Fair Trade Is Our Mission!

Our enterprise practices 100 per cent Fair Trade – for Fair Trade with Southern producer groups is a matter near to our heart!

Therefore, our benefit is of a different kind: any surplus is exclusively re-invested in Fair Trade!

Profit maximization and profit distribution are not in line with our principles – and those of our share holders, the relief organizations and youth federations of the major churches.

For more than 40 years, we have been going new ways as Fair Trade pioneers – serving the interests of our Southern partners:

We offer help for self-help – this includes assistance to enter the local market.

We are part of an international Fair Trade network: many people and organizations help to give trade a human(e) face!

Together with numerous committed people we have played an important role in shaping public awareness with regard to social production conditions, also those in Germany – this we are proud of and

this is our benefit!

Your benefit:

• Quality: high quality products, mainly organic
• Transparency: transparency with regard to the ingredients / components of your products, production and value chain
• Your share of a whole: as a consumer of fairly traded products you are a member of a world-wide movement for more justice in international trade!

The GEPA logo stands for

Our trading partners are 131 cooperatives, marketing organizations and committed private enterprises in 45 countries of Africa, Latin America, Asia and Europe.

Long-term business relationships under fair conditions, long-standing and trustful cooperation as well as transparency at any level of our commercial chains are typical of our relationships with our partners.

We trade with partners – not with suppliers!

Our products offer a wide range of ca. 300 food products – 84 % organic – and ca. 350 handicraft articles, that are subject to regular and comprehensive quality controls.

Due to direct co-operation and controls, there is a constant quality improvement to our products. Eco-friendly production saves consumers´ health as well as that of overseas producers.

Promoting organic cultivation helps to preserve natural resources.

Fair Trade

We know the people we are trading with!

This means:

• maintaining direct and long-term trading relationships on equal terms;
• achieving market access also for smaller producer organizations;
• paying fair prices for quality products and / or additional services rendered by our partners;
• prefinancing our orders on request in order to facilitate the purchase of raw materials and seeds;
• offering assistance and product development;
• avoiding unfair intermediate trade;
• caring for transparency of all our trading channels and activities.

Our trading partners in the South are entitled to fair prices and services – that is what we committed ourselves to!

In doing this, we do not make ourselves dependent on short-lived market trends.

An example of our services with regard to Coffee:

• Product advice
• Minimum prices
• Development premium above TransFair standard
• Organic premium
• Advance payment
• Long-term trading relationships

Whenever possible, we encourage producers to practice organic cultivation and pay them an organic differential.

Ca. 84 % of all GEPA food products bear the "bio" seal according to the EU regulation on products originating from organically controlled cultivation, or the Naturland seal.

We do not accept genetically modified ingredients and use eco-friendly packing materials.