Local Fair Trade in Germany: Naturland Fair

In 2009, the German organisation Naturland, a pioneer in the field of organic agriculture and certification since 1982, supplemented its certification system with a fair trade component.

It is primarily aimed at producers, cooperatives, food processors and traders that are already certified Naturland organic and who want to strengthen their commitment by taking better account of the social and economic dimensions.

Already recognised for the quality and rigour of its specifications in terms of organic production, the international association based in Germany has, in fact, developed this new label to have an integrated certification structure around the three pillars of sustainable development: organic agriculture (environment), responsibility and justice (social) and fair trade (economy).

The first products were produced by a group of producers from the Bavarian Alps, whose organic fair trade milk is transformed into a wide range of products like milk chocolates by Gepa, the main German fair trade organisation, by adding cocoa and sugar, which are also fair trade. Other partners and producers have followed suit, such as Italian farmers in the Marche region who supply durum wheat as a basic ingredient for quinoa spaghetti.

While the Naturland Fair standard is in theory applicable to all types of products, it is found more in the agro-food industry, in the countries of the South (for producers of coffee, olive oil, tea, fruit, etc.) but also in the countries of the North (dairy products, grain-and other vegetable/fruit products).

Based on almost 40 years of experience in the field of organic certification and on exchanges of know-how with recognised fair trade organisations, this label appears to be as demanding as its organic big brother. For example, products displaying the "Naturland Fair" logo must be made as much as possible from 100% fair trade ingredients and "this applies to milk or wheat from Germany as well as products such as coffee or tropical fruits".

https://www.naturland.de/en/naturland/what-we-do/naturland-fair.html

Read more about ‘Local Fair Trade in Belgium and Europe’ in the study of the Trade for Development Centre (Enabel): https://www.tdc-enabel.be/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Local-Fair-Trade-in-Belgium-and-Europe.pdf

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