A Note from Keith R: the following is the afterword to Julia Alvarez's "A Cafecito Story," a delightful short parable about helping Dominican campesinos to organize a cooperative to grow and sell organic coffee, and in the process, teach many of them to read and write as well.  I recommend the very short book.  If you cannot find it at your local library, you can order a copy from Chelsea Green Publishing at this link.  The afterword is written by Ms. Alvarez's husband, Bill Eichner, and is reprinted here with his permission.

My wife Julia and I are not the man and woman in the story, but our story is related to this parable.  We do own a farm-foundation in the mountains of the Dominican Republic with caretakers, Miguel and Carmen, who live there with their children.

I am from farm stock in Nebraska.  I grew up with a “bad cup of coffee.”  In the 1980s on the central plains, coffee was brewed from inferior beans, a brownish liquid so thin as to be sour and transparent.  No doubt this custom of weak coffee was born out of the frugal nature of prairie farmers.

Julia is a writer who began publishing later in life.  She grew up in the Dominican Republic, drinking cafecitos diluted with lots of milk – the strong brew was reserved for adults only.  Six years ago the Nature Conservancy asked her to do a story on one of their protected sites in the mountains of the Dominican Republic.

While there, we were shocked by the “green desert” of the surrounding modern coffee farms.  By the uniformity of the monoculture – hillside after hillside without a single fruit or shade tree.  No sign of life except coffee plants and a single masked worker walking down rows in a cloud of chemicals he was spraying on the coffee.  I had not realized that the same kind of technification that had eliminated sea gulls and family farms in Nebraska was now doing a job on traditional shade-coffee farms in the tropics.  Julia and I saw firsthand how globalization was changing the campo, or countryside, that we had both known as youngsters.

But there was hope.  We met a group of farmers trying to organize themselves around growing and finding markets for their organic, shade-grown coffee.  We sensed that they were battling an agribusiness trend toward growing coffee in full sun, for better short-term yields, while deforesting the mountains and poisoning the rivers with pesticides and chemical fertilizers.

We praised their efforts.  They asked, would we like to join their struggle and buy some land before it was grabbed up by the big technified coffee plantations?  Julia and I looked at each other – was it the mountain air, or our love for each other and for the idea of “giving something back”?—and said, why not?

When we accepted the invitation, we thought it would be a lark – develop five acres, raise a few bags of coffee to take home to our friends in Vermont, and sit in the kiosko with our campesino neighbors to discuss their plans.  Maybe we could even build a little arts center on the farm, where our artist friends could come visit and share their talents with the neighbors.

As we became part of the mountain community, our goals changed.  Our insights broadened with each step.  We felt we could do more than grow coffee as a hobby.  Why not model the process our neighbors were striving for?  Our organic farm grew to 260 acres.  We started planting heirloom varieties of coffee, and while the coffee seeds were germinating, we planted shade trees: a mixture of timber species that offered food for wild birds; fruit, nut, and avocado trees that provided food for us and the farm workers; legume species that added nitrogen to the depleted soil; and fast-growing trees that were pruned to provide forage for the milk goats and firewood for the fogón, or clay cookstove.  Forest trees sheltered the tender coffee plants from the strong midday sun, dropping leaves to feed insects and worms that returned to the soil as it deepened and softened.  The leaves caught the raindrops so they fell more softly on the earth, absorbing that rain in their root systems so that precious water did not rush down the hillside.

We also wanted to broaden our neighbors’ concept of sustainability.  Why should a farmer concentrate on acres and acres of coffee as an export commodity and meanwhile go down to the bodega to buy tomato paste?  Why not grow tomatoes?  Why not have chickens and goats and use the manure to fertilize the coffee plants, or plant citrus for shade and use the fruits for consumption and for sale at the local markets?  Why not have a community garden and grow vegetables for the farm and the village?  Why not start a composting system?  Collect rainwater?  Use solar panels rather than bring expensive electricity up into the mountains?

Our farm was transformed into a working school in which we all began to learn how to take care of the land and pass it on in good condition to the next generation.

From the start, our cash crop was shaded coffee as it has been traditionally grown in the area.  But as we became more involved, we discovered that the coffee business is based on a culture of poverty where very little of the profit trickles down to the small farmer.  In order to bring some of those profits home to the growers, the farms in our cooperativo pooled all our coffees together under the umbrella of CAFÉ ALTA GRACIA.  We chose this name to honor the country’s patron saint and protector, la Virgencita de la Altagracia, the Madonna of “high grace.”  We needed her blessing to help us aim high and to sustain us in the fight against the inequities of the coffee industry and the destruction of forests in coffee-growing lands.

As we worked to nurture the impoverished land, we could not ignore the human nature around us.  The campesinos were living a life of poverty, and the most striking aspect of the poverty was that none of them could read or write.

We struggled with how to practice sustainability among those who lived and worked at the farm and in the community.  We understood that our original idea of coffee sales supporting an arts center would be a kind of cultural imperialism until our workers and neighbors and their families could read and write for themselves.  Only then would they have the key to unlock the treasure that belongs to all of us, the arts and literature of the human tribe.

Now a school building is at the center of the Alta Gracia farm.  A volunteer teacher has joined the community.  Kids and their parents are learning the ABCs.  A youth group came from Wellesley, Massachusetts, and built a small library.  We call it a barra biblioteca, modeled after a popular Dominican structure, the little barra at the side of the road where campesinos can get a cerveza Presidente, or a shot of rum.  But our barra stocks books instead of drinks.

After five years, Alta Gracia has already been blessed with visible change.  Organic matter is building up under the fruiting trees, rainfall is soaking in more slowly, the insects are returning, the arroyos keep running a little longer each spring, and the songbirds come back every year to sing over the coffee.  We look around the hills, and the green comes in varying hues and heights – from arugula in the garden or clover between the coffee rows to banana plants over our heads and cedro trees towering above all.

And books are arriving to fill the library.  In time, we will also invite artists to come and contribute some of their time to giving workshops at the school or working on the farm.  Total recycling.  Wide-ranging sustainability.  Taking care of each other through education as well as by what we put in the soil.

When I left my parents’ farm as a young man, I never imagined I would return to farming later in life in a place so far from the center of the U.S.A.  To farm on steep mountains instead of endless plains?  To harvest crops in January rather than endure blizzards?  To grow coffee instead of soybeans?  And especially to enjoy coffee that Nebraskans couldn’t even dream of?  In contrast to the family of my childhood, our poor and frugal Dominican family would never skimp on the “strength” of their coffee.  They simply drink a smaller cup, yet rich enough to leave stains on the bottom and sides.  I’m with them.  I’ll take two ounces of quality over a whole pot of bad coffee any day.

The tradition among the old campesinos is to turn their little cups over when they are finished.  The future can be told from the dried stains left in the cup.  Julia tells me that when she was a child, an old woman would go from house to house reading cups.  If her fortune sounded good, Julia would close her eyes and wish that it would come true.

We have a wish: that others can enjoy the experience of our project and share in the dream and the effort of sustainability.  Anyone can begin by planting a tree, or a hundred trees – the birds and your grandchildren will thank you.  You can recycle and reuse until it becomes a habit that you teach others.  You can buy and drink Café Alta Gracia along with other products offered by companies with a conscience.  Remember, sustainability is not just a concept but a way of life whose time has come.

And whenever you drink coffee, remember this cafecito story.  The future does depend on each cup, on each small choice we make.

• If you're a teacher, look for an opportunity to assign your students an essay, research project or presentation on Fair Trade certified products, using the DR as your example.  If you have trouble finding source materials or need other help with such an endeavor, contact us at greenteam@dr1.com and we'll do what we can to help.
• Urge the food desk of your favorite newspaper or magazine to do a feature story, complete with follow-up links and contact information, on the potential of Dominican organics, especially certified Fair Trade offerings.
• If you're tour operator that books tours to the DR, see if you can add a tour of an organic production site to your offerings and promote it strongly.
• If you already like to consume organic products or wish to start, specify Dominican organics when you shop or order online.  For example, you can buy the organic coffee from Julia Alvarez's finca directly at this link, and organic chocolate bars made with Dominican cocoa can be found at this link.  There are many, many more examples -- google it, you'll see.
• Ask for organic Dominican coffee at Starbuck's, Panera or whatever cafe you frequent.   If they don't have it... ask that they start serving it.  Ask long enough and they will.
• Call Folgers at 1-800-937-9745 or Starbucks at 1-800-235-2883 and demand that they source more organic Dominican coffee.
• Many Trader Joe's stores now carry Conacado organic chocolate.
• Ask your local supermarket to sell organic Dominican sugar, coffee, sugar, fruit and chocolate -- especially if your favorite supermarket is one with a large organic stock, such as Fresh Fields.
• Source organic Dominican coffee for your office, school, home and church, especially if it is Fair Trade certified.
• Contact Dominican organic produce suppliers and find out who distributes or retails their products in your country, or if you are an importer/distributor, how you can begin importing Dominican organics.  And ask if on your next visit to the DR, you could visit their farms and see how their product is made and certified.  Here's a partial list and their contact information:

AVOCADO:

* Comercial Agricola FMD: comercialagricolafmd@hotmail.com TEL 809-274-5980 FAX 809-274-6077

* Fenix Trading: www.fenixtrading.com info@fenixtrading.com TEL 809-378-0392 FAX 809-378-0398

* Welington Liriano: williamliriano@verizon.net.do TEL/FAX 809-482-6172

BANANAS:

* BANAMA S.A.: josealmonte@verizon.net.do TEL. 809-572-7496 FAX 809-572-2213

* BANELINO: banelino@verizon.net.do TEL. 809-572-6239; FAX 809-572-8470

* Bioberg: bioberg@hotmail.com TEL 809-575-2119 FAX 809-576-9799

* Ekobananera S.A. TEL 809-572-6331 FAX 809-572-8141

* Fenix Trading: www.fenixtrading.com info@fenixtrading.com TEL 809-378-0392 FAX 809-378-0398

* Horizontes Orgánicos CxA: www.horizontesorganicos.com inf@horizonteorganicos.com 809-521-1022 FAX 809-521-0754

* SAVID: savid.jetta@internet.net.do TEL 809-572-9030 FAX 809-521-2310

COCOA:

* APROCACI: www.aprocaci.org cacao@aprocaci.org TEL 809-577-3575 FAX 809-577-2410 http://www.aprocaci.org/pedidos/index.shtml

* CAFIESA RD, Inc.: www.cafiesa.com cafiesa@hotmail.com TEL 809-725-5909/5922 FAX 809-588-6058

* CONACADO:  www.conacado.com/ conacado.inc@verizon.net.do TEL 809-541-8333 or 809-542-8406

* Fenix Trading: www.fenixtrading.com info@fenixtrading.com TEL 809-378-0392 FAX 809-378-0398

* Nazario Rizek, C.porA.: www.nazariorizek.com  agromarket@nazariorizek.com TEL 809-530-9400 FAX 809-530-0404

COFFEE:

* ADOCAFES: lahm@verizon.net.do TEL 809-582-7391 FAX 809-241-8817

* CODOCAFE: www.codocafe.gov.do info@codocafe.gov.do TEL 809-533-1984 FAX 809-487-0168

* Eko-Bio Dominicana: ekobio@verizon.net.do TEL 809-574-2020 FAX 809-574-6722

* Fenix Trading: www.fenixtrading.com info@fenixtrading.com TEL 809-378-0392 FAX 809-378-0398

* Nazario Rizek, C.porA.: www.nazariorizek.com agromarket@nazariorizek.com

Ramirez & Co.: TEL 809-760-7040 FAX 809-247-2209

DRIED COCONUT & COCONUT OIL:

* Agrifresh International S.A.: agrifresh@verizon.net.do TEL 809-572-4771 FAX 809-572-4910

* Horizontes Orgánicos CxA: www.horizontesorganicos.com inf@horizonteorganicos.com 809-521-1022 FAX 809-521-0754

GINGER:

* Fenix Trading: www.fenixtrading.com info@fenixtrading.com TEL 809-378-0392 FAX 809-378-0398

* Horizontes Orgánicos CxA: www.horizontesorganicos.com inf@horizonteorganicos.com 809-521-1022 FAX 809-521-0754

 

LIMES:

* Fenix Trading: www.fenixtrading.com info@fenixtrading.com TEL 809-378-0392 FAX 809-378-0398

MANGO AND/OR MANGO PUREE:

* BON Agro-Industrial: je.moreno@bon.com.do  TEL 809-530-7901 FAX 809-531-4054

* Fenix Trading: www.fenixtrading.com info@fenixtrading.com TEL 809-378-0392 FAX 809-378-0398

* Horizontes Orgánicos CxA: www.horizontesorganicos.com inf@horizonteorganicos.com 809-521-1022 FAX 809-521-0754

ORANGES:

* Comercial Agricola FMD: comercialagricolafmd@hotmail.com TEL 809-274-5980 FAX 809-274-6077

PASSION FRUIT:

* Welington Liriano: williamliriano@verizon.net.do TEL/FAX 809-482-6172

PLANTAINS:

* Comercial Agricola FMD: comercialagricolafmd@hotmail.com TEL 809-274-5980 FAX 809-274-6077

 

SUGAR:

* Eko-Bio Dominicana: ekobio@verizon.net.do TEL 809-574-2020 FAX 809-574-6722

 

If you know of other organic exporters that should be on this list, contact us at greenteam@dr1.com and we'll add them.  Likewise, if you know or find that any of the contact information provided here needs updating, we'd appreciate hearing about it.

• If you're designer, marketing or public relations specialist, or wordsmith and you notice that one of the organic exporters above is without a website to help market their products, offer to donate or heavily discount a portion of your time or talent to helping them get one on the air.

The Reality, and What Can Be Done About It

Contrary to popular opinion, organic production no longer complies with the idealistic view mentioned at the start of the last Green Team blog entry.   Organic farms are growing bigger and bigger.  It becomes easier for the local distributor to simply buy the farm from our ideal family and then put them to work doing just what they’ve been doing, but now they are labor, and no longer independent land owners. 

Requirements from buyers, distributors and certifiers of organic produce are becoming more stringent.  It is not strange any longer to see a farm requiring four or five certifications, just simply to be able to sell their produce at a premium price.  Organizations such a Fair Trade are trying to ensure that the farmer/grower/producer receive a fair price for their produce, but here in the Dominican Republic the distributors frequently do not administer Fair Trade monies fairly. 

The certifiers’ first visit to our finca, usually involves checking the soil and water for residues and cost around US$1,500 dollars.  Thereafter, if our quintessential farmer keeps his nose clean and pay for his certifications annually, the certifiers would visit once per year.  The local distributor is now forced to employ their own inspectors to assure that standards are met.  Our farmer family again is at the bottom of the food-chain. 

In an ideal world with sufficient sunshine, water, and good growing conditions, organic farming is not much more difficult than conventional farming.  However, in the DR we have floods, mudslides, hurricanes and storms.  So what happens with our farmer family growing hand to mouth when the floods come and the crop is under water? 

Suddenly the economics are totally different.  When faced with the prospect of having to feed the family, our farmer may just go out and buy conventional fungicides at a quarter of the price of organic – just to survive and get the remaining crop to market - a temporary measure in his mind.  Our farmer, not really understanding the value behind the organic label, may just continue shipping his produce as organic. 

He may be lucky once or twice as inspectors at the port of delivery cannot inspect each box.  The produce may slip through with the consumer buying what he did not want to buy under a beautifully designed organic label.  Mostly though, the farmer that uses conventional products gets caught out and loses the coveted organic certification, his investment and the additional income. 

Our farmer family is beginning to question if this is worth it and here in the Dominican Republic, we are beginning to see farmers/growers/producers reverting from the organic model.

Three to five years later, our family may be in hock to the company store, they may not own their land any longer, the local distributor dictates their farming methods, processes, yields and size banana that they may deliver to market.

The end consumer is quite legitimately beginning to ask questions.  Are we buying what we think we are buying?  Are we contributing to the ideals of sustainability and supporting poor communities by making the decision to purchase organic produce from developing countries? 

Perhaps the most telling question: “Who are we buying from?”  The end consumer is finding that they are still buying from the large produce conglomerates that produced conventional produce in the first place, utilizing the same marketing mechanisms.

The future for the small organic farmer looks bleak.  Big Business is still exploiting cheap labor from developing countries, albeit under a very attractive organic label.

What Can Be Done?

1. For crops like coffee and cacao, it is possible to create boutique labels and niche markets under specific labels.  It is the ideal opportunity for say a coffee/chocolate chain in the US, to purchase organic produce from a third world producer or set of producers, and use it exclusively.  The crop has a longer life cycle and does not need continual refrigeration and special handling.  This requires that the seller/farmer/grower/producer and the buyer work closely together – in effect, the buyer of the organic produce interacts with the farmer/grower/producer and the distributor fulfils an administrative function only.  The farmer/grower/producer grows and packs their produce directly for the seller of the produce.
2. The lesson is that the buyers of organic produce in the industrialized countries have to start caring about their producers, a practical and real way, not just for the photo opportunity.  They have to select producers that fit their business model and assist in developing that producer into the right match for their business.   We need to take the long term view.
3. For larger fruit crops (avocados, bananas, mangoes), and vegetable crops (lettuce, onions, tomatoes etc), the plot thickens, as the requirements of exportation, packing and preparing the crop for shipping, are much more stringent.  To overcome this, the large fruit distributors should play a smaller role and farmers/growers/producers need to directly connect to the buyers in the US, Canada, Europe and the Far East.  Distributors should not be handing out loans and managing the company store.  The buyers or the farmers/growers/producers should make this investment.  If we can shorten the line between the farmer/grower/producer, and the buyer, a relationship of mutual benefit can develop, in line with the goals and vision of organic production.
4. The governments of developing countries such as the DR could completely develop a common set of rules for organic produce and start creating and certifying organic areas or zones, with an educated farmer/grower/producer community.  In other words, for the Dominican Republic, the local government and the farming community should start doing their homework.  In later Green Team blogs we will talk about a process in the Dominican Republic happening at the moment, attempting to create the first Ecological Village.    
5. The farmers/producers need to have a strong alliance amongst themselves, perhaps area, zone or product based.  Investment in a community packing house for their own produce is necessary to reduce the dependence on distributors.  The farmers/growers/producers must take care of their own education in doing international business.   
6. The large supermarket chains could forego a time-honored tradition when weather wipes out the crops.  Instead of simply buying elsewhere and increasing the pressure on the organic farmers trying to rebuild, they could inform their buying community that the crops were wiped out, and assist a community wide rebuilding effort, instead of simply turning around and finding another supplier.  This will remove the need for organic farmers to resort to conventional methods.   
7. In making the decision to eat healthy organic food and supporting the farming community, we as consumers, need to get our own communities involved in the supply chain to protect our source of food.  And each stakeholder in the chain needs to change the way they do business into a wholesome model.  It is all fine to talk glowingly about organic farming and organic produce, but in order to secure a healthy food source for us for the future, each stakeholder in the chain needs to be involved.             

One thing is still for sure – many consumers want to buy healthy, non-engineered, fresh and beautiful organic produce.  And farmers/growers/producers want to survive.

-- Christa

OR

Is there a future for the small organic farmer under the current model?

The Ideal v. The Hard Truth

Consumers everywhere want to buy healthy, non-engineered, fresh and beautiful organic produce.  Farmers/growers/producers want to supply just that.  But it comes at a cost within a landscape undergoing startling changes.  Let’s follow the quintessential rural family, Papa, Mama, a few kids, and in the Dominican Republic, definitely a grandparent or two, going through the terrifying process of getting their finca certified for organic production.

“Organic” farming?  What comes to mind?  Often from the end consumer’s point of view, a healthy lifestyle, sustainability and supporting a farmer doing the right things.  Our organics consumers in the bigger countries are looking to buy from someone like our ideal family and thus help the latter work themselves out of poverty through the organic movement – almost Norman Rockwell-like, isn’t it?  Our rural family has land; they husband their resources and crops and mostly simply eke out a living.  From the consumer’s side the cry goes up: “Let’s buy organic, pay a little more, live healthy lives and the cherry on the cake, we can help a family like this!” 

The reality, the truth on the ground, is not like that and is being less so every day.  Organic farming is big business and is driven by big business.  Organic produce production is today probably a perfect example of a market that is global in scope.  This brings big changes for our ideal farmer family, and perhaps some disillusionment for our idealistic organic consumer.  Our farmer/grower/producer is not in a position to reach the market; they cannot maintain the administrative, organizational, quality and logistical standards required in the organic food production business, and they cannot do it alone.  

Talk About Micro-Management!

Recently I listened to a group of organic certifiers from Europe wanting to start buying organic produce from the Dominican Republic.  Their ideal non-genetically engineered organic bananas needed to be packed in bags with 6 bananas in each bag, not exceeding 600 grams overall per bag, with each individual organic banana not exceeding 252 grams.  They wanted to certify fincas similar to our ‘ideal rural family’ and expressed that they wanted to assure their end consumers that the eventual purchase will help similar families.

They were comical in their non-practical reach toward a non-practical ideal - and this non-practical, non-workable ideal is what they came to certify as organic produce.   “But,” they insist, “This is what our consumers want to buy.”  Are you beginning to get the idea that the ideals from the consumers, the requirements of the buyers and the practical reality on the ground are light years apart? 

A Difficult Road for the Small Farmer to Travel

In the process of organic certification, our farmer family spends three to five years preparing their soil, composting it and removing chemical residues.  We may ask why?  What is in it for them? 

The answer simply is price.  For organic bananas, the producer/farmer/grower receives 28 cents per kilogram at current prices.  For organic bananas, the consumer pays about US$1.55 per kilogram, with an additional amount if the bananas are “Fair Trade” certified.

Recently, it was noted that a supermarket chain in the US simply increased the prices of conventional produce to the same level as organic produce under the advertising slogan: “Buy Organic and be Healthy for No More!”  If more supermarkets adopt this tactic, it will suck the economic incentive out of the system now driving organics.  Our farmer/grower/producer is not the winner in such a case.  Neither is the end consumer.

For an additional 6 or 7 cents per kilogram, our family now has to deal with finding money for certifications, purchasing organic pesticides, fungicides and fertilizers and go through a rigorous set of visits from certifying agencies before they receive the coveted organic status.  Our uneducated rural family has to come to grips with concepts such as traceability and bar codes and quality reports. 

Multiply this example by about 600 rural farmers and you’ll slowly get an idea of the sheer logistics and supply chain pain points of tracing produce of a multitude of small organic farmers from the farm to box, to the distribution facility, to the pallet, to the ship and to the external distributor, off the ship, to the ripening room, to the supermarket and to the consumer. 

And this is the outgoing side.  The incoming side is equally nightmarish.  Our farmer family needs to collect and pay for their produce boxes, they have to get a hold of the bar code stickers for that week, they have to be sure that the right sticker is on the right box and if the neighbor runs short, they cannot give the neighbor a few stickers or a few boxes – because traceability is everything to the certifiers.  In addition, if there happens to be more produce than orders for produce that week, the farmer’s work for the week does not get shipped. 

Globalization is in full swing in the organic market and it is not helping those that the end organic consumer in Europe, the US, Canada or the Far East most wants to help. 

The Distributor's Role

An additional layer between the farmer/grower/producer and the end supermarket and consumer, involves the fruit distributors.  They have developed markets, shipping mechanisms and systems.  Because the gap between the farmer/grower/producer and the end supermarket is so wide, the distributor starts filling that gap. 

The distributor now takes on the task of assisting to certify our farm and perhaps educating the farmer/grower/producer.  More importantly the local distributor provides infrastructure and cash in the form of loans, to assist the farmer/grower/producer to reach the market. 

It is the distributors’ business to provide organic produce to their buyers and just at this point, a cartel starts building.  The local distributor now is in a position to dictate price, to dictate who and when to buy from and distributes even the boxes that our imaginary family packs their produce in.  The boxes have labels such as Dole, Chiquita and others that you may recognize.  The Doles and Chiquita’s of the world build wonderful websites explaining to the end consumer that their organic produce is certified, correctly grown and tastes the best, with a wonderfully posed picture of our example family to prove the point.

The local distributor may demand from the farmer/grower/producer capital investment, infrastructure and business process that our ideal rural farmer never set out to accomplish, when they started preparing their land for organic production. 

Does our imaginary family in a developing country understand the principles of organics?  Are they able to really picture the eventual end-buyer of their produce?  Do they understand and envision the almost emotional commitment to organic produce from the far-away consumer? 

No, they don’t.  They simply know that their distributor pays them what he considers a fair price, if their quality is not up to snuff, their produce is rejected and the organic fertilizers and pesticides required in growing the produce are only available in the company store.  And we all know what the “company store” represents.

-- Christa

If you reside or spend much of your time in the DR and decide after reading the Green Team's "organic series" that you would like to support/foster the growth of certified organic production in the DR, here's a few suggestion for things you can do:

• Choose certified organic products whenever the option exists. In the DR, for example:
  • In Santo Domingo, you can order all your organic fruit and vegetables from the Mercado Ecologico, fama@verizon.net.do or tel (809) 482 7463. They also sell a wide range of other organic foods and products.
  • Organica in Plaza Catalunya, Av Gustavo Mejia Ricart, Piantini, is a well-stocked organic wholefood shop. Good imported range and local products.
  • Most major supermarkets in Santo Domingo now sell organic vegetables, from a special section. If yours doesn't, ask the manager why they don't until they do.
  • Dominican organic coffee is also widely available.
  • Helados Bon have their 'chocolate organico' ice cream, and others.
• Contact the Agricultural Ministry (SEA) [despacho@agricultura.gov.do] and JAD (Junta Agroempresarial Dominicana) [jad@verizon.net.do] and ask what they are doing to (1) promote and improve, in a coherent fashion, the image of Dominican organics in key overseas markets; (2) improve the capacities of their laboratories and field technical advisory work to aid in the accreditation of Dominican organics.
• Contact the Bon's, Rica's, and other local producers of your favorite coffee, chocolates, fruit drinks and processed fruit products, and ask them what organic entries they intend to add to their product lines.
• If you are a tour operator within the DR, look into organizing special tours of organic producer sites, where tourists can learn about how organic production of coffee, cocoa, bananas, etc. is done in the DR, get a subtle pitch for the quality of Dominican organic produce, and perhaps go home with sample bags of organic Dominican coffee or sample tins of organic Dominican cocoa powder.  Marketed properly, it might become just as popular among European visitors as the tours of the cigar production facilities or the Brugal rum plant....

-- Chirimoya & Keith R

So What Export Market(s) Should the DR Target?

Right now, Dominican organic producers are primarily targeting European markets, and with good reason: 12 of the 25 EU member states together accounted for €455.3 million in “fair trade” certified organics in 2003 (half of that from the UK alone!), more than twice the US’ €214.6 million market in that year.  Non-EU nation Switzerland alone was a €136 million “fair trade” organics import market that year.  But in truth, in the longer term, the DR must look to the US and Canadian organics markets, especially after the ratification of the DR-CAFTA trade accord and the launch of free trade agreement negotiations with Canada.

The DR faces some potentially stiff competition from its neighbors.  (CAFTA partner) Costa Rica and Jamaica are now pros at organic coffee trade, with Mexico and Guatemala working hard to join their ranks.  Costa Rica also excels at the organic banana and mango markets.

Can the DR Compete?

According to some organic produce experts we’ve talked to, the DR is actually quite good at organic farming and could be very competitive in world market - if the Dominican farmers just stop trying to beat the system.  The DR, they argue, has a real competitive advantage.  Their overall quality is good, but production systems must improve, transparency (ability to inspect, track, certify) must improve, producers must be tied to customers, and then it can work.  In terms of know-how, physical location, farming infrastructure and knowledgeable people (about produce), the DR is hard to beat.  They are just poor at international business and they too often try to cut corners, hoping inspectors will not notice.  In most organic certification systems, this cannot go on long without being noticed and penalized.

Rumors also are circulating that large agri-businesses, such as Dole and Chiquita, are interested in buying up Dominican farms to shift to organic production.  If true, their calculus of the Dominican competitive advantage must be similar.

Interestingly enough, the large Dominican-owned agri-businesses appear slow to embrace this trend or are ignoring it.  Grupo Bon has a few organic ice creams and markets an organic mango puree, but does not (yet?) offer organic juices or other fruit products.  As the international markets grow for organic fruit, juices and marmalades, and if large players like Dole and Chiquita and others start buying up agricultural production land in their own “back yard,” can the Rica's of the DR afford to continue ignoring this opportunity?

--Keith, Christa & Amity