Couple views business as way to help raise standard of living for some Ecuadorian farmers
   

by Marta Hummel Medill News Service
Posted on Friday, November 29, 2002

Business profile

Name: Inca Organics

Owners: Bob and Marjorie Leventry

Business: Selling organically grown quinoa, a couscous-like grain with a nutty flavor

Location: Chicago

Web site: www.incaorganics.com

2002 revenue: $616,000

Philosophy: "Improving the standard of living for indigenous Ecuadorians and creating a sustainable agriculture system in Ecuador through selling heirloom grains."

For Bob and Marjorie Leventry, selling quinoa, a rice-like grain indigenous to high-altitude areas of South America, is a business and a calling.  Bob, a 64-year-old former chief operating officer of an insurance company, and Marjorie, a 62-year-old nutrition specialist, started Chicago-based Inca Organics in 1996 following a three-year stint in the Peace Corps in Ecuador.

"They grow the best quinoa out there," said Marjorie.

Quinoa, known for its high levels of protein and vitamins, is a pearl-shaped seed similar in appearance to couscous when cooked. It costs about $1.89 per pound at Whole Foods Market.

The Leventrys partner with Escuelas Radiofonicas Populares del Ecuador (ERPE), a radio station and farming cooperative, to obtain the organically grown grain.  "The main thing we wanted to do was improve the standard of living and give Ecuadorians jobs," Bob said.  Organic farmers earn roughly twice as much for their crops as conventional farmers, he added.

Robert Murphy, the bulk buyer for the Whole Foods Market on North Avenue in Chicago, said he switched to Inca Organics quinoa in 2001 because of "taste."  Inca Organics quinoa is a blend of traditional varieties grown by the Incas for centuries, not a hybrid, which gives it a richer flavor, and it comes pre-washed, making it easier to prepare and less bitter, he said.  James Skiles, 30, a vegetarian who buys Inca Organics quinoa, thinks it "just has a cleaner taste and flavor than other brands."

Inca Organics quinoa also is used at upscale eateries including Charlie Trotter's Restaurant and The Dining Room at the Ritz- Carlton Hotel Chicago. And it comes packaged in Bob's Red Mill Natural Foods Inc. and Seeds of Change products - available at specialty grocery stores in the Chicago area and on the coasts. Locations are listed on the company Web site.

The company has been at break-even or slightly above since its inception, said Bob.

The Leventrys found a good partner for their company. Due to education efforts of the radio station, the farmers in the cooperative already were raising organic crops.  The company paid ERPE $41,500 for the 27-metric-ton 1998 crop - about 1 1/2 railcars - produced by 52 families.  They sold all of the quinoa from the first harvest and promised ERPE they would buy all of the grain they could grow.

Through word of mouth, more families joined the cooperative and in 1999 production doubled to 55 metric tons.  The 2002 crop of 400 metric tons involved 4,025 families. The Leventrys paid the cooperative $616,000.

"Any new company with a high growth rate has a cash-flow problem," Bob said. "We pay the farmers when we buy at harvest and pay ERPE for the cleaning and packaging at the time it is done."  The gap between the harvest and the sale to manufacturers and distributors ranges up to 120 days.  "The cash flow timing problem has been financed from our personal resources and paid back from the company at low interest rates," he said. "If you measure success only in terms of financial information, we're not a success. But you're talking about a couple of ex-Peace Corps volunteers. We had different reasons for starting the company."  He added, however, "We're not a charity. We want to see this run profitably."

The business has improved the economic situation for the farmers. Since 2000, 1,500 new homes have been built within the cooperative and the average income has risen to $365 per year from $230. Ecuador, which uses the U.S. dollar as its currency, defines poverty as an income of $300 or less.  The business also promotes sustainable and organic agricultural practices in a culture accustomed to pesticide use and slash-and- burn deforestation to expand farmland, Bob said.

The Leventrys hope organic food's growing popularity will help Inca Organics.  They predict ERPE farmers will be able to harvest a maximum crop of 500 metric tons of quinoa from 20,000 acres as they improve farming techniques. The company soon will have to add farmers outside of ERPE's broadcast range to increase production, Bob said.  And they plan to add new crops, amaranth and Andean lupine to their product offerings next year.

In five years, the Leventrys would like to turn over their end of the operation over to ERPE.  "We're supposed to be retired," said Bob.