“Power isn’t always loud or flashy.
Sometimes it’s relentless, values-driven, and deeply human.”
20 Years
of Bold Banana
Badassery
President and Co-owner, Equifruit
SEPTEMBER 7, 2026
When I got the email telling me I’d been named one of Canada’s Most Powerful Women, my first reaction wasn’t pride. It was disbelief.
Me? Powerful? Really?
That morning had started the same way most mornings do. Changing a poopy diaper. Getting our eldest daughter, who is profoundly disabled, dressed, fed, and onto the school bus. Stripping her bed. Starting a load of laundry. Not exactly the image that comes to mind when you hear “high-powered businesswoman.”
That evening, I was at choir practice. No one there cares what I do for a living. They just want me on time and, ideally, on key.
So joining the ranks of the 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada made me stop and ask a bigger question: what does power actually look like?
In 2013, I bought Equifruit, a 100 percent Fairtrade banana import business. It was a bold leap from a safe, structured corporate career into the unpredictable world of entrepreneurship. I didn’t know anything about bananas. I didn’t have a roadmap for taking on multinational giants in the banana industry.
What I did have was conviction.
I believed, and still believe, that the banana industry needed to change. That business could be done differently. Transparently. Fairly. With respect for the farmers who grow the food we eat. That belief became my compass.
Since then, Equifruit has grown from a niche importer to North America’s largest Fairtrade banana importer. We’ve been named to The Globe and Mail’s list of Top Growing Companies for four consecutive years. Fairtrade organic banana consumption in Canada has risen more than 500 percent since 2019.
That feels powerful to me. Not because we’re the biggest. We’re not. But because of the momentum behind the Fairtrade and sustainability movement in Canada.
Power, redefined
Equifruit isn’t “powerful” in the traditional sense. We don’t command vast financial resources or employ thousands of people. What we do have is moral clarity. We know exactly what we stand for and where we’re going.
At Equifruit, we call ourselves and those who support our mission Banana Badasses. Because what we’re doing is badass.
We’re a women-owned, B Corp brand working to break cycles of generational poverty for banana farmers in South and Central America. Our mantra is that we’re on a mission for Global Fairtrade Banana Domination, and failure simply isn’t an option.
Our power comes from purpose.
Every day, I’m inspired by the bold women I work with. My business partner Kim Chackal and our majority-female team show up ready to fight for fairness in global trade. Some of the boldest people I know are women working on banana farms and in unions across Latin America. They fight every single day as workers, as women, as humans in the face of systemic inequality and prejudice.
Their boldness isn’t loud or flashy.
But it is relentless.
And it is deeply powerful.
Being bold, the Equifruit way
At Equifruit, being bold is our bread and butter. From unapologetic branding to making fair pay for banana farmers non-negotiable, we stand out sometimes literally in grocery aisles full of beige boxes.
Boldness means taking up space. Using your voice. Bringing humor and humanity to serious conversations. It means refusing to be quiet just because the status quo is comfortable.
After twenty years of banana badassery, here’s what I know for sure: real power comes from purpose. From standing for something and doing the right thing, even when it’s hard.
Especially when it’s hard.