Camino La Siembra: Celebrating 30 years of Fairtrade in Canada
To celebrate 30 years of Fairtrade in Canada, we sat down with pioneers of the movement to hear the stories behind their businesses, learn about their relationships with farmers, and discover their hopes and dreams for the future.
This is Kelly Storie, Executive Director, and Lincoln Neal, Sales Director, from Camino La Siembra Cooperative.
La Siembra, the worker-owned cooperative behind Camino and Equal Exchange US, has been at the forefront of the Fairtrade movement in Canada since 1999. Built on values of social justice and sustainability, La Siembra’s mission is to transform the food system into one that prioritizes fairness for both people and the planet.
Our mission and values are fundamentally grounded in social solidarity with the producer cooperatives we’ve been working with for so long, and that value we create intrinsically has value for others. We often think about it as a global cooperative. We’re here to build a bit of an ecosystem and we recognize that our success and everyday work are not just tied to us.
– Kelly Storie
Over the past 25 years, the cooperative has grown into a major player in the North American ethical food landscape, thanks to long-term relationships with farmer cooperatives, a commitment to sustainability, and a unique worker-owned model that mirrors the structures of the producer cooperatives it works with.
Beverly Toews, Kelly Storie, and Renu Matthew from Olds High School on a delegation trip to FUNDOPO and Conacado in the Dominican Republic.
From Church Basement to National Success
When we started, there wasn’t really a Fairtrade certification system. We worked with the Fairtrade Foundation to figure out what those standards should be as we began sourcing cocoa and sugar from small farmer cooperatives.
– Kelly Storie
La Siembra’s journey into Fairtrade started in the most unexpected of places: the basement of a church. And while a group of parishioners helped them pack the first batches of Camino Fairtrade hot chocolate, they weren’t just volunteers — they were the foundation of a community relationship that would continue to support La Siembra for decades.
It’s a great story because that group of parishioners are actually still strong supporters of our business today. In fact, I was speaking with one of them this morning!
– Kelly Storie
And that little hot chocolate line that could? Chances are you know it well as it’s gained tremendous popularity over the years, growing to $10M in sales and 45 SKUs sold across Canada!
Cocoa drying at the CONACADO cooperative in the Dominican Republic
Fairtrade in Canada, Then and Now
When La Siembra was founded in 1999, the concept of Fairtrade was far from mainstream in North America, with Canada’s journey into Fairtrade distinctly different from that of the UK or Europe, where the concept had already gained a foothold. In Canada, La Siembra was part of a small but passionate group of early pioneers trying to create a new market for ethical products. So, why Fairtrade?
Fundamentally, Fairtrade connected to the founders’ values of social justice, sustainability, and a broader goal of building a social solidarity economy. It comes from a human, empathic position — we believe the food system as it was built wasn’t the right way of doing things and it needed to change.
– Lincoln Neal
The cooperative faced significant challenges as it tried to introduce Fairtrade products to a largely unaware Canadian market. Yet, La Siembra’s early efforts helped lay the groundwork for the future of Fairtrade in the country with its cocoa, sugar, chocolate bars, and hot chocolate.
Fairtrade has moved beyond just an economic model that helps support small producer cooperatives to a more holistic approach to building sustainable food systems… With new initiatives like the Modern Day Slavery Act, Fairtrade is becoming even more critical to the food supply chain in Canada.
– Kelly Storie
Addressing Challenges with Long-Term Partnerships
Climate change is obviously affecting small farmers acutely, but they’re also part of the solution.
– Kelly Storie
Smallholder farmers are especially vulnerable to climate change and La Siembra has seen how these communities are impacted. Many of the cooperatives La Siembra works with have developed innovative climate adaptation strategies, yet regulatory pressures — especially in Europe — add another layer of difficulty. To support its partners, La Siembra is committed to maintaining long-term relationships, even through challenges like harvest failures or certification issues. This commitment to fairness and partnership defines La Siembra’s approach, which puts people first every step of the way.
When we’re talking about social solidarity, we mean we’re not going to switch supply chains just because it’s easier or more profitable.
– Kelly Storie
The La Siembra delegation visits a community project paid for through the Fairtrade Premium at the FUNDOPO cooperative.
In 2022, La Siembra visited the FUNDOPO cooperative in the Dominican Republic, a major supplier of cocoa beans for Camino chocolate bars. The trip allowed La Siembra’s team to work alongside farmers, ensuring traceability and fostering a deeper understanding of the supply chain. This visit wasn’t just business — it was an opportunity to strengthen relationships and gain a deeper understanding of the challenges and successes faced by FUNDOPO’s members.
We wanted everyone to fully understand the Fairtrade model and the complexity of the work.
– Kelly Storie
During the visit, the group helped with all stages of cocoa production, from harvesting to processing, drying, and bagging beans. A highlight of the trip was testing the traceability system, ensuring the beans could be tracked from the cooperative to the final product.
The trip reinforced the interconnectedness of everyone in the Fairtrade supply chain. From small farmers to investors, the success of the entire system depends on collaboration, trust, and long-term relationships.
Being all together — growers, buyers, processors and supporters — made the entire people-centered supply chain visible.
– Kelly Storie
The La Siembra and Equal Exchange delegation visits the FUNDOPO cooperative.
Looking to the Future
As La Siembra celebrates its 25th anniversary, the cooperative remains focused on its long-term mission of creating a more equitable and sustainable food system.
The real goal is to not be needed, to have Fairtrade be a normal part of how food is grown and sold and have Camino just be a really cool Canadian chocolate company.
– Lincoln Neal
On the featured image: Kelly Storie, Executive Director, Melanie Broguet, former Marketing Manager, and Dary Goodrich from Equal Exchange with the technical teams at Yacao and Fundopo.