Thx blueberries

After a successful South American blueberry and cherry season, Thx! has announced that it is expanding its social impact programme into Northern Hemisphere sourcing to offer its customers year-round supply.

“We will be working with Mexican, US and Canadian growers that want to benefit from a programme that has a social impact in the communities they operate in,” said Martin Casanova, who co-founded the initiative with Raul Fernandez.

Among the benefits reported by growers in the programme were increased productivity and improved worker morale, Casanova said, while distributors and retailers were happy to be able to offer their customers the opportunity to transform lives.

Thx! said its goals for the coming years included offering a year-round blueberry supply, expanding into other berries and developing a summer cherry programme.

The company also plans to expand into the European and Latin American market.

“We hope to impact at least 100 farm workers, combining our passion for helping the less fortunate with an innovative marketing solution to connect people and companies who aspire to make a difference,” Casanova said.

“Eighty-three per cent of consumers today are making conscious buying choices and selecting companies that support social and environmental causes over those that don’t.”

Thx! berries are sold in clamshells with labels featuring pictures of individual farm workers whose lives have been improved through the programme.

Shoppers can connect with the workers and learn about their dreams by accessing videos using a QR Code on the label or by logging into the www.thxdreams.com website.