FairTSA Newsletter: April 2025

A Word of Welcome

In This Issue

Collaboration with the Regenerative Organic Alliance

Travel Dispatch

New Certified Companies

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

We are off to a beautiful spring in New York State and had a very fruitful winter for our organization. Much of the beginning of 2025 was dedicated to strengthening our relationships with our partners and certifiers. This has included working with many new producers that are joining the Fair Trade Sustainability Alliance in pursuit of becoming Regenerative Organic Certified®. We were also happy to put faces to names during our attendance at both the Accredited Certifiers Association Conference in Richmond, Virginia, United States, and BIOFACH 2025 in Nuremberg, Germany. Learn more about ROCTM, the ACA Conference, and our experience and BIOFACH 2025 in this edition of the newsletter.

This year, we hope to further strengthen our new and “old” partnerships, and recruit other organizations that align with our mission. We have added a new administrator to our team, Haleigh, who will be working out of the Czech Republic and support Licensees and Producers in quarterly reporting. Haleigh will help our social media presence grow. I will be taking a 6 month leave to hike the Appalachian Trail, over 2200 miles (3540 km), through 14 States, and then returning to work from Virginia in the Southeast United States. I am looking forward to the connections to humans, animals, and the environment I will make along the trail, and am very hopeful for the ways I will connect with you all upon my arrival back to the office this fall.

On behalf of FairTSA, we wish everybody to thrive this spring and bloom like the flowers throughout the Hudson Valley.

Sam Meier

Administrator

FairTSA Collaboration with the Regenerative Organic Alliance

We are excited to announce our collaboration with the Regenerative Organic Alliance (ROA). We have been accepted as fulfilling their “Farmer and Worker Fairness Pillar” since September of 2024.

Regenerative Organic Certified® is an agricultural umbrella certification for food, fiber, and wellness ingredients that assures shoppers that their purchase has environmental, ethical, and social impact. It was created to address the climate crisis, soil degradation, biodiversity loss, factory farming, and fractured rural economies globally. Regenerative Organic Certified® farms and products meet high standards based on three pillars: soil health, animal welfare, and social fairness.

Currently the following FairTSA Certifiers are approved by the Regenerative Organic Alliance:

agroVet

Bioagricert

Bioinspekta

CERES Certifications

CERES Swiss

Control Union Certifications (some offices)

Mayacert SA

Regenerative Organic Certified® is overseen by the 501(c)3 nonprofit Regenerative Organic Alliance. You can find ROC information through our website at fairtsa.org/organizations or go directly to regenorganic.org.

If you are an organic producer and interested in becoming Regenerative Organic Certified®, contact us! You can sign up for a FairTSA producer webinar on fairtsa.org/webinars and learn about our program.

If you apply for FairTSA certification and would also like to be Regenerative Organic certified, please mark that you are pursuing the ROC^TM Certification on our application form. Application forms are available on our website at fairtsa.org/resources.

Dispatch from Domestic and

Foreign Travel

January and February were a time of intense travel. First came the Accredited Certifiers Alliance (ACA) annual meeting in Richmond, Virginia. A very lively event with meaningful presentations and the chance to have conversations with colleagues old and new. One of our cooperating certifiers, Mayacert, presented the Regenerative Organic Association’s ROC program and FairTSA’s role in this context. The conference provided the opportunity to discuss FairTSA as well as football clubs with several US and international certifier colleagues. Regardless of our differing team preferences, FairTSA was met with curiosity and several expressed interest in joining the program in the near future.

Noe Rivera of Mayacert, Independent Inspector Colleague Raymond Yang, and Winfried Fuchshofen in Richmond

Prasad More, our Bioagricert Colleague from India, and Winfried Fuchshofen. In the foreground Chetan Parmar, the Foodchain SVP for Europe & Asia

From Richmond to New York, and then to BIOFACH 2025 in Nuremberg. This year, Aureliano Eguren from our office in Peru joined me at the show. He enjoyed meeting many of our partners in person and was able to build connections and projects to follow up on, now that he is back in Peru. At Bioagricert’s, CERES’ and Mayacert’s booths, Daniel Araujo and I were invited to feature FairTSA’s cooperation with the Regenerative Organic Alliance. The presentations were very well attended. Attendees found them interesting and engaging, and we had great discussions afterwards. Testimonials from several ROC and FairTSA certified partners added to the benefits this collaboration provides. In addition, we had in-depth discussions with certifier partners Control Union Certifications and Kiwa BCS. All in all, a rewarding visit to the world’s largest organic trade show.

Winfried Fuchshofen

Executive Director

Welcome to our Newest FairTSA Certified Companies!

The FairTSA team would like to extend a warm welcome to our newest FairTSA certified producers! Please contact us if you are interested in their Fair Trade FairTSA certified products.

Asociacion de Produtores de la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta “ASOTAYRONACA”, Colombia

Bananas, Cacao Beans, Parchment Coffee

2BK General Trading and Agroindustry Plc., Ethiopia

Avocadoes

El Hady for Trade and Contractors, Egypt

Organic Valencia Orange Juice

Elite – AE shpk, Abania

Basil, Bay Laurel, Coriander, Dill, Peppermint, Rosemary, Sage, Thyme

Hacienda La Pradera S.A.S, Colombia

Coffee

Hacienda Santa Maria S.A.S, Colombia

Coffee, Tahiti Lime