Let’s reconnect and reignite our shared purpose as a community! This year’s Equal Exchange Summit is more than a gathering—it’s also a celebration of 40 years of changing trade. For four decades, we’ve been working together to build an alternative trade model rooted in solidarity, democracy, and fairness. Together, we’ve connected coffee, chocolate, tea, bananas, and other fairly traded foods from democratically organized small farmer co-ops in the Global South with Citizen-Consumers in the North through Equal Exchange’s worker-owned cooperative—proving that another way of doing business is not only possible, but powerful.
As we mark this 40th anniversary milestone, we do so amid real challenges: historically high coffee and cacao prices, unpredictable tariffs and trade policies, and increasing corporate consolidation in our food system. Join us for a dynamic gathering of farmers, worker-owners, customers, organizers, and partners as we reflect on four decades of impact, confront today’s realities, and chart the next chapter of our solidarity economy—because in a world that urgently needs alternatives, our movement matters more than ever.
Tp regsiter, click here
Thursday, June 11
Welcome dinner (optional)
Early check-in available
Friday, June 12
Keynote Address
Workshops
All meals provided, followed by a party
Saturday, June 13
Breakfast (optional)
Equal Exchange Roastery Tour (optional)
Overnight accommodation will be provided in Wheaton dorms for anyone wishing to stay on campus Thursday and/or Friday nights.
There is no charge for the event or accommodations this year.
Keynote Address: Santiago Paz López
We are excited to announce our keynote speaker for the 2026 Equal Exchange Summit: Santiago Paz López. Santiago is the Commercial Manager of Norandino Cooperative (formerly Cepicafe) located in the Piura region of Peru. What started out as a small group of coffee growers in the mountains of northern Peru has grown into a thriving cooperative that has been a partner of Equal Exchange for almost thirty years.
For the last forty years, Equal Exchange has built a better food system by helping organized groups of small farmers gain economic independence and greater political power in their regions. Norandino Cooperative is perhaps the strongest example of this approach since our trading partnership began and Santiago has been a key leader in this organization since its inception. He is one of the most visionary forces for social development we have ever worked with. In addition to solidifying the co-op’s market position in coffee, Norandino has expanded to bring co-op representation and infrastructure to sugar and cacao growers in northern Peru. They have built processing plants for both and now control the first step processing (cocoa powder, butter and “liquor”) instead of relying on private players whose primary interest is not the farmers.
At the summit, Santiago will reflect on past successes and failures in this movement, as well as some of the biggest challenges they face in the coming decades.
“I believe the market is the most important. You must start from the reality of your producers. Most of them live in extreme poverty. The most important thing for them is to generate an income. They are busy surviving from day to day: what do we eat today, what do we eat tomorrow. The market can change matters.”
— Santiago Paz López
WORKSHOPS
The Small Farmer Fund: Investing Beyond Trade
Presented by: Dary Goodrich, Chocolate Supply Chain Manager, Equal Exchange
Join us for a behind-the-scenes look at what the current chapter of Small Farmer Fund projects looks like on the ground. Since Equal Exchange started, we have always been so much more than a trade partner. We have directed project funds to the farmer co-ops we trade with to build stronger co-op institutions, increase productivity and quality, and build resiliency. These projects have had a deep impact on farmers. Last year, when USAID funding was abruptly cut, millions of dollars in planned co-op and community-led work disappeared overnight. Our answer was to keep finding ways to do this work through our community-supported Small Farmer Fund. In this workshop, we’ll share updates from our partners and share additional ways that you can help sustain this work.
A New Model for Global Worker Cooperatives
Presented by: Kelly Storie, President of La Siembra, and Nicole Vitello, Vice-President of Equal Exchange
In this workshop, you’ll learn the nuts and bolts of the La Siembra/Equal Exchange merger and hear our vision of what our shared future might look like. Equal Exchange and La Siembra have been sister co-ops and allies for 25 years, working across borders in cocoa and chocolate supply chains and alternative trade. A decade ago, when private equity came calling for La Siembra, Equal Exchange answered with a plan to keep the business in the hands of the Canadian worker-owners. Now, the members of La Siembra Cooperative have joined as fellow co-owners of Equal Exchange. Together, we now manage supply chains in six commodities—coffee, cocoa, sugar, tea, fruits, and nuts with manufacturing partners that empower small-scale farmers worldwide.
40 Years of Fair Trade: Reflections and Lessons
Presented by Rink Dickinson, Rob Everts, and Tom Hanlon-Wilde
On May 1, 2026 Equal Exchange turns 40. In this workshop, we want to reflect on this history through some key questions. How have the key participants of our supply chain—farmer co-ops, Equal Exchange itself, and consumer food coops—succeeded at:
Achieving real linkages that benefit our members and others in the value chain.
Taking economic and political risk to advance our missions and build larger markets for equitably produced goods.
Making progress on building a cooperative economy
Our goal is to share our analysis to provoke discussion and to increase our capacity for co-op innovation in the interesting time ahead.
Industry Consolidation: A Closer Look at Your Options in the Grocery Aisle
Presented by Nova Wetherwax, Director of Merchandising at Sacramento Co-op
In this workshop, Nova will guide you on how to maximize your shopping impact to support local and independent farms and food producers. Every month seems to bring news of yet another merger or acquisition in the corporate food system. More and more popular independent brands are gobbled up along the way. How is a conscientious shopper able to identify the brands that are independent, cooperative, or structured in ways that guarantee they remain so? Sacramento Co-op tries to balance supporting independent brands and their products alongside stocking market-leading products that usually come from consolidated businesses. They must consider what their members say they want and what they actually buy. Together, we’ll discuss how we can still influence the world we want to live in with the everyday choices we make.
