Responsible Manufacturer Benchmark - Farmer to Farmer

By CommonShare

Farmer to Farmer, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in Western Wisconsin, is dedicated to fostering peace and cross-cultural understanding in Guatemala and Honduras. Founded in 1989 as a solidarity-based organization, Farmer to Farmer has a rich history of working directly with family coffee farmers in these regions. Their primary focus lies in buying organic coffee directly from these farmers at above fair trade prices, with profits being reinvested to support various projects, including school scholarships for students in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala.

With a strong presence in the coffee industry, Farmer to Farmer stands out for its commitment to ethical sourcing and direct support to local farmers. Their unique value proposition lies in their hands-on approach to working with communities, building cultural connections across borders. Noteworthy achievements include their successful operations in Nicaragua, Honduras, Ecuador, and Guatemala, with a current focus on the latter two countries. Their target markets include socially conscious consumers who value transparency and sustainability in their coffee purchases.

Driven by a mission to support peace and cultural exchange, Farmer to Farmer's geographic presence extends beyond Wisconsin, with members located throughout the U.S. Their leadership approach emphasizes collaboration and empowerment of local communities, ensuring that the benefits of their initiatives are felt at the grassroots level. Looking towards the future, Farmer to Farmer continues to expand its impact through upcoming trips to Guatemala and Honduras in 2025, signaling a strategic direction focused on deepening their support for coffee farmers and furthering their mission of cross-cultural understanding.

Overall Rating

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Under-Performing

Traceability

An increasingly important factor in global supply chains, traceability assesses the manufacturer's capability to track products and materials from origin to delivery. The Sustainable Manufacturers Benchmark® explores this through the lens of tiered supplier verification, culminating in end-to-end traceability with real-time monitoring and complete transparency.

Digitized Products

The digital landscape has transformed B2B interactions. This facet assesses the extent to which manufacturers have digitized their product offerings. The spectrum ranges from manufacturers without any online product catalog to those boasting advanced B2B e-commerce platforms, providing clients with order customization, real-time tracking, and an integrated view of the supply chain.

Preferred Materials

This aspect gauges the extent to which manufacturers incorporate sustainable, circular, and regenerative materials in their supply chain. It assesses whether companies merely use standard materials or whether they actively prioritize sustainable and preferred materials in their product range, even going so far as to offer digital verification of material certificates.

Facility Verification and Services

This dimension evaluates the openness and commitment of manufacturers regarding their facility's conditions and services. It covers a spectrum, from providing no facility details at all to showcasing comprehensive third-party audits, ensuring transparency in worker welfare and showcasing a clear commitment to maintaining top-tier facility services.

Readiness to Contract

Before entering a partnership, it's pivotal to understand a manufacturer's business legitimacy. The Sustainable Manufacturers Benchmark® checks for the presence and verification of essential documents, ranging from basic business licenses to comprehensive documentation, client testimonials, and even third-party attestations that verify a manufacturer's reliability and readiness to contract.

Farmer to Farmer

United States

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How our Responsible Manufacturer Benchmark® Works?

By CommonShare

The Responsible Manufacturer Benchmark is a comprehensive framework designed to evaluate and rate manufacturers based on their commitment to sustainability, digital integration, readiness for contracting, material sourcing, and facility standards. It provides a clear, standardized metric for assessing manufacturers in a B2B environment, helping businesses make informed decisions aligned with their sustainability objectives. The benchmark covers crucial areas like end-to-end traceability, the digital verification of supply tiers, utilization of preferred materials, and verified social audits for facilities. By incorporating both depth and granularity across its criteria, the benchmark not only promotes transparency but also encourages continuous improvement in responsible manufacturing practices.