Twenty-five years of Fairtrade in Germany

Fairtrade, the quality mark of fair trade, is turning 25. In Germany, the association TransFair is behind the hallmark. Dieter Overath, responsible for TransFair’s management, has dedicated himself to fair trade since the year of the company’s founding. Dieter: “We managed to take fair trade out of the niche. Nowadays, the theme ‘sustainable’ can no longer be ignored by companies.” Total sales achieved by TransFair with Fairtrade products since 1992 amount to more than six billion euro. Small farmer’s families and employees in countries in the southern hemisphere get about one billion euro of direct income from Fairtrade, that is the sales prices and additional social premiums. In the past 25 years, people bought 140,000 tonnes of just Fairtrade coffee, a Fairtrade classic. Success is no reason to sit back: “In times of fluctuating global market prices, fair trade with stable, cost-covering prices is more important than ever.” With #HandelNeuDenken TransFair collects ideas for a vision for fair trade in 2025, as of right now. These ideas will be brought to the future congress that will be held in Berlin on 23 May. Among the guests are philosopher Richard David Precht and Alain Capattos, chairman of the Rewe Group.

More and more consumers in Germany take into account the production circumstances in the countries of origin when doing their shopping. A new study of the Ceval institute under the authority of TransFair, Engagement Global, Brot für die Welt, Forum Fairer Handel and Misereor drew this conclusion. In all researched areas – civil society, economy, politics and private consumption – there is a trend towards changing consciousness and behaviour, according to the study. Fair trade, with its intense publicity and education, contributed to that. The research also puts a challenge to TransFair: to maintain fair trade in global supply chains, politicians must urgently create stricter preconditions.