Fairtrade Nederland formerly known as Max Havelaa
Stichting
is the Dutch member of

Fairtrade International Fairtrade International, or Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International e.V. is a product-oriented multistakeholder group aimed at promoting the lives of farmers and workers through trade. Fairtrade's work is guided by a global strategy fo ...

, which unites 23

Fairtrade certification A fair trade certification is a product certification within the market-based movement fair trade. The most widely used fair trade certification is FLO International's, the International Fairtrade Certification Mark, used in Europe, Africa, A ...

producer and labelling initiatives across Europe, Asia, Latin America,

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, Africa,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and New Zealand. The Fairtrade label, the world's first

Fairtrade Certification Mark The International Fairtrade Certification Mark is an independent certification mark used in over 50 countries. It appears on products as an independent guarantee that a product has been produced according to Fairtrade political standards. The F ...

, was officially launched by Stichting Max Havelaar on 15 November 1988, under the efforts of

Nico Roozen Nicolaas Josephus Maria "Nico" Roozen (born 22 April 1953, Heemskerk)Frans van der Hoff Frans van der Hoff (born 13 July 1939), or Francisco VanderHoff Boersma as he is called in Latin America, is a Dutch missionary who, in collaboration with Nico Roozen and ecumenical development agency Solidaridad, launched Max Havelaar, the first ...

and Dutch

ecumenical Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

development agency An aid agency, also known as development charity, is an organization dedicated to distributing aid. Many professional aid organisations exist, both within government, between governments as multilateral donors and as private voluntary organization ...

Solidaridad The Solidaridad Network is an international civil society organisation founded in 1969. Its main objective is facilitating the development of socially responsible, ecologically sound and profitable supply chains. It operates through eight regio ...

. The label, used to distinguish Fairtrade products from conventional ones, aims to improve "the living and working conditions of small farmers and agricultural workers in disadvantaged regions". The first fairly traded coffee originated from the

UCIRI The Union of Indigenous Communities of the Isthmus Region ( es, Unión de Comunidades Indígenas de la Región del Istmo, or UCIRI), is a farmer's cooperative in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. It was established in 1982 to assist in production, mark ...

cooperative in Mexico and was imported by Dutch company

Van Weely A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across ...

, roasted by Neuteboom, before being sold directly to

worldshops Worldshops, world shops or Fair Trade Shops are specialized retail outlets offering and promoting Fair Trade products. Worldshops also typically organize various educational Fair Trade activities and play an active role in trade justice and other ...

and, for the first time, to mainstream retailers across the Netherlands. Today, Fairtrade products are available in many shops throughout Europe, i.e. in the Dutch

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earli ...

chains such as Jumbo, which sells an average of 18 Fairtrade products per store and

Super de Boer Super de Boer was a Dutch supermarket chain. The holding company which owned Super de Boer, ''Super de Boer N.V.'', was formerly named ''Laurus N.V.''. It changed its name to that of its only remaining retail brand in January 2008. Super de Bo ...

, which sells an average of 17 products per store. Fairtrade products are also available at

Albert Heijn Albert Heijn is the largest supermarket chain in the Netherlands with a market share of 34.8% in 2020. It was founded in 1887, and has been part of Ahold Delhaize since 2016. History The chain was founded on 27 May 1887, when Albert Heijn boug ...

supermarkets A supermarket is a self-service shop offering a wide variety of food, beverages and household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earlier grocery stores, but is smaller and more limit ...

across the Netherlands and online at

MUD Jeans MUD Jeans is a denim brand based in the Netherlands that specializes in sustainable and fair trade certified products. The company adheres to the principles of the circular economy and utilizes 40% recycled content in its jeans, with the ma ...

, the Dutch fair trade certified denim brand. In 2006, Fairtrade labelled sales in the Netherlands amounted to €41 million, a 12% year-to-year increase.

Court case against the province of Groningen

The

Dutch province There are twelve provinces of the Netherlands (), representing the administrative layer between the national government and the local municipalities, with responsibility for matters of subnational or regional importance. The most populous provi ...

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

was sued in 2007 by Dutch coffee supplier Douwe Egberts for explicitly requiring its coffee suppliers to meet fair trade criteria set by Stichting Max Havelaar, most notably the payment of a minimum price and a development premium to producer cooperatives. Douwe Egberts, which sells a number of coffee brands under self-developed ethical criteria, believed the requirements were discriminatory. After several months of discussions and legal challenges, the province of Groningen prevailed in a well-publicized judgement in favor of the province. Coen de Ruiter, director of Stichting Max Havelaar, called the victory a landmark event: "it provides governmental institutions the freedom in their purchasing policy to require suppliers to provide coffee that bears the fair trade criteria, so that a substantial and meaningful contribution is made in the fight against poverty through the daily cup of coffee".Max Havelaar Foundation (2007), [85.82.218.199/fileadmin/Bruger_filer/Dokument_database/IKAvaerktoej/EU_siden/Max_Havalaar.pdf Dutch Province of Groningen wins summary brought by Douwe Egberts and can continue specifying fair trade coffee]

References

External links

Fairtradenederland
{{Authority control Fair trade organizations Foundations based in the Netherlands Organizations established in 1988 1988 establishments in the Netherlands Organisations based in Utrecht (city) Economic history of the Netherlands