WATSONVILLE, CA – As consumer interest in how and who brings their fresh foods to the table continues to grow, Driscoll’s is looking to expand its Fair Trade Certified organic program after a successful debut season.
Executive Vice President Soren Bjorn took the time to tell me about some of the growth for the pilot, and where it's headed from here.
“We say pilot, but it was really a huge undertaking,” Soren shares. “We trained 3,500 farmworkers across 11 farms in the Baja California area. Now, we just wrapped up first season, and intend to expand with second season.”
The number of farms could almost double as Driscoll’s considers adding up to ten more farms to the program, as well as adding more farmers to the ranks.
When I ask about the inspiration behind the program, Soren explains, “We had this idea as we had done a lot of welfare work in this area. All the funds generated by the program go back to the communities. They control those funds so that farmworkers decide where they want that money to go.”
Driscoll’s helped to train the workers to elect three committees across three communities to operate and dedicate those funds, which ultimately go back into anything from education, to health, or any other project in Baja California workers see fit.
“The program started in early February and continued through the summer,” Soren tells me. In that time, the company’s experiment has hit a significant milestone–$200K has been generated and gone back to the local area in just the first season. “I would say that’s quite successful,” Soren adds.
Indeed it is, but the company has its sights set ever-higher.
“I would say that it was a successful first season, but if we could get more growers, more customers, more consumers involved, we could really make a significant difference,” Soren shares.
Currently some retail partners like Costco and Whole Foods are involved, but Soren adds that the program will be available to more customers as it grows.
The Fair Trade Certified organic program covers organic strawberries and raspberries at present, but Soren concludes that it will ideally expand to all four berries in both organic and conventional.
