We value cooperation over competition. It’s why we sit down with other producers to establish fair trade practices and prices for the products each year. It helps us to collectively support the small producers, the communities they come from, and ensure that the forest is also treated with great care.

On top of the fair market price we pay to our small producers for organic product, over the past years we have distributed $500,000 to support better living conditions for producers and the communities they live in. This money has gone toward efforts like securing land rights, bettering education systems, improving collection infrastructure, and providing access to health care.

While we pride ourselves on the fruit and seeds we wild harvest from the forest, we know that it’s not enough for many of our small producers to live on. To generate additional income, we teach organic and biodynamic techniques to those who are interested, in order to diversify their production not to depend only on one product.

When we started, there weren’t any certifications or regulations around best practices for fair trade brazil nuts. Since our founding, we have pioneered the standards for fair trade in the nut industry. When it comes to compliance and benchmarks outlined by government bodies like the UNCTAD regarding biotrade, Candela was #1 in Peru with 92% compliance in 2009—many years before others adopted the same practices.