General
24 March 2009
Fair Trade
Fair trade is very important to us at Verstegen. The company has concluded an agreement with a partner in Papua New Guinea whereby it pays more than the standard market value for vanilla beans. With the proceeds, a little school was built where farmers can learn even more about the cultivation of vanilla, and therefore provide better quality. A fair trade project is now also being set up in India. This project aims primarily to offer a good price for the vanilla by trading with a co-operation of farmers using the shortest possible chain. The advantage to Verstegen is that it can buy in better and better quality, but above all, the farmers’ standard of living can improve because of it, and their families can have a better future as a result.
Verstegen has found a partner in Indonesia too, in Ambon to be precise.
A Dutch-Ambonese family is currently setting up a small company for the processing of nutmeg and mace. The purchase of the land, the construction of sheds that conform to regulations in the Netherlands and the establishing of contact with farmers are in full swing. The intention is to teach the farmers how to work hygienically and how they can provide a high quality product. The farmers receive a higher price, jobs are created and the local community is supported. Street lights have already been installed and the local primary school has received a donation.
More of these projects will be started in future, but in the meantime we require from all our suppliers that under no circumstances should child labour or forced labour be used in the production of any of the products that we buy.
Sustainable purchasing forms part of our corporate social responsibility programme. To Verstegen, sustainable purchasing means building relationships, respect for the environment and improving the social circumstances of our fellow human beings. In addition, our focus remains on quality and food safety.
Thus Verstegen is engaged in corporate social responsibility on several fronts.