“The COVID-19 crisis painfully exposed the vulnerabilities of our economy and of unregulated global supply chains… We need to make sure that responsible business conduct and sustainable supply chains become the norm, a strategic orientation for businesses.” says Didier Reynders in a webinar on due diligence.
Kimberley Process, Council for Responsible Jewellery Practices, as well as the Diamond and Development Initiative and its Maendeleo label used by the Belgian company My Fair Diamond, the TDC looks at various initiatives aimed at breaking the link between the diamond trade and social misery.
From fair trade coffee to fair fashion For many years the Fair Trade Towns campaign has shown that local authorities can play an important role
The number of shoe brands claiming to be ethical and/or ecological has mushroomed in recent years. So much so that some of them are on the verge of becoming major players on this huge market. Fleeting fad or a sea change for a business that is worth tens of billions of dollars?
YEYASSO is a cooperative operating in a rather remote area in the west of Côte d’Ivoire, which had been unstable until recently because of the civil war. It used to be a coffee region primarily which – also because of climate change – has become increasingly attractive to cocoa farming
Even though cocoa was already introduced to Vietnam by the French in the 19th century, cocoa production remained marginal for more than a century. Not until 2000, a government plan was launched to promote the crop in several regions. Vietnam is still a small player on the cocoa market but it has potential. The NAPP (Network of Asia and Pacific Producers), the umbrella organisation of Fairtrade-certified producer groups in Asia, also believes in the potential of Fairtrade cocoa.
Tighanimine is a women’s cooperative in southern Morocco that produces fair argan oil. This oil is a coveted ingredient in cosmetics and in the kitchen. Argan oil is pressed from the nuts of the argan tree which acts as a buffer against the advancing desertification in the region.
As part of its marketing coaching programme the TDC currently accompanies eight cocoa cooperatives in Côte d’Ivoire. One of these is SCINPA (Société Coopérative Ivoirienne de Négoce des Produits Agricoles), which was established in 2003 in Agboville, just north of Abidjan. With its four buy – in sites SCINPA is a trustworthy partner reaching 3000 members in the region. The cooperative has progressed much and has built quite some trust over the years, for instance by investing in community projects such as schools and water pumps and because it has always defended the interests of farmers even during political turmoil. SCINPA has one major customer: Cargill. It co-sponsors Utz certification and the farmer field schools.
In Peru, smallholder farmers grow ‘criollo porcelana’, a cocoa variety with a fine and delicate flavour that has attracted the attention of famous chocolatiers. Meanwhile, this cocoa blanco has won several quality prizes.
In Côte d’Ivoire, the cocoa country par excellence, ECOOKIM is rightly a pioneer. This cooperative, founded in 2004, is a national union that now brings together 23 local cooperatives in the country’s various cocoa growing areas. ECOOKIM defends the interests of no less than 12,000 of the most disadvantaged cocoa farmers. Its mission is to improve the quality of their cocoa in order to conquer the international market. In 2010 the cooperative obtained the Fairtrade certification, followed shortly afterwards by Utz and Rainforest Alliance.
“The COVID-19 crisis painfully exposed the vulnerabilities of our economy and of unregulated global supply chains… We need to make sure that responsible business conduct and sustainable supply chains become the norm, a strategic orientation for businesses.” says Didier Reynders in a webinar on due diligence.
Kimberley Process, Council for Responsible Jewellery Practices, as well as the Diamond and Development Initiative and its Maendeleo label used by the Belgian company My Fair Diamond, the TDC looks at various initiatives aimed at breaking the link between the diamond trade and social misery.
From fair trade coffee to fair fashion For many years the Fair Trade Towns campaign has shown that local authorities can play an important role
The number of shoe brands claiming to be ethical and/or ecological has mushroomed in recent years. So much so that some of them are on the verge of becoming major players on this huge market. Fleeting fad or a sea change for a business that is worth tens of billions of dollars?
YEYASSO is a cooperative operating in a rather remote area in the west of Côte d’Ivoire, which had been unstable until recently because of the civil war. It used to be a coffee region primarily which – also because of climate change – has become increasingly attractive to cocoa farming
Even though cocoa was already introduced to Vietnam by the French in the 19th century, cocoa production remained marginal for more than a century. Not until 2000, a government plan was launched to promote the crop in several regions. Vietnam is still a small player on the cocoa market but it has potential. The NAPP (Network of Asia and Pacific Producers), the umbrella organisation of Fairtrade-certified producer groups in Asia, also believes in the potential of Fairtrade cocoa.
Tighanimine is a women’s cooperative in southern Morocco that produces fair argan oil. This oil is a coveted ingredient in cosmetics and in the kitchen. Argan oil is pressed from the nuts of the argan tree which acts as a buffer against the advancing desertification in the region.
As part of its marketing coaching programme the TDC currently accompanies eight cocoa cooperatives in Côte d’Ivoire. One of these is SCINPA (Société Coopérative Ivoirienne de Négoce des Produits Agricoles), which was established in 2003 in Agboville, just north of Abidjan. With its four buy – in sites SCINPA is a trustworthy partner reaching 3000 members in the region. The cooperative has progressed much and has built quite some trust over the years, for instance by investing in community projects such as schools and water pumps and because it has always defended the interests of farmers even during political turmoil. SCINPA has one major customer: Cargill. It co-sponsors Utz certification and the farmer field schools.
In Peru, smallholder farmers grow ‘criollo porcelana’, a cocoa variety with a fine and delicate flavour that has attracted the attention of famous chocolatiers. Meanwhile, this cocoa blanco has won several quality prizes.
In Côte d’Ivoire, the cocoa country par excellence, ECOOKIM is rightly a pioneer. This cooperative, founded in 2004, is a national union that now brings together 23 local cooperatives in the country’s various cocoa growing areas. ECOOKIM defends the interests of no less than 12,000 of the most disadvantaged cocoa farmers. Its mission is to improve the quality of their cocoa in order to conquer the international market. In 2010 the cooperative obtained the Fairtrade certification, followed shortly afterwards by Utz and Rainforest Alliance.
