Rink Dickinson, Director
251 Revere St.
Canton, MA 02021
781 830 0303 (phone)
781 830 0282 (fax)
info@equalexchange.com
Importer/Roaster

We set out to build a new kind of cooperative business; one that had direct input from producers, strong worker control, and profits that were accountable to the mission of the organization, says Jonathon Rosenthal, Executive Director of Equal Exchange. Rosenthal and cofounders Rink Dickinson and Michael Rozyne did just that with the establishment of Equal Exchange in 1986. A worker-owned cooperative itself, Equal Exchange trades directly with producers from co-ops in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Peru, Tanzania, Costa Rica, Columbia and Mexico. The company has been importing directly from coffee farmers' co-ops, guaranteeing an established minimum payment, since 1991, the year they adopted European Fair Trade standards. Equal Exchange now imports over $3 million worth of coffee through the fair trade model each year. Two-thirds of their import is organically and shade grown.