The Women Collaborating To Bring Ethical Pantry Staples To Your Home

“Food is so much more than just what’s on our plates. It is how we express our values and identity,” says Atara Bernstein, Co-founder of Pineapple Collaborative.

Pineapple Collaborative is all about connection, building community, and uplifting deserving voices in the food industry. The initial idea for the company started in 2015 over a potluck dinner attended by 30 women in Washington, D.C. who gathered together over their shared love of food.

With this ethos in mind, Atara Bernstein and Ariel Pasternak, the two Co-founders, launched Pineapple Collaborative in 2017 as a national platform for people to build real, meaningful connections through their shared passion for food; sharing the stories of the producers behind the beloved artisanal products they collaborate with, and the making and enjoyment of these pantry staples that come from around the world.

Back in 2019, before the pandemic and social distancing, Bernstein and Skyler Mapes, Co-founder with her husband Giuseppe Morisani of EXAU Olive Oil, connected over social media and began an intercontinental friendship over olive oil. “When I first connected with Skyler in 2019, we instantly clicked, couldn’t stop talking about olive oil, and knew we wanted to find a way to work together,” says Bernstein.

Now EXAU Olive Oil and Pineapple Collaborative have joined forces to bring consumers the coveted seaside EXAU Calabrian olive oil straight to your door. Robustly flavored olive oil with notes of almond, apple, and chicory, the result of a blend of Carolea, Coratina, and Leccino olives. Mapes is the first Black woman to produce Italian olive oil and co-own a label.

“I wanted to partner with Pineapple because it’s a community free of judgment and elitism, something I experience a lot of in the olive oil industry. I appreciate a space where I feel like I can fully be myself,” says Mapes.

“I’ve seen a shift in how people shop in other industries, from fashion to beauty. And now in food, it’s not just the look of the product but it’s also the community and the values that the brand stands for. We can offer more than the other heritage brands in this sense. That’s why we are so excited by working with Skyler who is upending an entire industry,” says Bernstein.

Pineapple Collaborative has been highlighting the pantries of people they “pine for” in their blog series, The Pantry— a glimpse inside the pantries of global tastemakers from chefs to producers and other people working within the food industry. This editorial concept helps inspire consumers to discover new products and fresh ways to use them in their kitchens. “We saw that our community was seeking products like olive oil and vinegar to cook with when we launched this series,” says Bernstein of those everyday pantry items that can elevate every dish, from savory to sweet.

“To be able to have a collaboration with a well-known American brand was a defining moment for us. We are now making our mark with US companies. Young people are so over getting screwed over by companies that take advantage and aren’t transparent about their products, we are trying to scream to the world that there is a better way,” says Mapes.

The food industry can be anything but transparent at times – and many people don’t have the access, time, or know-how to understand where their food is coming from or what it took for that food to arrive in their kitchen. One of Pineapple Collaborative’s goals is to change that conversation by getting back to the basics and highlighting these things by letting the producers explain them directly. “Nine times out of 10, the producers know more about the product than anyone else. We want to elevate the stories behind our products, the growers of the produce behind the staples we feature – we have to be rooted in real connection to our food,” says Bernstein.

The ingredients to building a true and sustainable community are rooted in promoting food products that celebrate honestly made food products as an effective way to connect people, to food and ultimately to the planet.

“Consumers understand their own buying power to vote for a better world. To make sure worthy people are being highlighted,” says Bernstein.

There has been a meaningful shift in the products consumers want now because of the current social, cultural, and political change. Now, even big, established, heritage brands are trying to navigate the current climate that consumers are demanding: transparency, ethically produced products, high-quality products where consumers can know who the producers are and how they were treated.

“We’ve had a big company approach us with a shady deal. They approached us in a very predatory way and offered us incredibly low prices. We quickly said no and I realize that there is a level of privilege in saying no, but if you don’t say no to bad deals they ultimately hurt your business long term. And also hurt the local economy where we produce. No is the least you can do to take control,” says Mapes.

“I really admire Skyler for knowing her boundaries. We met over social media years ago, we knew we wanted to work together. I believe that for small businesses, relationships can be revolutionary. When small businesses come together and even combine their purchasing power it sends a powerful message,” says Bernstein.

The message of saying no to deals that may even offer a convenient quick paycheck but ultimately hurt the entire local market is what made Mapes say no to the deal. “This trickles down to places like Calabria. The deal we were offered would have meant that our olive oil would have been 6$ a bottle, which is inexpensive even here, and that trickles down to Calabria, driving down the entire market here ultimately making farms not profitable.”

This is a concept that consumers over recent years are beginning to understand, “People have asked us why our olive oil is priced as it is. What we try to explain is that if the price of your olive oil feels like a steal, it probably is. Too-good-to-be-true prices usually mean that something’s being compromised, whether that’s an impact on the environment, quality of ingredients, or potentially exploitative labor practices. We prefer to treat our pantry staples as what they actually are: true products of agriculture. It costs more money to treat the environment with respect, to use high-quality ingredients, and to make sure everyone is being paid fairly for their labor.” says Bernstein.