Balancing quality and impact:
Fairtrasa Holland celebrates its first Birthday
“Imagine you are a grower in Latin America with only half a hectare of mango trees. You can’t export your small harvest and your only chance is the local market that usually pays a very low price. Then there is the purchaser looking to buy direct from source. He demands Global GAP and organic certifications and extensive soil and fruit analysis. The grower can’t meet his requirements and the purchaser is forced to buy from big experienced exporters. As a result, the big players get richer and the small growers become poorer.”
In 2013, Peter found a unique opportunity to turn fruit trading into a true social business by joining forces with the Fairtrasa Group. Fairtrasa is a social enterprise that sells healthy organic and fairtrade fresh fruits, vegetables, grains and wines at fair prices to lift small-scale farmers out of poverty.
Fairtrasa trains small-scale farmers to improve yield and quality, while uniting them to achieve adequate scale to export their products. �”This takes time, but we have many notable success stories. For instance, now we work with hundreds of small-scale banana growers from Peru who export six containers of organic fair-trade bananas to Europe each week!” enthuses Peter.
Fairtrasa Holland is the Fairtrasa Group’s largest sales office. From its import office in Poeldijk, Fairtrasa Holland’s international team coordinates sales all over Europe. �”We speak all languages and understand different cultures. That’s an enormous added value.”
A changing market
Peter is challenged by what he sees in the increasingly sophisticated organic market. �”Today’s consumers demand high quality and healthy products, especially in a time of crisis. You can only spend your money once, so it better be on good products. Our consumer spends more time and care both in preparing and in enjoying food.”
Fairtrasa Holland has seen a significant increase in sales of avocado, mango, ginger and limes in the past year. Previously niche products, these have now become more common and accessible. In some markets, for instance in Germany and the Scandinavian countries, retailers now only offer organic limes and ginger. The head of Fairtrasa Holland insists, �”Organic produce brings that taste that consumers are looking for. It’s important that we look at the right varieties to really make sure that the taste of the products is, according to the expectations, truly delicious!”
The organic market has become more professional while the requirements and demands of supermarkets and wholesales are now much higher. And he agrees. �”They should be! I don’t think that it’s acceptable in 2014 to have empty shelves in the stores because the logistics is not up to date. It has to do with planning between the client and supplier. Also today’s consumer wants to see quality and that’s what we need to deliver. We have to follow the specifications of the retailers and they are allowed to judge us at any time and demand a product equal to the conventional product.”
Fairtrasa Holland is now a year older and the rest of the Fairtrasa Group is also growing. Along with a new supply office in Colombia, Fairtrasa opened a sales office in Hamburg, Germany in October 2013. ”Fairtrasa’s sales network in Europe is expanding. We have created a structure that aims to be as cost-efficient as possible, so that we can offer top-quality products at an attractive price to the consumers, while rewarding our growers at the fairest and best prices. It’s a delicate balancing act but I am convinced we will succeed,” says Peter Abma.
For more information please visit www.fairtrasa.com