Dulcinea Farms offers Fair Trade watermelons

Pacific Trellis Fruit/Dulcinea Farms, Los Angeles, is set to begin shipping its first Fair Trade Certified watermelons from a grower partner in Mexico.

Agroexport de Sonora SA, Hermosillo, Mexico, which grows Dulcinea’s PureHeart mini seedless watermelons, has completed an audit to receive certification through SCS Global Services, according to a news release.

“Our commitment to socially responsible agriculture is a key component in selecting and building our grower partnerships,” said Josh Leichter, general manager for Dulcinea, in the release. “We will continue to work with these partners to expand the volume of product we can offer with Fair Trade certification.”

In addition to ensuring with worker safety standards and more, Fair Trade certification also generates community development funds from product sales, which workers can choose to invest in their communities for education, healthcare, safety equipment and environmental protection.

“At Agroexport, the quality of life of the employees has always been one of our top priorities,” said Juan Carlos Coppel R., general manager, in the release. “This achievement means a lot of hard work and investment, but at the end it’s a win for all.”

“Being able to offer our customers Dulcinea melons with the Fair Trade certification provides confidence for the consumer that they are using their purchasing power to improve the communities where the food they feed their families is grown,” said Micki Dirtzu Charley, Dulcinea’s director of marketing, in the release.

Citing statistics from the 2017 Cone Communications Corporate Social Responsibility Study, Dirtzu Charley said that 87% percent of of American consumers will buy products from companies aligned with their values, while 76% will refuse to buy products from companies that have supported issues contrary to their values.

Dulcinea plans to begin shipping Fair Trade conventional and organic PureHeart watermelons in early October.