Ever heard of fair cosmetics? Thanks to these personal care and beauty products, producers are able to improve their own, and their family’s, living conditions.
Products made by and for women, combining ethics and aesthetics. A number of brands that attracted our attention are listed below.
Palm oil has unique properties which is why it is very much coveted by the food industry. But palm oil is also often associated with rampant deforestation in Indonesia and Malaysia. To prevent this damage to the environment, the Belgian Alliance for Sustainable Palm Oil aims to work towards more sustainable cultivation.
TDC in collaboration with two coffee cooperatives, a local NGO and BTC supported victims of sexual violence in eastern Congo. A trusted local player, the coffee cooperatives were able to restore the dignity of the victims and enable their economic and social reintegration.
Did you know that the north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo is home to one of the biggest aromatic oil producers? Avituri, a fair and organic cultivator and distiller, was able to double its production of geranium oil and expand its offer with other plants such as thyme thanks to TDC’s financial support.
The main concern that arose from the evaluation of the first TDC marketing coaching series in 2014, was the high number of inadequate or incomplete application forms. These weakest organisations were not selected although they were most in need. TDC therefore decided to add a preliminary step to its marketing support by offering a mini-training to help cooperatives capture and understand their data to enable them to develop their marketing strategy.
While the palm oil industry is still investigating how to stop the destruction of human and environmental resources in South East Asia, fair alternatives already exist, such as palm oil projects in Ghana, Togo and Ecuador which have been certified and have obtained the Fair for Life label.
In Europe, demand for dark chocolate is rising by at least 70%. This is good news for small cocoa farmers in Peru who grow a fine and tasty variety of cocoa in the traditional way. The TDC decided to support a number of Peruvian cocoa cooperatives to increase the quality of their production so that they can conquer a nice place in the market of high quality cocoa.
Kombucha is an age-old elixir with healing properties. Thylbert, a company based in Beernem in Belgium, has been marketing the drink for more than fifteen years. Everything this company does, from the choice of ingredients to the people it employs, is permeated with a desire to be sustainable and fair.
Montélimar is known as the city of nougat, but the origin of the nut sweet lies in ancient Persia, where nuts and honey were plentiful. Thanks to the Arabs it became known in Mediterranean countries, but it never really made it to Northern Europe. The man who introduced nougat in Belgium 90 years ago, Vital, gave his name to the company which a few years ago added fair trade nougat to its assortment.
Delhaize offers some seventy fair trade products, mainly coffee, tea, sugar, cookies, vegetables and fruit. At ‘Sinterklaas’ in December and Easter, the supermarket chain also offers chocolate figurines. In addition to fair trade products under Delhaize’s own brand name you can also buy products from Oxfam, Candico and Ben & Jerry’s. Delhaize has worked with Fairtrade Belgium for more than 25 years and continuous support to sustainable trade is an essential part of its strategy.
