For the first time, Max Havelaar's "fair trade" label is awarded to a French product
The label for once † Fair trade †, teal and black is not applied to an exotic product from the other side of the world. While the Fair Trade Fortnight, which will take place from 7 to 22 May, is in full swing, the Max Havelaar association has just awarded its label, a guarantee of fair compensation for producers, to two French products made from Cotentin milk for the first time. : one white cheese with Madagascar vanilla and another with cane sugar.
Chocolate, quinoa, tea… For decades, the Fairtrade/Max Havelaar label has guaranteed that products are grown, processed and marketed in accordance with fair economic, social and environmental standards. An important guarantee for the consumer, especially for products from the other side of the world, grown and produced in countries with less protective working conditions than in France.
However, the association recalled in a press release, in France the issue of fair compensation for producers should also concern us. † According to INSEE, 26 % of French farmers lived below the poverty line in 2019† Because our everyday products go together with milk and vanilla, wheat and chocolate chips, the approach will benefit all farmers here and there. †
Fairtrade cottage cheese
With this in mind, the Maîtres Laitiers du Cotentin, a cooperative of just over a thousand producers, have been awarded the precious label. A first for a French product. † It's a win-win projectconfides Noël Datin, one of the cooperative's breeders. The expectations of a farmer, whether he is in Madagascar or in Normandy, are absolutely the same: to live with dignity from his profession and to be proud of his product. †
To determine this "guaranteed fair price in France", the association has adopted a new calculation method, taking into account the differences in territories, soil yields and a quantified income target for the farmer.
"Our partnership with the Maîtres Laitiers du Cotentin is one of the first concrete steps in extending our fair trade certification to French producers. Today we are proud to make our conviction concrete: all producers in the world deserve a fair price! Whether they come from France or elsewhere, we need to safeguard those who feed us and tell consumers.recalls Blaise Desbordes, general manager of Max Havelaar France.
Fair recognition of the difficulties faced by producers across France†
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