO of Fair Trade USA.
For more information:
Megan Schulz
The Giumarra Companies
Tel: +1 213 627 2900
mschulz@giumarra.com
www.giumarra.com
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