El Paraíso Cooperative

The El Paraíso Cooperative is made up of twenty members from the Province of Pichincha (Ecuador). Each member owns a small sugar cane plantation and the necessary machinery for the extraction of panela. Each of these plantations is managed autonomously by each family of the cooperative, which also hires local labour, who are paid a fair wage, thus generating employment and improving the standard of living of these families.

The profits from sales made under Fairtrade standards, in addition to paying higher wages to the workers, are used to finance the community school and equip and maintain a dental centre. It has also managed to obtain organic farming certification for the sugar that comes from the cooperative's sugar cane plantations, as well as plans for continuous improvement in product quality and ongoing training for workers.