Renewal early investee, Equal Exchange, the pioneering fair trade company, will infuse new capital and take over majority ownership of Oke USA to keep the fair trade fruit company operational. Here's the wonderful story of collaboration that is keeping the fruit moving.

On October 2, 2008 at the annual shareholder meeting, the future looked bleak for Oke USA. Organic bananas, our core product, were in short supply and priced above what the US market would bear. AgroFair, majority owner and operational supporter, faced a fast tightening cash situation and could no longer supply Oke with needed cash or a corporate guarantee.

Carlos Eugeno Vargas of COOPETRABASUR, Oke banana suppliers in Costa Rica, when hearing about the cash crisis, asked us to pray and work for a miracle to keep Oke USA going. The hard work of Equal Exchange, Red Tomato and the Oke USA staff produced the miracle.

At the Oct 2 meeting, Equal Exchange, one of two minority owners of Oke USA, stepped up and agreed to explore the possibility of keeping the fruit flowing with reduced overhead and a limited distribution channel, though the board saw little hope for much success.

Just at the darkest banana hour, the global financial crisis hit. A week after the annual shareholder gathering, the euro plummeted against the dollar and the organic banana market softened.

Ironically, the crisis meant that suddenly new possibilities emerged. Management quickly set out to see if it could recapitalize the company to craft a second opportunity for Oke USA.

After a few weeks deeper into the financial crisis, Equal Exchange presented a plan to the Oke board taking the best of both approaches. It was agreed that Equal Exchange would infuse new capital and take a majority ownership role while keeping a vibrant role for AgroFair and Red Tomato.

Jonathan Rosenthal, CEO, will resign to assist a smooth transition to the new Equal Exchange structure. Rob Amsterdam, Jennifer Garay and Julia Khodabandeh have also left as part of the transition to a smaller Oke USA. Jordan Bar Am will remain with Oke USA along with 2 new Equal Exchange staff.

The bananas will transition to the Equal Exchange brand. For Equal Exchange, this new role is a compelling step in the fulfillment of its 20 year vision of "a vibrant, mutually cooperative community of 2 million committed participants, trading fairly $1 billion a year in a way that transforms the world."