CAREtrade: a Higher Purpose

CAREtrade® is a collaboration of a set of companies to bring the next evolution in serving, working shoulder to shoulder with like-minded suppliers and retailers. Their mission is identifying and promoting a set of brands that advance a higher purpose than commercial success and are aligned with their dedication to serving.

DEMAND FOR TRANSPARENCY 

​Consumers crave a deeper connection with the products they use. They expect food companies to lead by example and innovate with integrity. The Edible Ethics movement speaks to consumers through transparency and authenticity. 

TRANSPARENCY: A KEY MOTIVATOR

​Shifting priorities with purchase decisions have made consumers more likely to reach for a brand with purpose. In the increasingly complex and competitive landscape, authenticity, purpose and transparency satisfy consumer cravings.

Partner Impact

CAREtrade® vendors are impacting lives around the world by providing jobs through dignity, feeding children in need, supporting widows and orphans, and trying to eradicate modern-day slavery and sex trafficking.  ​

CAREtrade Partners:

Each year CAREtrade® will identify a small subset of brands that fit their model. By limiting the focus they hope to have a greater impact for these brands.

​Bhakti, which means “devotion through social action” in Sanskrit, leads to GITA which means “share your story” in Sanskrit. GITA (give, inspire, take action) is the social giving platform that supports local impact projects around the world. They have supported 12 projects to date!

​Mavuno Harvest ethically sources dried fruit from family farms in Sub-Saharan Africa. Founded by Phil Hughes, a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya, the company’s mission is to provide jobs and economic opportunity for rural farmers in Africa by working with small farming cooperatives to create supply chains to bring delicious, organic dried fruit to the American consumer. Mavuno Harvest provides a market for the farmers to sell their products, thus increasing incomes and job security, as well as creating new jobs

​Headquartered in Kyle, SD, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and the homeland of the Oglala Lakota people, Native American Natural Foods is the originator in the exploding category of meat bar snacks. In 2007, co-founders Karlene Hunter and Mark Tilsen introduced Tanka Bar, the first product in their line of authentic, natural buffalo and cranberry snacks based on traditional Lakota recipes. In 2016, the company was named to the “B Corp Best for the World” list.

​As pioneers in the SINGLE ORIGN category, The Real Co. is changing the way we think of sourcing produce globally and delivering it at a local level. Through partnerships with farmers and growers around the world who don’t have an established mainstream route to distribute their produce, The Real Co. has created a way to share those items with the world. All of their products (that range from Himalayan Pink Salt and Basmati Rice to Raw Cane and Raw Coconut Sugar) are packaged in the USA by adults with learning and physical disabilities and for every unit sold they feed a child. 

​Right now, slaves – many of them children - are working on cocoa farms in West Africa. Tony’s Chocolonely exists to change that. Founded by a Dutch TV show and an investigative reporter, Teun (Tony) van de Keuken, who had himself prosecuted for eating chocolate, their vision is 100% slave free chocolate. Not just their chocolate, but all chocolate worldwide. They create awareness, lead by example with a fully transparent supply chain, and hope to inspire others to act. Tony’s launched in the US in 2015 after finding success in the Netherlands.

​World Centric’s goal is to raise awareness of large-scale humanitarian and environmental issues. Twenty five percent of their profits are donated annually to social and environmentally aligned organizations. World Centric envisions a thriving world and they exist to be of service to the plant & people.