As an important source of protein, an alternative to peanuts for those with allergies, and a unique ingredient for many traditional dishes, cashews are a key staple sold at Seward Co-op. Cashews are so popular with Seward customers, in fact, that we’ve sold over $56,000 worth since the beginning of 2014.

So when our long-time partner in sourcing international food, Equal Exchange, asked us to lend a hand to a cashew-growing partner in El Salvador, Seward agreed to help.

“We look to Equal Exchange to find and vet internationally traded product,” said Tom Vogel, Seward’s marketing manager. “So when they tell us about a small producer in peril and ask for help, we consider that a worthwhile cause.”

Equal Exchange has resided in Seward Co-op’s coffee aisle for almost 30 years. In 1987, they were the very first company to make a “fair trade” claim on coffee in the United States, and today they continue to innovate, making inroads to U.S. markets for small farmers who wouldn’t otherwise have access.

Equal Exchange continues to innovate, proposing to raise $200,000 over a five-year period for Aprainores — a cashew producer cooperative of 62 farming families in El Salvador — and help strengthen the productive capacity of the cashew cooperative as a whole.

Aprainores drew Equal Exchange’s attention because its story is particularly harsh. After the end of the Salvadoran Civil War in 1992, the cashew cooperative was formed. It did well selling to various fair trade groups, but in 2005, found itself $350,000 in debt after serious malfeasance by its managing director. Today, after almost 10 years of barely treading water, the co-op’s farmers are in dire need of upgrading their operations, in addition to being saddled with massive debt. Adding insult to injury, a devastating storm wiped out their crops earlier this year.

Phyllis Robinson of Equal Exchange was present in El Salvador when Aprainores’s new General Manager, Alex Flores, explained to the co-op farmers that it would be another year without profits.

“He reminded them that much of their hardship was due to the significant debt they were carrying,” Robinson said. “Nevertheless, he tried to encourage them. In seven years, they had paid off more than two-thirds of the debt; a few more years and they would be in the clear.”

After meeting personally with co-op management and taking a look at their books, Equal Exchange believed Flores was correct. By 2012, under his skilled guidance, the co-op’s 55 producer members had consolidated, fair trade and organic certifications were earned, and they’d purchased a processing plant that now employs 30. Furthermore, demand for cashews in the international market vastly outstrips supply.

With all this in mind, Equal Exchange began organizing food co-ops in the United States to join them in helping Aprainores over the next five years.

“We would like to invite 15 of our most committed and loyal food co-op and natural food store partners to join with us to help. Through this project,” Equal Exchange said in a statement to potential grocery co-op partners, “our goal is to increase the amount of cashews available for export [from Aprainores] by 33 percent.”

As a co-op thoroughly dedicated to the sixth principle of cooperation (cooperation among co-ops), Seward has decided to join the project as one of the 15 “loyal food co-ops.”

“This is a great example of co-ops working together to strengthen an international farmer co-op and tell Aprainores’ story to our owners,” Vogel said. “It’s also a wonderful way to demonstrate the potential impact of cooperation during Co-op Month.”

Seward owners can take part in the project as well. From October to December, Equal Exchange will donate 50 cents per pound on Aprainores cashews sold at our store, and Seward Co-op will also donate 50 cents per pound.

“We have only just begun this work, and we are so excited and so proud of the enthusiasm and the commitment we have received already,” Robinson said. “Hats off to Berkshire Co-op Market [Massachusetts], River Valley Market [Massachusetts], Weaver’s Street Market [North Carolina], and Seward Community Co-op for being the first food co-ops to understand the value of this initiative and give us a resounding ‘Yes.’”

Photo: Aprainores Cashew Co-op farmer courtesy Equal Exchange.