Fair Trade

Red Tomato has deep roots in the Fair Trade movement. We were born out of a belief that the principles of fair trade should apply to farmers in the U.S. as well as farmers globally. Red Tomato Co-director and Founder, Michael Rozyne, was a co-founder of the fair trade coffee company, Equal Exchange. After ten years at Equal Exchange, he began Red Tomato to bring his expertise in fair trade to working with fruit and vegetable growers in the Northeast.

The Dignity Deal: In terms of bringing fair trade home to our growers, we focus on a concept we call the dignity deal. A dignified deal starts in the winter when Red Tomato staff start a pricing conversation with the farmer to establish three numbers: last year's average, this year's ideal price, and the farmers' personal price floor-the lowest price the farmer can accept without losing both money and dignity. With this information, RT staff are able to negotiate prices with customers with the full farm economics in mind. Other key components of the dignity deal include: feedback loops between buyers, customers, and farmers; transparency; shared risk; and farmer participation in negotiations.

Bananas and Oké USA: Red Tomato and Equal Exchange partner with a Dutch fair trade company, AgroFair, to launch Oké USA, the first 100% fair trade tropical fruit company in the U.S. Oké USA was rebranded in 2009 under the Equal Exchange label. Now consumers can find a banana that represents many of their social and environmental values under a label that they know and trust. 

Domestic Fair Trade Association: Red Tomato also is a charter member of the Domestic Fair Trade Association. A complete list of the Principles guiding the work of the domestic fair trade movement in the U.S. can be found on their website.