Watch the video OUR STORY
Watch the video OUR PHILOSOPHY
WE WORK WITH ETHICS IN OUR DNA
At Quinola we believe that business is good but that the ways of conducting business can be seriously improved upon. Free markets can lead to some fairly crazy outcomes, and little guys are often bullied into a corner when relative economic power is unbalanced. That is why we have built our business with a deep-grained respect for everyone involved, and try to do things differently, without ever compromising on quality.
Our Peruvian quinoa is sourced directly from the Cabana co-operative in Peru, just north of Lake Titicaca. They are a group of about 500 farmers who are very proud to be selling their products to you.
WE BUY QUINOA UNDER FAIRTRADE TERMS
Via the Fairtrade mechanism, we guarantee our farmers a minimum price. This allows them a decent standard of living, regardless of where the market price is. Based on average land holdings and crop yields, Fairtrade calculates the minimum price a farmer needs to retain an acceptable standard of living. We have applied this price to all our transactions, as well as continuing to pay over the Fairtrade premium to ensure investment in improving the farmers’ livelihoods. In 2016 the minimum price we promise to pay farmers was 40% higher than the market price. However, if the market price is higher than this minimum we obviously pay them the market price. We go further than the requirements set by Fairtrade. We are helping them to raise long-term finance with European financial institutions. This will enable the cooperative to extend its microfinance scheme, giving the farmers their first access to capital at non-usurious interest rates.
WE AIM FOR A POSITIVE IMPACT FROM THE START TO THE END OF THE CHAIN
Our products are packed at the Ligue Havraise in Le Havre in France by people with learning difficulties. Productivity isn’t the highest, but the quality of the work is impeccable. They are proud to be producing something that has found its way into your kitchen, and are looking forward to meeting their Peruvian counterparts at some stage! As a consumer, when you buy a product you buy the world that goes with it. Given the complexity of supply chains it is often impossible to properly judge the implications of your purchase but by purchasing Quinola products you can be sure that you are supporting workers in Peru, France and the UK.
