Fairtrade America appoints Amanda Archila as Executive Director

Amanda Archila, Executive Director, Fairtrade International

Fairtrade America has announced Amanda Archila as its new Executive Director as it seeks to improve consumer awareness of the Fairtrade Mark and its positive impact on farming communities globally. 
 

Fairtrade America is the US division of Fairtrade International, which works with nearly two million farmers and workers around the world in 28 countries, including approximately 830,000 coffee farmers. 

In 2020, the organisation said that Fairtrade coffee farmers cultivated coffee on more than 1.1 million hectares worldwide producing 889,500 tonnes of coffee. 

Fairtrade International promotes that more than $1bn in financial benefit has been delivered to producer communities to date across its portfolio of food, beverage and textile growing farms. 

Washington DC-based non-profit Fairtrade America said Archila’s extensive fair trade advocacy background and passion for the organisation would be ‘invaluable’. 

Before joining Amazon in 2018 to serve in several vendor management roles, Archila held marketing and sales roles at Fairtrade chocolate retailer Divine Chocolate and helped lead a new fair trade certification system for the Indian market while at Mumbai-based Shop for Change Fair Trade. 

In a press release, Fairtrade America said Archila will help strengthen its retail relationships and increase consumer awareness of the impact of choosing Fairtrade products. 

“Amanda’s wealth of relevant experience throughout the supply chain, combined with her passion for Fairtrade, will be invaluable for the future of this movement in the US. We look forward to Amanda’s contributions and leadership as we continue to further engage with our retail and brand partners and consumers to change the way trade works through better prices, decent working conditions, and a fairer deal for farmers and workers,” said Dan Arnett, Chair of Fairtrade America’s Board of Directors. 

World Coffee Portal research found 47% of survey respondents try to be ethically conscious when purchasing their coffee beverages, with nearly half (49%) of those surveyed citing Fair Trade USA Certified coffee as a common purchase.