Relationships in the Time of COVID
By Phyllis Robinson, current Citizen-Consumer member and former Equal Exchange Education and Campaigns Coordinator
Photo left: On a pre-COVID visit to Peru in 2019, Equal Exchange’s Laura Bechard and Candelaria Peña Villacorta of ACOPAGRO share a parting embrace; photo right: ACOPAGRO’s Franclin del Castillo López demonstrates how they turn cacao during the fermentation process.
Valentine’s Day is approaching and thoughts of love, friendship and gratitude permeate the air.
Despite the extra layer of stresses and worries the pandemic is causing, we at Equal Exchange are also feeling a depth of gratitude and affection for the myriad relationships that we have cultivated over these past four decades. We simply can’t say it enough: creating, maintaining, and deepening relationships are the pillars that our organization and our business model are built upon. Cultivating these strong relationships with – and between – small farmer cooperatives, trading partners, like-minded businesses, non-profits, religious organizations, and citizen-consumers: weaving these disparate strands together into something beautiful and transformative is both the means and the ends of why we exist.
Because relationships are fundamental to our business model, in some ways you could say that every day is Valentine’s Day at Equal Exchange. And, since chocolate has come to symbolize love, it seemed fitting to ask Dary Goodrich, Chocolate Products Manager and Laura Bechard, Chocolate Supply Chain Coordinator, for a recent example that highlights Equal Exchange’s unique model of alternative trade in the food industry. How does the chocolate team build relationships and foster communication, trust, and mutual learning among the members that comprise its supply chain? To what end? How, if at all, has the pandemic changed their approach and what has been the impact?
Since our founding, Equal Exchange has always invested deeply in time and resources to connect to our farmer partners. Despite language, culture, infrastructure, and access challenges, we have literally gone the extra mile to meet our partners face to face. We visit the producers; tour their farms and processing centers; learn how they cultivate and care for the land. We talk with them and participate in their co-op meetings: how are they organized and governed? What are their hopes, dreams, worries, and challenges?
The learning is mutual: we share information about who we are; how we are organized; our successes and challenges. We let them know how their products are marketed, sold, and enjoyed in the U.S. We also invite our trading partners to visit us: attend trade shows; participate in our co-op meetings, tour our facilities, visit the stores that sell their products, and talk to consumers.
These exchanges are one of the richest parts of our model and unequivocally what sets us apart from others in the food industry.
Taking our relationships to another level
Early in 2020, we decided to host our first Annual Chocolate Chip Value Chain Summit with representatives of five of our Peruvian small farmer cacao cooperative partners whose cacao goes into our chocolate chips (ACOPAGRO, Oro Verde, APROSAROCH, APANS, and Cacao Aroma de Tocache); the manufacturer who produces the chips; ourselves; and one of our long-time Canadian partners and sister alternative trade cooperatives, La Siembra. Our goal was to bring all of these actors together to get to know each other better. We would share information, strategies, best practices, and lay the ground for new, even stronger, and more creative initiatives in the future.
That was the plan. We consulted with all parties and there was widespread enthusiasm for the idea. Never before had representatives from all of these cooperatives been together to discuss their work, visions and challenges. We decided to hold the meeting at the manufacturing facilities so that we could tour their plant and see how the co-op’s cacao beans are transformed into chocolate.
Planning was underway; tentative dates set; and an agenda was created. And then, of course, everything changed.
How to hold a summit during a global pandemic?
Peru was hit hard by the pandemic and the government faced harsh choices. On the one hand, the lack of adequate medical facilities and care made it essential to enforce tough measures to keep people safe. On the other, the level of poverty and number of people working in the informal economy made social distancing measures seem equally punitive. Uncertainty, worry and fear dominated the landscape.
We were in close contact with our cooperative and manufacturing partners throughout the early pandemic time. The co-ops let us know their concerns. How would the farmers handle the collection and processing of the cacao without adequate PPE? Would they be able to carry out their work while keeping with social distancing protocols? Would the manufacturing plant be able to stay open? What was happening with the various transportation lines that were needed to get the product to us? These questions, and many more, were on our minds.
Months later, as the immediate concerns for safety and supply chain questions were beginning to be sorted out, we returned to the idea of the summit: Would the pandemic be over by the fall? Would we be able to travel to Peru? Would the farmers be able to get to the plant? Where would we stay? Eat our meals? Was it wise to plan an in-person gathering in these circumstances? What were the risks; and to whom? Was it fair to ask people to attend a summit? For an organization that has always prided itself on “going the extra mile” to put faces and real people at the forefront of our model, we - like the rest of the world - had to change our practices and shift our plans.
Adapting to the moment
On July 7th, after consulting with the co-ops and the manufacturer, we made the call. There was too much interest in, and excitement about, the idea of coming together to forgo the gathering altogether. Instead, we would adapt the agenda and hold the meeting virtually. Surveys were sent to each organization asking them to suggest the topics they were most interested in discussing. We debated ways to make the event interesting despite the change in “venues.” Invitations were sent and in the end, everyone was able to attend.
The Chocolate Chip Value Chain Summit was held on October 20th and 21st, 2020. Since this was our first gathering, a good part of day one was dedicated to getting to know each other. Members of each organization shared information about their history, organizational structure, principle work areas, goals, successes and challenges.
We learned about the farming practices of each producer cooperative: how they plant, harvest, and process the cacao. How do the co-ops encourage farmers to convert their crops from the highly profitable coca production to cacao? What have been their experiences converting to organic production and what are their reasons for doing so? How has the pandemic adversely affected organic production? How does each cooperative support its producer members to continue with organic production? We in turn shared information about the organic market in the U.S. and Canada.
Later, we heard from the manufacturers who gave us a virtual tour of the plant and answered questions about the mechanics of transforming beans into chips. Eventually, we delved into the social and organizational issues that the farmer co-ops are grappling with, such as gender equity, food sovereignty, leadership development, and opportunities for youth.
When we did our final evaluation, it was clear that the virtual summit, though not nearly as satisfying as what we had planned, was nevertheless enormously valuable. According to Pamela Esquivel of ACOPAGRO, “Getting to know the supply chain gave us a much better panorama of all the activities that each actor in the chain carries out.” Her colleague, Wendy Rodríguez Ramírez agreed, “It was so important to hear the experiences of other cooperatives and organizations.”
Everyone agreed unanimously to repeat the summit the following year. Hopes were high that we would be able to carry out the original plan and meet at the manufacturing plant to learn how the cacao beans were processed into chocolate. By meeting in-person, it would also be possible to invite more farmers and to spend leisurely time getting to know each other.
Eventually, it became clear that the pandemic would still be with us in October 2021. We wouldn’t be able to meet in person this time either, but another unanimous decision was made that there was still value in holding a second virtual summit. This time, since everyone knew each other, we shortened the event to one day and we were able to focus more deeply on specific issues of concern that the cooperatives raised, such as gender equity, leadership development, and employment opportunities for youth.
This fall we plan to come together once again. We took an exit poll at the end of last year’s summit and participants expressed continued interest in further exploring strategies around gender equity and opportunities for youth. We now know that creating opportunities for on-going group learning will be part of our strategy moving forward.
With any luck however, next October the Third Annual Chocolate Chip Value Chain Summit will be held at the manufacturing plant!