About Etica
Etica
promotes sustainability through business. We distribute Fair Trade wine
to help farmers build better futures. Through Fair Trade, all of our producers
are paid an honest livable wage for their hard work.
Etica works with wine producers from South Africa, Chile and Argentina—the only Fair Trade certified wine producing countries in the world. As an importer, Etica pays a premium on the grapes, which in turn is used by producers to develop community initiatives—from education and housing, to healthcare and professional development.
Our goal is to help farming communities become self-sufficient and lessen their dependency on aid. By opening markets and purchasing directly from the cooperatives, Etica provides customers with a greater range of high-quality, Fair Trade wines.
What is Fair Trade?
Fair Trade is in a sense the same as international and domestic trade. Products cross borders, taxes are paid and people work hard to produce the products. Fair Trade however takes traditional trade to a new level. Fair Trade guarantees what traditional trade cannot; livable wages for producers, knowledge about sustaining local environments, and equal opportunities for all workers.
Fair Trade is responsible commerce based on equal exchange and respect for all people. This unique business model brings together producers and buyers with the common goal of creating sustainable livelihoods. The end result is an exchange of ideas, development of skills and an understanding of the distinct situations in which poverty exists around the world.
Fair Trade empowers producers by guaranteeing fair and livable wages, which in turn helps develop communities. Fair Trade is not only a key solution to alleviating poverty, it also opens up dialogue between people of all races, ethnicities, and economic backgrounds in an effort to develop sustainable solutions for the problems facing the poor and marginalized.
Producers are paid an honest wage for their hard work within the context of their societies, while being offered opportunities for advancement. The goal is to uplift people out of situations where they are dependent on aid to become self-sufficient. Fair Trade helps build lives where people can feed themselves, children can go to school and new business opportunities can develop.
We often forget that every product we consume involves a multitude of people. For many people products magically appear in the store and we as consumers don’t consider how and by whom they are made. We forget that people are often sidelined for profits, human rights ignored and equality dismissed.
By creating relationships and providing markets to those most in need, Fair Trade provides consumers with an ethical choice. It gives you the consumer an opportunity to utilize your purchasing power – one of the strongest mechanisms we have today to bring about change.
Etica's Manifesto
- Etica is a recognized distributor of Fair Trade Wine throughout Minnesota and the United States, offering consumers choices for Fair Trade products.
- Etica is a recognized name for high quality, well-designed and fairly traded products.
- Etica is bringing the Fair Trade movement to progressive new levels.
- Etica, as a company, follows Fair Trade guidelines, and offers products that are 100% Fair Trade.
- Etica is working diligently to protect the environment.
- Etica is deeply committed to its producer groups and consumers.
- Etica builds relationships between consumers and producers, and is instrumental in creating products that consumers are proud to purchase.
- Etica believes that Fair Trade is the best practice to create sustainable livelihoods for all people.
- Etica believes that opportunities should exist for all human life, not just for a select few.
- Etica knows that Fair Trade is good business.
Etica’s Green Policy
The choices we make at home and at work directly impact our environment. There are many things we can do as consumers and businesses to lessen our ecological footprint. As a Fair Trade business that promotes sustainable agriculture, Etica is committed to practicing environmental sustainability here at home and abroad.
In the office
Etica
uses eco-friendly products and recycled materials, including:
- Energy efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs
- Recycled paper for marketing materials
- Eco-friendly cleaning supplies
- Biodegradable trash bags and cutlery
- Wine shippers made from recycled material
On the road
As a wine importer and distributor, Etica encompasses many modes of
transportation—from
cars and trucks, to trains and ships. To offset the effects of CO2
emissions, Etica:
- Contributes annually to the Carbon Fund
- Encourages distributors to turn truck engines off during loading and abide by a “no idling” policy
- Promotes alternative transportations, such as hybrid and bio-diesel vehicles
At the vineyard
Great wine starts with properly managed vineyards.
The grapes used in Etica wines are either organically grown, or have
been sprayed with copper sulfate—a natural pesticide—only
twice per year.
In the future
Etica’s green policy is a constant
work-in-progress. As individuals and as a business, we are always looking
for ways to lessen our ecological footprint through improved recycling
and energy efficient policies. Our goals at home include moving to
a green building, owning a bio-diesel delivery truck and starting an
employee incentive smart car plan. Abroad, we are committed to working
with producers who promote organic and sustainable agriculture.
Etica Scholarship Fund
As a Fair Trade business, Etica works with producers in Chile, Argentina and South Africa to ensure that workers are paid a livable wage, and that community development projects are funded through Fair Trade premiums. But that commitment to empowering communities also takes place here in the United States.
Because education is key to the social and economic well being of communities, Etica is developing scholarship funds with institutions across the country to help underprivileged students gain access to higher education.
Today’s rising tuition costs and increased student loan debt make it increasingly challenging for young people to finance their education. By donating a portion of its sales to colleges and universities, and by garnering matching funds from participating institutions, Etica is helping students offset the financial burden.
During its first year in business Etica created the Etica Scholarship Fund at the University of Minnesota. By donating 5% of every sale, and with matching contributions by the University, the Etica Scholarship Fund helps finance higher education for underrepresented youth.
At Colorado State University, negotiations are underway to develop a scholarship fund with the Center for Fair and Alternative Trade to assist graduate students with field research on sustainable agriculture and other issues. Future plans include developing scholarship programs in all areas where Etica Fair Trade wine is distributed.
Tiffany Tompkins, President and Founder
Tiffany
received her Masters degree in Commercial Diplomacy from the Monterey Institute
of International Studies. She was recruited by the World Trade Organization
(WTO) to work in China, where she taught trade policy classes to Chinese
businessmen and government employees. After realizing that WTO rules only
benefited a select few, Tiffany began exploring other trade relationships
as a model for better business, economic growth and sustainable development.
She volunteered with Action Aid International China, where she researched
how the WTO’s
agricultural policies were impacting poor farmers and minority groups.
This research led to an understanding of the “Fair Trade.”
Tiffany’s research project on Fair Trade in China helped her identify Fair Trade issues throughout the country, and allowed her to visit Fair Trade projects in Yunnan and Tibet where she interviewed Fair Trade Labeling Organization (FLO) tea certifiers. In the winter of 2005 Tiffany moved to London where she volunteered with the Fairtrade Foundation (the UK’s equivalent of Transfair), where she helped with preparations for Fairtrade Fortnight, and the Trade Justice Movement’s Fair Trade events at Whitehall. During that time Tiffany was also contacting Fair Trade suppliers and ordering samples as she was writing a business plan for Etica.