to joining Mountain Rose Herbs, Donnille also wanted to make sure that the
company created change beyond its own corporate walls. To do this, Mountain
Rose Herbs is actively involved with nonprofits such as the Northwest Coalition
for Alternatives to Pesticides, the Cascadia Wildlands Project and over a dozen
others. The company offers a wide range of support to help these causes from
gathering signatures for petitions and funding events to including inserts about
the organizations in its mail orders.
Organic and More Than Fair
At the very core of Mountain Rose Herbs’ sustainability mission is organic agriculture. Since 2001, owners Julie Bailey and Shawn Donnille have committed to sourcing
only 100 percent organic products. However, they also realize that the foundation of
organic agriculture is the farmer, so in 2004, Mountain Rose Herbs became the first to
offer fair trade certified organic medicinal herbs. Through working with Transfair, the
U.S. fair trade certification agency, the company was able to certify mint, chamomile
and hibiscus, and this year the company will add eight more herbs to its fair trade certified offerings including dill, lemongrass, lemon balm, basil, oregano, parsley, rosemary
and thyme. Donnille also noted that that if more organic companies used fair trade
herbs and spices it would give Transfair more of an incentive to certify even more growers and make more fair trade products available.
Going beyond fair trade. While Mountain Rose Herbs is a huge
proponent of fair trade certification, the company wanted to do
more. For one, fair trade certification can only be developed for crops
that have a very large demand and the company wanted to make sure
all 337 farmers it worked with around the globe were getting a good
deal. Secondly, fair trade premiums are strictly determined by the
market rate and set percentages, and don’t offer the farmer direct negotiating rights. So Mountain Rose Herbs cranked things up a notch and developed a
business model called “Good Trade.” In this model, the company sits down face to face
with farmers, asks them what they need and negotiates from there. “It allows the farmers to dictate the price paid for goods, instead of the other way around,” Donnille said.
“For us, it is about having a relationship with the farmers.” To highlight the farmers, the
company has recently launched a spice line called Epicurean Organic, which is all procured from growers who had negotiating rights. Two percent of each sale is also going
to the Organic Farming Research Foundation.
Growing organic agriculture. Mountain Rose Herbs is also empowering farmers
who take the risk to convert to organic by offering forward contracts, which often in-
clude 50 percent advanced payment. The com-
pany has already helped convert 11 farms to
organic In the United States,
and one in Hungary as well.
This year the company even took
this a step further, making the commitment to set aside $55,000 a year to fund
grants. Donnille said the company now
reviews about 20 applications per
month. Partnering with nonprofits has
had a positive effect on the community
and the company itself, he added.
“Through our sustainability and non-profit efforts we have engaged the emotional side of our customers and they
have become devout followers of the
brand,” Donnille said. “It gives them a
chance to be a part of a positive
change.”
Sustainability Synergy
Lastly, Mountain Rose Herbs is part
of several industry working groups
which bring like-minded businesses together to brainstorm eco-friendly solutions on issues ranging from packaging
to distribution. Colden serves as president of the Willamette Valley Sustainable Foods Alliance, which includes
members from Yogi Tea, Glory Bee,
Nancy’s Yogurt and many others. Currently, the group is looking at bio-based
plastic films and working with a company to create a prototype made of tree
cellulose, a byproduct of the lumber industry. Together this group has the
power to create a demand for these
types of eco-friendly products and drive
packaging companies to create more
environmentally responsible solutions.
“These organizations are a great
source of motivation and guidance,”
said Colden. “Although we are guided
by our own internal drive to create
these changes, by participating in these
groups we are able to learn about what
others are doing, share our ideas and
say, ‘OK, we’re all in this together.’”
Through groups such as this,
Colden has also learned about other
programs, which provide education
and tools that the company uses to
measure its carbon footprint and to further its sustainability efforts.
Some of these include The Green-
