Barendrecht
05-04-2023

AgroFair has been awarded the Fair Tax Mark, becoming the first multinational head-quartered in the Netherlands to secure accreditation to the gold standard of responsible tax conduct.

AgroFair is a global distributor of Fairtrade and organic bananas, with sales of over €100m per annum. Its Oke and Latin Pride brands are on sale across Europe, New Zealand and Korea – and were recently rated as an ‘Ethical Consumer Best Buy’.

AgroFair works with producers in Peru, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaragua. Uniquely, these producers own a share of the business and have a material say in how the company is run. This includes the right to appoint a member to the supervisory board and to receive a share of dividends.

Fair Tax Mark accreditation is the global gold standard of responsible tax conduct. It recognises businesses that pay the right amount of corporation tax at the right time and in the right place. Accredited businesses include listed PLCs, co-operatives, social enterprises and large private businesses.

AgroFair has paid corporation tax at a commendable rate of 24% of their profit over the last five years. They have also gone above and beyond what is required by providing enhanced public country-by-country reporting, beneficial ownership disclosure and rock solid commitments against tax haven abuse and aggressive tax planning.

Hans Willem van der Waal, CEO, AgroFair said: “We have been the frontrunner to make the international banana business fairer and more sustainable. We believe that paying the fair amount of taxes in the countries where the profits are made, is indispensable if a company, like ours, is seriously committed to the Sustainable Development Goals. The Fair Tax Mark recognizes for the first time this important aspect of fairness of our company.”

Paul Monaghan, Chief Executive, Fair Tax Foundation, said: “The Netherlands is the birthplace of the Fairtrade label, so it is fitting that a long-time Fairtrade pioneer should be the first business in the Netherlands to secure a Fair Tax Mark. The global movements for trade justice and tax justice have common roots. They both seek to empower responsible business conduct and fair competition. In the UK, a large number of co-operatives have the secured the Fair Tax Mark over recent years, and we hope that AgroFair’s accreditation signifies the beginning of an expansion across Europe.”

“AgroFair are an exemplar of both responsible tax conduct and financial transparency. They have embraced public country-by-country disclosure of key economic data, and are open about their beneficial ownership in the face of company ownership registers being shut down across Europe, including in the Netherlands.”

Barendrecht
01-10-2021

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of AgroFair, we are pleased to invite you to our online event: ‘The future of bananas and Fairtrade’. 🍌🍌

This event will be organized to bring to the table the most important issues for the Latin American Fairtrade and organic banana industry and the impact of European policies and market conditions on its cultivation and trade.

We will have simultaneous interpretation: English, Spanish and French.

This webinar is completely free and open to the public.

When: Wednesday 13th of October at 4 p.m. (Brussels time)

Barendrecht
15-02-2021

The Dutch producer-owned sustainable banana importer AgroFair, know of the Oké banana, extends its voluntary additional payment to cover Covid-csoss of its producers to include all volume supplied in the second semester of 2020. AgroFair took the initiative with a first $ 0.05 per box voluntary payment over the 2nd quarter of 2020, when the effects of the pandemic on the banana suppliers became evident. As a result of the pandemic, banana producers suffered strong obstacles in the production. They had to take measures to protect workers against the risk of infection, suffered costs of failures in the supply of packaging material, and where severely affected by curfews limiting their working hours. This caused in some cases also higher costs of quality claims.

Says Hans-Willem van der Waal, the CEO of AgroFair: “We are happy that we can offer an additional payment to our producers. They have had a difficult time and significantly higher costs. On our side, we have had lower costs. The shipping costs were lower than predicted, because of the strong fall in oils prices since March 2020. Instead of pocketing this advantage, we have decided to share it. The producers have gone to great lengths to guarantee constant supplies, allowing us to serve our customers. At the same time that many companies are just talking about living wages, we decided to do what is in our power. We had hoped other companies would have followed suit.”

AgroFair acknowledges that the voluntary additional payment may not cover all costs producers have related to Covid. However, in a commodity business where margins are very thin, it is still an important gesture.

Barendrecht
17-04-2019

Vandaag is het wereld bananendag! Een mooi moment voor de introductie van de duurzaamste banaan met de eerlijkste prijs; de All Good banaan van AgroFair. Hiermee biedt AgroFair de eerste biologische Fairtrade-banaan die een leefbaar loon garandeert én klimaatneutraal is. Daarmee verslaat de All Good banaan iedere andere banaan.

Bananen op de Nederlandse markt steeds duurzamer

AgroFair is een koploper als het gaat om duurzaamheid en eerlijke handel in de bananensector. In 1996 introduceerde AgroFair de allereerste Fairtrade banaan in Nederland en in 2008 volgde de eerste biologische Fairtrade banaan. De afgelopen jaren groeide het aandeel Fairtrade bananen en kwam er meer aandacht voor de ‘werkelijke prijs’ van bananen. In deze werkelijke prijs zijn kosten voor leefbaar loon en klimaatcompensatie meegenomen. Met de introductie van de ‘All Good’ banaan wordt een belangrijke stap gezet naar een nóg duurzamere banaan.

De All Good banaan is uniek

De All Good banaan breidt het concept van de biologische Fairtrade banaan verder uit. Fairtrade biedt een garantieprijs en een premie aan producenten, zodat zij een beter bestaan kunnen opbouwen. All Good gaat nóg een stap verder door leefbaar loon te bieden. Dit geeft een hoger inkomen voor arbeiders en kleine producenten, zodat zij aan armoede kunnen ontsnappen. Bij de productie van biologische bananen wordt geen gebruikt gemaakt van chemische bestrijdingsmiddelen, dit is beter voor het milieu. Daar bovenop worden bij de All Good banaan ook de broeikasgasemissies door productie en transport gecompenseerd. De All Good banaan is dus klimaatneutraal. De All Good banaan wordt geteeld in Ecuador in combinatie met andere gewassen en de natuurlijke omgeving. Zo draagt de All Good banaan bij aan het behoud en herstel van lokale biodiversiteit.

De All Good banaan beschikbaar voor Nederland

AgroFair maakt de All Good banaan beschikbaar voor Nederlandse markt. Het concept voor deze banaan werd ontwikkeld in samenspraak is met diverse maatschappelijke organisaties. Deze organisaties spraken zich recentelijk positief uit over deze volgende stap van AgroFair op weg naar een steeds eerlijkere en duurzamere banaan. Tevens sluit AgroFair zich met deze banaan aan bij de voornemens van de Nederlandse supermarkten zoals vastgelegd in het IMVO convenant levensmiddelen. AgroFair nodigt belangstellende retailers van harte uit om samen te werken en de All Good banaan aan te bieden aan consumenten.

Barendrecht
07-07-2020

Recently, AgroFair’s founder, the Dutch NGO Solidaridad, sold the last remaining part of its shares in our company.  Solidaridad, founder and creator of the Max Havelaar/Fairtrade concept, established AgroFair in 1996 with the sole purpose to bring the Fairtrade or banana on the market. Since then, both the Fairtrade concept and AgroFair, have been hugely successful. The European market share of Fairtrade bananas is around 10%, while AgroFair has grown from humble beginnings to a company selling close to 8 million boxes of Fairtrade and sustainable bananas per year.

Solidaridad took the unique decision to let banana producer organizations participate in the share capital of AgroFair. In this way, farmers in the South participate in the value added in the Northern consumer markets. By the transfer, the farmer shareholders increase their participation in the share capital to well over 40%, whereas ethical investor PPP acquires another part of the shares.

With this move, the unique producer-owned character of AgroFair is reinforced, while AgroFair continues to work with Solidaridad on important themes of social and ecological fairness.

Barendrecht
12-10-2020

AgroFair has decided to pay $ 0.05 per box of bananas as a voluntary contribution to our producers for unexpected costs they have incurred due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “Of course, this is a gesture that cannot compensate all the costs, not to speak of difficult situations and sometimes sorrowful events that have happened. But thanks to the continued efforts of our producers to supply we have been able to satisfy the demand of our customers. In many European countries, the sales of food products in retail shops have increased and bananas are no exception. This is a good way to show solidarity with our producers by sharing across the value chain.”

AgroFair launched the first Fairtrade banana in the world in 1996! Today, the Rotterdam-based importer of fresh bananas, distributes a range of sustainable bananas: Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, organic and/or Demeter certified. The company is partly owned by its suppliers. In this way, cooperative organizations of banana farmers and workers, participate in decision-making and in the value added by the company. AgroFair just published its 2019 Sustainability Report, complying with GRI4 reporting standard.

Barendrecht
07-02-2021

From February 1 2021, when you choose an All Good banana, it’ll not only be Fairtrade but also certified carbon neutral. It’s been a year-long project, and everyone has been in on it. From our banana farmers in Ecuador, to our logistics & shipping friends at AgroFair, to our distributors T&G Fresh. We listened to our expert assessors and we worked and made changes across growing, packing, shipping and transport, ripening and distribution. We paused, for Covid, but we kept going, for the Climate.

“It’s only a banana, but it’s a start” explains co-founder Simon Coley, listing the factors that have helped bring about “New Zealand’s Greenest Banana”. “They may look like other bananas but now All Good Bananas will be Zero Carbon certified as well as Fairtrade, protecting the planet and supporting our grower communities with equitable trade, 30 schools and a medical centre.

All Good is purchasing carbon credits from Climate Partners managing permanent rainforest protection in Madre De Dios, Peru. This is one of the world’s most biodiverse habitats, with numerous threatened plant and animal species, and indigenous tribes. This rainforest is being threatened by large road construction projects between Brazil and Peru and illegal gold mining. This pristine forest is to the south of where our bananas are farmed in Ecuador.

Barendrecht
14-04-2021

This week AgroFair was startled by the news that a first case of the banana fungal disease Fusarium oxysporum spp cubense Tropical Race 4 (Foc TR4) has been identified in Peru. Fusarium is a large family of fungi that occurs all over the world and affects many crops. Foc specialises in bananas. Foc TR4 is a mutant that is the first to be able to attack the Cavendish banana. The Cavendish banana is the dominant export banana introduced because of its resistance to earlier Foc variants.
FoC TR4 is already widely present in Asia and Africa, was first found in Colombia last year and has now been found in Peru. AgroFair sources large quantities of organic bananas from Peru. The cultivation of these bananas is not immediately at risk.

Measures
The affected plantation has now been completely isolated and measures have been taken to protect other plantations against the introduction of the fungus. A package of phytosanitary measures, as specified in the TR4 supplement to the GlobalGAP standard, has been taken. The bananas themselves are not infected with the fungus. It only reaches the roots and stem of the banana from the soil.

Solutions
No curative treatment of plantations affected by TR4 is possible. Isolation and protection of healthy plantations is the only remedy. AgroFair has therefore already started training and informing producers a number of years ago. AgroFair also chairs the Task Force TR4 of the World Banana Forum. AgroFair has also urged the Peruvian authorities to take strong, collective measures throughout the cultivation area, and has offered help in further mapping possible contaminations.

Our local team in Peru is intensifying the training of farmers through an online training programme.

Several universities are working on resistant banana varieties. It is hoped that this will eventually provide a solution. However, there is a chance that the characteristics of such a resistant banana, such as shape and taste, will be different from what we are used to now.

Another possible solution would be to grow Cavendish bananas in a low-density set-up in combination with other plants and trees. In such an arrangement, the susceptibility of the plants seems to be lower. However, the cost price of such bananas will be substantially higher, much closer to the integral ecological and social costs (True Cost).

Perspective
We do not expect any change in the supply of Peruvian bananas in the coming months. We expect that the started policy to prevent the spread of the fungus in the production area will be successful. We are therefore counting on being able to buy high-quality organic bananas from Peru for many years to come.

In the meantime, we also have supplies of organic bananas from Ecuador, Colombia and the Dominican Republic.

Please read more about our AgroFair project: ‘TR4: A WAKE-UP CALL FOR THE BANANA FOOD SYSTEM‘