By WTN Staff

Just in case 100 percent certified organic isn’t enough for anyone, EcoTeas products are now also 100 percent Fair Trade certified, according to an announcement the company made last week.

Last week, EcoTeas said it had achieved the certification through third-party certification firm IMO. For a company that plants trees to reforest areas where its ingredients originate, purchases carbon offset credits for its energy and water usage and uses 100-percent biodegradable and/or recyclable packaging, achieving Fair Trade status might seem ho-hum.

Not so, according to founder Stefan Schachter, who portrayed the certification as an important milestone.

“We have four partners: three in U.S. and one in Argentina,” he explained. “Our Argentinapartner’s family grows the maté. The farm itself is a partner in our company up here. We’re a small business, and so are they. We have grown together.”

He said EcoTeas sought Fair Trade certification through IMO for a couple reasons. First, EcoTeas’ biggest customer, Whole Foods Market, recognizes three Fair Trade certifiers: IMO, Rainforest Alliance and TransFair. TransFair doesn’t certify maté, and the Rainforest Alliance process “looked like it was going to be expensive and complicated, so we didn’t go with them,” Schachter said.

“IMO, from the beginning, was very helpful,” he added. “When we were first investigating it, they would get on the phone and answer all our questions, and really helped guide us through the process.”

In addition, EcoTeas’ biggest competitor, Guayaki, uses IMO as its Fair Trade certifier. Using the same provider “kind of aligns the maté category, making it easier for consumers,” Shachter said.

He claimed his company, Maté Revolution (which encompasses the wholesale business as well as the EcoTeas brand), makes the No. 1 selling organic tea SKU (individual product) in the U.S., its 1-pound loose yerba maté, according to market research firm SPINS. Even so, Schachter and his partners are planning to further growth.

Over the coming two years, the company known for its yerba maté is planning to branch out into more black, green and chai teas, as well as rooibos.

“Our top selling tea is loose yerba maté, as opposed to bags, which makes us kind of unique,” Schachter said, adding that the new teas would be specialty loose-leaf as well.

Although subject to revision, the current plan is to gradually roll out the new products, which are currently being test marketed. They’ll begin with Oregon in 2010, move to the rest of the Western U.S. in 2011 and the rest of the country in 2012.

For now, Schachter said, EcoTeas works with importers for its black, green and chai teas.

“We’re not buying those directly from the garden, because we’re not up to the volume yet to be able to do that,” he said. “So, it works better for us as a buyer.”

Like its matés, EcoTeas actual tea is certified Fair Trade – in this case, through TransFair USA.