La Siembra Co-operative
Name: La Siembra Co-operative
Location: Ottowa-Gatineau region, Ontario, Canada
Founded: 1999
Brand: Camino
Camino is a Canadian brand of fair trade and organic food products, owned by La Siembra Co-operative, based in the Ottawa-Gatineau region.
Established in 1999, La Siembra Co-operative became the first registered importer of Fairtrade Certified cocoa and sugar in North America and today works with 25 producer co-ops, supporting more than 47,500 family farmers in 14 countries.
La Siembra is worker-owned. Worker-owned co-operatives are business enterprises that are owned and governed by their employees. All worker co-operatives have two common characteristics:
member-owners invest in and own the business together, and share the enterprise’s profits, and
decision-making is democratic, with each member having one vote.
Since their modest beginnings, they have recognized the critical role that the co-operative plays within the fair trade model in assisting individuals, their families, and their communities to improve their standard of living. They choose to identify with our producer partners by adopting the same model that they follow in their own co-operatives – one of democracy, participation, and transparency.
This cooperative structure has enabled La Siembra to attract a team of individuals who are not only passionate about fair trade and organic foods but who are also passionate in their ideas of how a “good business” should be run. Our membership is instrumental in shaping the mission, vision, values, and strategic direction of their co-operative.
In 2014, Equal Exchange invested in La Siembra, and in the years since the two organizations have shared resources and staff, and have collaboratively launched the Equal Exchange brand in Canada.
