Fair Trade Coconut Oil-Cold Pressed-USDA Organic

Candela Peru is an alternative bio-trade organization which began acting as a fair trade business in the brazil nut industry in 1989 in order to improve circumstances for this region of Peru.

Candela Peru, an acronym for "Comercio Alternativo de Productos No Tradicionales y Desarrollo para Latino América" (in English: Alternative Trade of Non Traditional Products and Development for Latin America), works with 266 Peruvian farmers in this part of the Amazon rainforest to harvest the Brazil nut in a socially and environmentally-responsible manner.

Besides creating steady work for rural families, the company helps small producers streamline their production chains for increased capacity and helps them to implement social and environmental projects in their area. In this way, Candela Peru helps improve farmers way of living and promotes forest conservation in a biologically diverse region.

Candela Peru developed an Organic Certification program in 2001 to include Peruvian Brazil nuts in the growing organic market, and works with local producers to obtain their organic certification. The company also hosts classes in forest management to educate farmers on how sustainable forestry practices can offer financial reward.

In South America, brazil nuts grow during the 4-month dry season that differs from region to region. The Brazil nut is a hard-shelled fruit, similar to a coconut, and takes about 14 months to mature. The fruit is about 4-6 inches in diameter and can weigh up to four pounds. The shell of the fruit is about a quarter of an inch thick and contains between 12-24 nuts.

Brazil nuts are primarily harvested from wild trees during the six-month period of the rainy season. Because the Brazil nut trees are so tall, harvesting the fruits consists of gathering the fruit after they fall. Once the fruit falls, it has to be gathered quickly so they are not susceptible to fungus and animals that can carry them away.

Madre de Dios, a mountainous area of pristine forests, is one of the poorest regions of Peru. The most lucrative industry here is the collection and processing of the Amazon (Brazil) nut into oils, candy, and candles for export. Unfortunately, few producers are informed or rewarded for extracting the oil in a sustainable manner meaning the region's rates of rainforest destruction are almost as high as its poverty.