Equal Exchange

West Bridgewater, USA

Equal Exchange has created Big Change for over 20 years. It all started with an idea: what if food could be traded in a way that is honest and fair, a way that empowers both farmers and consumers? What if trade supported family farms that use organic methods, rather than industrialized agribusinesses that rely on harmful chemicals?
Our founders – Rink Dickinson, Jonathan Rosenthal and Michael Rozyne – asked these questions as they envisioned a trade model that values the farmers, consumers and the earth. So they took a big risk and plunged full-force into changing a broken food system. In 1986, they started with fairly traded coffee from Nicaragua and didn’t look back.
Today, Equal Exchange continues to find new and powerful ways to build a better food system. Our products now include fairly traded and organic coffee, tea, chocolate and snacks from farmers all over the world, including here in the United States.
Our worker-owned co-op is based in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Because Equal Exchange was founded with democratic principles in mind, we strongly believe in a one-person, one-vote workplace without a corporate hierarchy. We partner with co-operatives of small-scale farmers who make their own decisions on business and community matters.
From the farmers’ co-ops to our co-op, we’re providing the best-tasting foods - while also making Big Changes to the way food ends up on your table. We’ll keep the ideas coming.