At GoodSam, regenerative agriculture isn't just an environmental movement—it's a business decision
GoodSam Foods founder Heather Terry explains the importance of regenerative agriculture and the value of people and partnerships in this Q&A.
A natural products industry veteran of more than a decade, Heather Terry is doing with GoodSam Foods what she always set out to do: create healthy chocolate through an equitable supply chain while not taking away from the earth's resources. Terry is intentional in every decision she makes for her CPG business, GoodSam. Her philosophy is that if the decision is for the benefit of the planet and its inhabitants, then it will ultimately help advance GoodSam.
GoodSam's mission centers on regenerative agriculture and direct trade. GoodSam does not present itself as a candy or snack brand, but as a small farmer brand. Terry's view is that regenerative agriculture does not start with the soil but with the people caring for it. The brand strives to ensure that farms endure for generations by investing in these people. She knows the farmers in Colombia who grow the cacao for GoodSam's chocolate and pays attention to what they say they need to succeed.
"I get that the world's moving and changing, but we've got to return to the basics: the planet, soil, people, relationships and action. Those are the basics. If every company started coming from that standpoint, it would be a very different food system. It would be a very, very different world," Terry says.
To get a foothold in Colombia, GoodSam partners with Luker Chocolate, a Colombian chocolate manufacturer that locally produces single-origin chocolates from bean to bar. Colombia has a rich and diverse landscape, but years of war and drug trafficking have made accessing the country's unique resources and supporting the farmers difficult for foreign companies. Terry says the partnership with Luker has been instrumental in helping them connect with small farms.
"When you go in with a partner like this, you have to have a certain element of trust, and Luker Chocolate has been tremendously helpful to us and our efforts on the ground. They are what I would classify as a true vertically integrated partner. For GoodSam, we could not do the work that we do in the country of Colombia without them."
Together, Luker and GoodSam created the Building Networks program to help close the digital divide in Colombia. The program provides Colombian youth the educational resources and English language skills and teaches them how to use social media for good. This investment helps deepen relationships with the farmers and supports the community's growth. In addition, GoodSam, with Luker's support, continues to create farmer-driven initiatives that benefit the land, the people and the future of food.
New Hope Network spoke with Heather Terry to learn more about GoodSam and Luker's partnership and how the brand continuously supports its farmers who have been practicing regenerative agriculture for generations. Some answers have been edited for length and clarity.
How did this Building Networks program come to fruition?
HT: We were in a part of the country called Necoclí, where Luker operates pretty extensively, and we met a young man spearheading many social media efforts in that area. We do a lot of work in the field, and I could see how he was trying to show the beauty of what was there, what his parents were creating and what his family was cultivating. These kids are really eager to connect with the outside world. They want to continue the legacy of their families; they want to represent their communities. If they're disconnected, that's difficult for them to do because the world is so connected now.
So, the program's premise became to teach them how to use social media as an effective business tool to represent what their families, their farms and their small businesses are doing. Some of them in this program have CPG companies that they're trying to get off the ground in Colombia. [Our goal is to] teach them how to use it effectively—to not just take selfies of themselves. We show them how social media can be used as a real force to create growth, revenue and drive. It also gives them some practical basis for using English. This helps give them another way to connect to the outside world.
You work in other countries as well, not just Colombia. Is this sort of program scalable?
HT: