Canopy Bridge

Canopy Bridge's Mission is to help businesses and communities committed to sustainable natural products thrive by making discovery and relationship building easy and transparent.

CanopyBridge is a global network that links businesses, producer associations and community groups buying and selling products that aim to contribute to improved livelihoods, social empowerment and healthy ecosystems. It allows members from around the world to list, describe, discover and learn more about natural sustainable products and the people behind them; it allows trading partners make initial connections, build trust and facilitate communication.

Businesses, farmers and grassroots organizations around the world are harnessing the power of markets to protect nature and foster healthy communities with their commitments to sustainability. Products as diverse as coffee and copaiba oil, quinoa and kapok, shea butter, schisandra and sacha inchi link us in global relationships with a shared commitment to responsible sourcing – including organic, fair trade and other ethical standards.

These products make major contributions to the livelihoods of rural communities – especially women – and can help tip the economic balance in forest conservation and sustainable farming practices. Simply put, these products can leverage the power of markets to build healthy farms and make forests worth more alive than dead, consequently contributing to lifting communities out of poverty in the process. But there are huge distances – both geographical and cultural – between local producers in the developing world and companies and consumers in global markets that keep this thriving trade from realizing its full potential.

Communities, cooperatives and small businesses have a hard time identifying and reaching buyers – relying on chance connections or prohibitively expensive promotion through trade fairs and outreach. And the greater the distance and number of intermediaries involved, the lower the share of final value that's likely to reach producers. On the flip side, buyers – especially small and medium side companies - face major transaction costs and risks in finding suppliers, assessing whether they can deliver, and learning the unique stories behind the products. On both sides, evaluating credibility and establishing trust can be a major challenge.