Fairtrade International’s Post

We are thrilled to announce our participation in Fruit Logistica in Germany! In collaboration with Fairtrade Deutschland, 9 producer organizations from Fairtrade NAPP are participating in #fruitlogistica, held in #Germany. Join us as we showcase the incredible range of #Fairtrade certified fruits and produce at the world's most important trade fair for the fresh produce industry and its direct access to the global market. The trade fair, FRUIT LOGISTICA covers the entire spectrum of the #valuechain - from the producer to the consumer. More than 80 per cent of the #internationaltrade visitors are decision-makers! By participating in this trade fair, our producers have the opportunity to engage with potential consumers while advocating for #climatechange and social developments in the fresh produce forum of the event. Visit us at booth #B09, Hall no. 25, and discover how you can make a difference while indulging in #sustainable produce. See you there! #Freshfruits #supplychain #valuechain #Sustainability #empowerproducers #globalmarket #tradefair #fruitlogistica #fairtradenapp #fairtradegermany #fairtrade #germany

𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗶𝘀 𝗪𝗜𝗘𝗧𝗔? WIETA drives a pro-active world-class and sustainable ethical trade programme for the South African wine industry and aligned sectors. WIETA is a multi-stakeholder, representing both the interests of wine brands, their producers, workers and their trade union and civil society organisations. This places WIETA in a unique position to actively promote fair working conditions within the wine industry and to provide a platform for dialogue around ethical trade. The organisation’s Ethical Standard serves as a rigorous framework through which its members and their supply chain are monitored. Social audits serve as a primary monitoring tool to measure not only legal compliance with South Africa’s labour and occupational health and safety legislation but also goes beyond compliance requirements to ensure that the company’s management systems reflect sustainable ethical principles, policies and practices. 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 Fair treatment, sustainable livelihoods and dignified lives towards equitable, diverse and inclusive agriculture Our mission is to championing human rights and sustainable business practices As a multi stakeholder, the organisation is established for the sole purpose of promoting ethical trade, human rights and decent work through the wine and agricultural value chain towards a transformed sector. View our website at www.wieta.org.za #WIETA

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) has achieved its goal of replenishing all the water it uses globally. In 2022, the company returned nearly 192 billion liters of water to nature and communities through various projects. In 2022, The Coca-Cola Foundation awarded $27 million in grants for water and environmental initiatives globally. The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) contributed more than $6 million to Project Catalyst, which improved the quality of an estimated 150 billion liters of water in the Great Barrier Reef region. In Q1 2024, their net revenues increased 3% to $11.3 billion. The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)'s Sparkling soft drinks volume grew 2%, led by Latin America and Juice, dairy, and plant-based beverages grew 2%, led by North America. However, water, sports, coffee and tea volume declined 2% during the same period. #cocacola #branding #watwr #beverage #culture #communities #poverty #globally #growth #business #leadership

It was a pretty hefty Food & Drink Business PLAY this week - I do wonder what you all prefer, short 1-3 sentence summations or more detail. Regardless, this week needed the details. Please note, this episode does mention sexual harassment and assault. Perfection Fresh Australia is in court as 12 women sue the company for alleged sexual harassment at its Two Wells glasshouse facility. PepsiCo found itself on the wrong side of a federal court decision on an action brought by the Australian Taxation Office. The Australian Bureau of Statistics releases its first Consumer Price Index this week on 1 Feb, which the alcohol excise is indexed against. @Diageo's Bundaberg Distilling Company Pty Ltd has launched a campaign about how untenable the twice-yearly indexing (the second ABS CPI is released on 1 August) is on spirits companies. A bottle of Bundaberg Rum is currently taxed at 63 cents per litre. The Independent Brewers Association expressed similar desperation about the situation for its sector, taxed at the same rate, as one of the country's best known craft breweries Wayward Brewing Company went into voluntary administration at the beginning of the year - great news to hear at the second creditors meeting on Thursday that the brewery will keep operating. And Eighth Day Foods has had a major breakthrough in a plant protein that can replace whitefish. They need investors to push to commercial production in what is a very tough market atm. And the tenders closed for Sara Lee Friday week ago - can't wait to hear the outcome for this. Michael Simonetta, Joseph Younes, Kyle Faulconer, Skye Oxenham, Rebecca Saint, Amanda Lampe, Australian Distillers, Paul MCLEAY, Cape Byron Distillery, Eddie Brook, Roger Drew, Tony Cartwright, Ben Hamilton, GS1 Australia, Lindy Hughson, Pippa Haupt, Sharon Rose Amos #foodandbeverage #foodandbeverageindustry #foodandbeverageaustralia #foodandbeveragemanufacturing

🍌 Today marks the second day of the World Banana Forum, where global stakeholders unite to address vital issues surrounding the sustainable and equitable production and trade of #bananas. 🌎 Ahead of the Forum, an important appeal was made by representatives of producers and exporters associations of banana exporting countries including Ecuador, Colombia, Guatemala, Dominican Republic and Peru. They request that retailers adopt the Fairtrade methodology to calculate a #fairprice that considers environmental #sustainability efforts and #fair wages so that the burdens and costs of sustainability are equally distributed throughout the #valuechain. As Fairtrade we stand by this appeal and we even discussed this at length a few weeks back when José Antonio Hidalgo Molina, representing the AEBE Ecuador association of Banana Exporters, passed by our office. So let’s consider how to follow up on this appeal in Belgium as well, through the banana retail commitment on #livingwages and together with our committed #frontrunners. Read more about the appeal here https://lnkd.in/dCivh8u6 FAO Colruyt Group Lidl Belgium & Luxemburg ALDI Belgium Jumbo Supermarkten Delhaize Belgium Marike Runneboom de Pena Silvia Campos Karen Bouwsma

To implement #duediligence we need multi-stakeholder initiatives. But does it work?     Together with ETI Sverige - Hållbara leverantörsled and four of their members (Axfood, Coop Sverige, Greenfood Group and ICA Gruppen), Oxfam Sverige organized several roundtable discussions in Morocco during 2023 -24. We brought together suppliers, producers, local civil society, unions, and Moroccan authorities. The goal?🏆 To address the serious human rights violations happening in the hand-picked fruit sector.      1️⃣ First, we created a consensus around the main challenges, and prioritized entry points to prevent violations      2️⃣ Second, we discussed potential solutions to the challenges: safe transport, making social audits more suitable for detecting human rights impacts, and making purchasing practices more responsible     What were our learnings? 💡   Multi-stakeholder initiatives can help companies with risk mapping and prioritization, but:     ➡️you need to make sure that relevant stakeholders, particularly impacted rights-holders, are heard and    ➡️that any barriers to engagement are addressed.      If you want everyone to speak openly about challenges and solutions, trust is key. This is challenging, especially in countries where there is a long history of lack of trust between the various stakeholders. This took time and effort, but ultimately, we succeeded at creating a constructive space for all stakeholders – crucial for effective due diligence.     If you want to learn more about the project you can read the full summary here: https://lnkd.in/dunEm7wQ

RETAIL BUYING COALITION ENCOURAGED TO CONSOLIDATE FAIRTRADE The Fairtrade Foundation was given the green light to push ahead with its ‘Shared Impact Initiative’ amongst retailers, when UK competition authorities agreed it would not infringe anti-trust law. The initiative that already has the support of several major retailers is set to bolster efforts to tackle supply chain risks in coffee, cocoa and bananas. A year-long pilot phase of the scheme in Colombia, Ghana, Kenya and Côte d’Ivoire is due to start imminently, and will be followed by the signing of three-to-five-year contracts on the part of five UK retailers. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gUAJvUYX #retailers #bananas #cocoa #coffee #livingwages #fairtrade

I am sure Banana Link has been instrumental in working behind the scenes to make this happen. Does this mean that supermarkets will once again be selling their OWN labelled Fairtrade Products? Is this not unfair competition for the smaller Commercial Licensee who will be competing on Retail Price. Surely to be sustainable you also need to be profitable and I am wondering if this now means Supermarkets have once again been given a 'golden egg'. Consumers will be encouraged to buy cheaper supermarket own labelled FT products over genuine businesses working direct with producers. Richard Mattis Might be totally wrong but is this really progress or another corporate handshake! Fairtrade International 1.5 Founded in 1997, Fairtrade International is a non-profit, multi-stakeholder association that implements a global certification system which is designed to promote social, economic and environmentally sustainable trade for all participants in the food supply chain, connecting farmers and workers from developing countries with consumers and businesses across the world. Fairtrade International owns the Fairtrade mark that appears on its products and co-ordinates the activities of its member organisations, which include: (a) Three producer network organisations that represent farmers and workers in Africa and the Middle East, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean; (b) 19 national Fairtrade organisations (including the Fairtrade Foundation that licenses the use of the Fairtrade Mark on products in the UK); and (c) FLOCERT, the main independent certification body for Fairtrade International, which has the primary role of inspecting producers and businesses to ensure they remain compliant with the standards.

Today, our Director General Else Groen participated in the panel discussion of our joint event 'Scaling up the sustainable transition with agri-food SMEs', aimed at showcasing certain sustainable practices of SMEs, and addressing their challenges in greening their operations. The insightful event was co-hosted by Independent Retail Europe and other EU co-signatories of EU Code of Conduct on Responsible Food Business and Marketing Practices. Speaking on behalf of SMEs in the #retail and #wholesale sector, she mentioned that they are already actively engaged in many greening activities, despite the many challenges that SMEs in these sectors face, such as high #energy prices and #inflation, costly and burdensome legislative requirements, and continuous adaptation to unpredictable consumer behaviour.   She considered that wholesale and retail SMEs require enablers, such as financial assistance and a well-functioning infrastructure, partnerships in the #supplychain, timely information on legislative initiatives in their own language, as well as socio-economic policies that support consumer purchasing power. Practical, practicable and proportionate legislation, tailored to the diverse landscape and limitations of SME retailers and wholesalers is essential for their sustained growth and success. To get #SMEs to sign up to the Code of Conduct, thought should be given to rendering the Code more attractive to them. More rigorous reporting requirements would certainly have the opposite effect. FoodDrinkEurope COPA COGECA EuroCommerce

I will now attempt to explain why Mzuzu Golden Coffee, a WFTO Verified and FI Certified, Value Added Coffee - was a game changer. Sadly they were decertified in 2018, just as we launched their roasted in country coffee. To date NO-ONE from the Fairtrade Foundation or Fairtrade International has attempted to resolve the issue of a VERY unfair decertification with us as it's NONE of our business! That is why we will keep on pushing for total transparency of the events that led up to two containers of pre-ordered Fairtrade certified raw green coffee beans being cancelled - leaving them in dire straits! Mzuzu were Fairtrade Certified, as a Cooperative, in 2009 and wanted to sell their own roasted coffee. Not just export the green bean, to be roasted by Commercial Licensees, who pay a Licence fee, to the Fairtrade Foundation for the pleasure of selling lots of Fairtrade Certified coffee, roasted out of country, PROUDLY displaying the Fairtrade Mark. The problem: The Fairtrade Foundation would not receive a Licence Fee from us because Mzuzu paid Fairtrade Africa a fee for the export of the finished product - surely that's Fair? As a WFTO Guaranteed Importer Member we decided it was imperative that we help them to access the market - in Scotland, a 'Fair Trade' Nation and worked with them to differentiate the packaging. This gave them a USP as THE FIRST Verified and Certified Coffee in the world. As a WFTO Guaranteed Importer Member we put the FI certification logo and the WFTO logo on the package to show that it was a Gold Standard Fair Trade product. Below explains why this was possible for us to do this. "WFTO also recognises other Fair Trade certification schemes that FTOs may rely on in their monitoring of their suppliers. A list of these Fair Trade schemes is published in the Handbook and FTOs do not need to include these suppliers in their Internal Monitoring Systems for suppliers. ECOCERT/IMO - Fair For Life FLO Cert SPP (FUNDEPPO) Naturland Fair Trade standards However, 'the FI system' is flawed due to the way it is set up to only export raw commodities so that the added value is at the end, not the beginning, of the supply chain. Decertification, at a time when they launched their OWN coffee, is very suspect and anyone interested in knowing more, please get in touch.