Yesterday it was Human Rights Day here in South Africa. Very quiet out on the street and a good time to catch up with some work.
Last weekend we went to see Tsotsi, the South African Oscar winning movie. Quite an impressive movie which sort of gives you an idea why aggression plays such an important role in this country. Next week I go to Mpumalanga and Limpopo, two provinces near the Kruger Parc. One of the fruit and nut belts of South Africa. I'll visit Westfalia, our fair trade organic avocado and mango supplier. They know all there is to know about mangos there. The challenge is to find a mango that we could sell as an alternative to our 'normal' mangos: different taste and color. That's what we're hoping for. I'll also visit some other potential fruit and nut suppliers to see how they produce, and how they're organized.
At the other end of the world it's also getting exciting. Corsicana, a new organic pineapple supplier will have its audit for fair trade. If they pass, we'll introduce yet another fair trade organic product into Albert Heijn.
Organic pineapple
Now what on earth is organic, and what's fair trade? Organic basically means that you're buying a product that has not been treated with artificial pesticides. There's huge debate about whether these organic products - that are more expensive than non-organic - are actually tastier. I think they are most of the time, and sometimes it's hard to taste the difference. Fair trade is a label that promotes better social circumstances for farmers and workers in developing countries. It's all about living wages, meaning that people can send their kids to a decent school, can have medical care if needed and invest in the things that they find important.
We have had pineapples from Costa Rica for a long time: the MD2. It's a very sweet and yellow pineapple which customers really like. In our quest to offer more organic and fair trade products we tried to find the same variety MD2, but then organic and fair trade. ...And it looks like it is going to happen. Next week the Fair trade Labeling Organization, the international body that checks farms and companies to see if their policy is in line with the principles of fair trade, will be looking at Corsicana. And then we’ll know!