Gift box: Direct trade

Description

The countries of origin of our raw materials already give a clue: all these five products have in common that they cannot be grown in Switzerland. The coffee tree Arabica has its roots in the mountain forests of Ethiopia, the cocoa plant comes from the rainforests of Latin America, almonds have their home in the “Orient”, spices such as cinnamon bark and cardamom come from Asia and mangoes thrive in the tropical lowland rainforests.

Five times direct trade

What used to be transported directly to the western world in the belly of sailing ships in dangerous voyages from distant countries is nowadays usually a disgraceful commodity. Huge quantities of raw materials are traded on the world’s stock exchanges. Countless middlemen who have not even seen the goods earn their money on it.

The new movement towards direct trade wants to avoid precisely this. Personal and direct relations with local smallholders and cooperation with them on an equal footing is the basic principle. In this way, the producers of the raw materials – who in the end do most of the work – receive a fair share.