Fair trade is a term for an arrangement designed to help producers in developing countries achieve sustainable and equitable trade relationships. The fair trade movement combines the payment of higher prices to exporters with improved social and environmental standards. The movement focuses in particular on commodities, or products that are typically exported from developing countries to developed countries but is also used in domestic markets, most notably for handicrafts, coffee, cocoa, wine, sugar, fruit, flowers and gold.
The organic movement broadly refers to the organizations and individuals involved worldwide in the promotion of organic food and other organic products. It started during the first half of the 20th century, when modern large-scale agricultural practices began to appear.
Organic certification is a certification process for producers of organic food and other organic agricultural products, in the European Union more commonly known as ecological or biological products. In general, any business directly involved in food production can be certified, including seed suppliers, farmers, food processors, retailers and restaurants. A lesser known counterpart is certification for organic textiles that includes certification of textile products made from organically grown fibres.
Grundig is a Turkish consumer electronics manufacturer owned by the Arçelik A.Ş., the white goods manufacturer of Turkish conglomerate Koç Holding. The company made domestic appliances and personal-care products.
L'Occitane en Provence, "the Occitan woman ," commonly known as L'Occitane, is a French luxury retailer of body, face, hair, fragrances, and home products based in Manosque, France. It was founded in 1976 by Olivier Baussan, with the purpose to create a company that celebrates and preserves the traditions of his native Provence. In 2010, the company became listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Coop is one of Switzerland's largest retail and wholesale companies. It is structured in the form of a cooperative society with around 2.5 million members.
Douglas Holding was a German retail group based in Düsseldorf which included subsidiaries perfumery chain Douglas GmbH, confectionery chain Hussel, bookstore chain Thalia Buchhandel and women's fashion store chain AppelrathCüpper. After the takeover by financial investor Advent International, Douglas Holding was delisted in 2013 and the conglomerate was gradually split into its individual companies.
Alter Eco refers to two alternative trading organizations, founded in 1998 by Tristan Lecomte in France, and followed by Mathieu Senard and Eduoard Rollet in the United States, and Ilse Keijzer in Australia.
Sustainable procurement or green procurement is a process whereby organizations meet their needs for goods, services, works and utilities in a way that achieves value for money on a life-cycle basis while addressing equity principles for sustainable development, therefore benefiting societies and the environment across time and geographies. Procurement is often conducted via a tendering or competitive bidding process. The process is used to ensure the buyer receives goods, services or works for the best possible price, when aspects such as quality, quantity, time, and location are compared. Procurement is considered sustainable when organizations broadens this framework by meeting their needs for goods, services, works, and utilities in a way that achieves value for money and promotes positive outcomes not only for the organization itself but for the economy, environment, and society. This framework is also known as the triple bottom line, which is a business accounting framework. The concept of TBL is narrowly prescribed, and even John Elkington, who coined the term in the 1990s, now advocates its recall. Indeed, procurement practitioners have drawn attention to the fact that buying from smaller firms, locally, is an important aspect of sustainable procurement in the public sector. Ethics, culture, safety, diversity, inclusion, justice, human rights and the environment are additionally listed as important aspects of SPP.
RAIL4CHEM was a German rail freight transport company, and the parent company of a number of European subsidiary rail freight transport companies including rail4chem Benelux B.V. (Rotterdam), the rail4chem transalpin AG (Basel) and Fer Polska S.A. (Warsaw).
TÜVs are internationally active, independent service companies from Germany and Austria that test, inspect and certify technical systems, facilities and objects of all kinds in order to minimize hazards and prevent damages. The TÜV companies are organized into three large holding companies, TÜV Nord, TÜV Rheinland and TÜV SÜD, along with the smaller independent companies TÜV Thüringen, TÜV Saarland and TÜV Austria.
Weleda is a multinational company that produces both beauty products and naturopathic medicines. Both branches design their products based on anthroposophic principles, an alternative medicine.
Melvita is an international retailer of body, face, and home products based in Lagorce, France. The company was founded in 1983 by biologist and beekeeper, Bernard Chevilliat on a farm in the Ardèche, France.
MADARA Cosmetics also known as MÁDARA, is a Latvian manufacturer of organic skin care, hair care and baby care products. The ingredients include biologically certified blossoms and herbal extracts from the Northern and Baltic region. The brand name MADARA is the Latvian name for a common inhabitant of Baltic meadows – Galium mollugo, commonly known as bedstraw or wild madder. Its spatial pattern or fractal is also depicted in the logo of MADARA Cosmetics, which received the EULDA/WOLDA award and the title "Best of Latvia" in 2007.
Swiss Drinks Limited was a Swiss company, known as Obermeilen, specializing in the production of fruit based products, flavorings and distillates for manufacturers of the food industry. "The flavours and extracts are suitable for various applications: beverages, confectionery, bakery, chocolate, dairy products. " In 2014 the company was taken over by Bischofszell Nahrungsmittel AG (Bina) and in 2015 Bina announced that they will shut down the production facility in Obermeilen and move the entire production to Bischofszell.
Veganz Group AG is a vegan brand headquartered in Berlin, Germany. Veganz was founded as the first vegan supermarket chain in Europe.
COSMOS stands for "COSMetic Organic and Natural Standard", which sets certification requirements for organic and natural cosmetics products in the Europe. The standard is recognized globally by the cosmetic industry. By adhering to specific guidelines, cosmetics marketers can use COSMOS signatures, which are registered trademarks, on packaging to confirm the products meet minimum industry requirements to be considered organic or natural.
Texaid-Textilverwertungs-AG (TEXAID) is a commercial company for the recycling of used clothing, 50% of which is owned by the German Böschen family, 50% by a consortium of the Swiss Red Cross, Winterhilfe Schweiz, Solidar Suisse, Caritas Schweiz, Kolping Schweiz and the Swiss Protestant Church Aid Organisation (HEKS). Based in Schattdorf, Switzerland, the company is one of the largest organisations in Europe for the collection, sorting and recycling of used textiles.
Hanro International GmbH, with headquarters in Götzis in Austria, produces lingerie, nightwear, and loungewear for men and women. The company’s products can be found in almost 50 countries and are sold at specialty retailers, department stores, and its own 14 boutiques and outlet stores. The company was founded in 1884 in Liestal, Switzerland, by Albert Handschin. The Huber Group acquired the company in 1991.
