Connecticut-based GoodSAM launched in 2019 to help smallholder farmers committed to responsible growing practices reach the US market. The woman-led B Corp sources from 1,600 farmers in Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Kenya, Ghana and Burkina Faso. It produces nearly three dozen products, including coffee, nuts, chocolate and fruit chips, that are sold in US grocers like Whole Foods and Sprouts Farmers Market.
GoodSAM inked a first close on its Series A equity round with support from Acumen Latam Impact Ventures, as well as Desert Bloom, Connecticut Innovations and other investors, ImpactAlpha has learned. The company did not disclose the size of the raise.
“Our mission is to directly combat the broken food system,” said GoodSAM’s Heather Terry, and promote “a more sustainable and delicious future where food is beneficial for consumers and farmers alike.”
GoodSAM audits its suppliers to ensure that farmers meet specified regenerative agriculture and social responsibility standards, including soil health, water conservation, worker safety and fair wages.
“We have a scorecard process to onboard associations, cooperatives and individual farms,” Terry told ImpactAlpha. GoodSAM then conducts extensive interviews and site visits before bringing new suppliers into its network.
“It’s very intentional. It is a longer process than most companies go through, but it helps us make sure that we’re onboarding the right kind of team,” Terry explains. “We really do view our farmers and farming communities as part of our team, because they’re part of how we operate. Their willingness to participate in the system that we’ve created is really where [our] success is.”
“If we don’t see the will and desire to come into the system, it’s very difficult to onboard a community, because we need them to be bought into the standards that we’re that we’re looking for,” she added.
GoodSAM trades with farmers directly rather than through intermediaries, which allows farmers to earn two to four-times as much for their goods, added GoodSAM’s Greg Krupa.
By enabling higher incomes and land regeneration, noted ALIVE Ventures’ Virgilio Barco, GoodSAM is “driving prosperity and climate resilience in rural areas.”
