Equal Exchange is best known as the unorthodox, employee-owned company that in 1991 pioneered the practice of Fair Trade with small coffee farmers. The company is unique for having voluntarily adopted, and for aggressively promoting, these Fair Trade standards for years when our peers insisted that it was impossible.

But Equal Exchange has persevered with this unusual course because it was founded with an unusual mission —to create a new model of bringing the best from farms to the consumers in a manner that was direct, fair and sustainable to all involved: the environment, the farmers, our employees, our wholesale customers, and the public.

And though over 350+ companies, some 200 times our size, have now joined us in the Fair Trade beverage and food sector, Equal Exchange remains a market leader, even as we continue to improve the benefits we offer to our co-op partners. By our consistent growth and profitability we have demonstrated Fair Trade's viability, expanded the definition of "great coffee", and have raised the bar for ethical business practices.