Fair Trade USA hosted a Board of Directors Dinner Sept. 22, at Orsay in Manhattan’s Upper East Side for members, donors and advocates of the social responsibility and sustainability cause.
Chairman Ricardo Crisantes, co-owner and chief commercial officer of Wholesum, based in Arizona and Mexico, spoke to the guests, and so did Fair Trade USA founder and CEO Paul Rice.
Rice thanked the company leaders who were making these tough changes for the greater good. “It’s hard enough to have one bottom line, but your companies have three bottom lines — profit, people and planet — and I am so impressed,” Rice told the crowd. “Business can, and must, be a force for good.”
There is 66% consumer awareness of the Fair Trade USA label, he said.
“We know companies are increasingly concerned about their supply chain,” he said, mentioning, supply issues and ethical sourcing. Rice sees a movement toward “conscious capitalism.
“We are awakening to the labels on our products, especially millennials and Gen Z,” Rice said.
Craig James also shared with the dinner guests his experience with running his business the Fair Trade way. He took charge of Barrie House Coffee, an 88-year legacy coffee roaster in the Hudson Valley, fewer than five years ago. His strategic focus on transforming the company around Fair Trade and organics is driving deep social impact while proving the business case for sustainability.
Although James worked for Exxon-Mobil for 22 years, earlier in his career, he was a chef for some of the most notable restaurants in Philadelphia and Washington D.C. He currently serves on the Culinary Institute of America Alumni Council and the board of the American Culinary Federation Big Apple Chapter.
