This was the goal of Interrupcion, a Buenos Aires-based company born in 2000 just before the collapse of the Argentine economy. The company developed with an initial goal of “interrupting” ways of thinking and developing new ideas. And it wasn’t long before interrupcion honed in on agricultural and food production value chains where it saw an opportunity to serve consumers organic, Fair Trade products that were about so much more than food. It wanted to grow food and create positive social change, protect environmental resources and help people in marginalized communities.
Distinct goals
“Our mission and mandate is extremely unique in the produce industry,” says Rafael Goldberg of Interrupcion New York. After all, in the world of food, when Interrupcion was starting, Fair Trade coffee was doing well in its market. That held promise that Fair Trade-produce may also be of interest to consumers. “However, Fair Trade standards, items and operators in produce at the time were extremely limited to bananas and pineapples. A couple of companies were growing them in a small way so we had to create standards for and production of the first Fair Trade blueberries, apples, pears, cherries as well as other products. We had to educate buyers and retailers about the value of our values to consumers in the US market,” says Goldberg.
Today, under the brand “Taste Me, Do Good” the company sources products through Latin/Central America including Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Mexico, Costa Rica and through several U.S. states including Florida, North Carolina, California and the Pacific Northwest. To ensure its values are upheld, Interrupcion owns/leases and operates its own model farms and facilities that are focal points for our supply development and social/environmental impact. “These farms include Fair Trade Organic Biodynamic pear and apple orchards, blueberry farms and strawberry and vegetable fields,” says Goldberg. From these hubs, Interrupcion works with associated producers in nearby communities to create long-term supply partnerships and it brings some heft to the table: it supplies capital investments, technical capacity, packing, logistics and export services, help in achieving and maintaining Fair Trade and Organic certifications, bio-fertilizers and farming inputs and managing community investment funds and worker’s assemblies. “We also work with some larger growing operators, creating marketing agreements for products to complement our own supplies,” says Goldberg.
New buying criteria
Together it produces blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, pears, apple, plums, bananas, mangoes, pineapples, asparagus, artichokes, squash, leafy greens and some contract growing products. With its focus now on retail, Interrupcion works throughout North America and Europe with brick-and-mortar retailers as well as online suppliers. Next up: it is growing its processed and “derivative” product lines.
To Goldberg, it’s a new way of thinking that he believes consumers—and growers--of produce are ready to invest in. “The food industry has woken up in a tremendous way to a new set of buying criteria for a growing segment of the eating public,” he says. “I see a rapidly evolving consumer base looking for great products that contain dynamic benefits including health and nutrition, but also quality and freshness and meaning and purpose. The future is that consumers will increasingly incorporate their values and personal interests into the buying decisions they make.”
For more information:
Rafael Goldberg
Interrupcion
Tel: +1-718-417-4076
ravi.goldberg@interrupcion.net
www.tastemedogood.com