Equal Exchange engaging retail investors to support smallholder farmers

Through April 2024, the US-based cooperative Equal Exchange is offering notes that promise an annual return of 3% through 2027. Retail investors can purchase the notes on Crowdfund Mainstreet, a website owned by the US-based public benefit corporation MiTec. Equal Exchange, which is seeking to raise USD 1.5 million through the offering, sells coffee, chocolate, bananas and other food products on a wholesale basis. It sources these products from small-scale farmers in Latin America and Africa, whom it supports with services such as pre-harvest financing.