October is Fair Trade month, an opportunity to bring awareness to responsibly sourced products and focus on building transparent and authentic supply chains that adhere to the original Fair Trade principles such as fair wages & payment, transparency, good working conditions, respect for the environment and no child labor.

We started Doozy Pots with the vision to make plant-based treats that nourish our bodies, regenerate our planet, and take care of those communities who grow and process our ingredients. That means a deep focus on building a transparent supply chain and sourcing ingredients that are grown using organic, ideally regenerative, methods from supplier communities that are treated equitably.

The best ways to ensure dignity and equity for suppliers in developing countries is to purchase ingredients that are either certified by a Fair Trade certifying organization that regularly reviews conditions for ingredient suppliers and helps develop beneficial social programs through a price premium or come from a direct trade model that eliminates intermediaries and provides fair trade benefits to growers. There is debate about which model works best, but the important point is that both systems are designed to provide equity and dignity for people around the world who work incredibly hard to grow the ingredients we all love to eat.

In honor of Fair Trade Month, we want to highlight the fair & direct trade ingredients and suppliers we use in our gelato. Fair & direct trade practices help to bring transparency and respect to global trade, especially in industries which are often in developing countries. Every day, the purchases we make as consumers are connected to the livelihoods of others and by purchasing fair trade products, we are contributing to efforts to make the world better for those at all levels of the supply chain. 🌎

🌱Regenerative Organic Cane Sugar: All of our products are sweetened with certified regenerative organic cane sugar from Native, an organic producer based in Brazil who has pioneered a better way for sugar production over the last 35 years. For a deep dive on our sugar sourcing, read more here.

🍫Cocoa Powder: To create the most chocolate-y gelato for our Chocolate Raspberry Swirl & Chocolate Mint Chip we are proud to work with our supply partner, Global Organics, to source cocoa and chocolate from Agostoni, which is built upon an ethical business model called the Equal Partner Direct Buying Program that is the foundation of their sustainable cocoa bean sourcing strategy. This program is Agostoni’s system of direct, fair trade that generates social, economic and environmental benefits for cocoa growers in the regions they work with (Dominican Republic, Peru and Uganda).

🍌Organic Bananas: The Fair Trade, organic banana puree we use in our Banana Cinnamon Date  gelato comes from Ecuador, from Inborja, a family-owned business that focuses on creating value added banana ingredients with bananas that don’t meet strict standards for fresh bananas.

☕Coffee:  For the rich coffee flavor in our Smooth Coffee gelato we partner with Finlay's, a leader in sustainable coffee & tea sourcing, to source Fair Trade, organic coffee.

✨Cinnamon: We searched far and wide to find the perfect cinnamon for the sweet spiciness in our Banana Cinnamon Date, and we discovered Royal Cinnamon from Burlap & Barrel. This direct trade, heirloom cinnamon comes from smallholder farms the mountains of Quang Nam in central Vietnam.