Foundation

The Max Havelaar Foundation (Switzerland) was established in 1992 by the six largest Swiss aid organizations: Brot für alle, Caritas, Fastenopfer, HEKS, Helvetas and Swissaid. It is a not-for-profit organization and has been self-supporting since 2001.

The objective of the foundation was to take up the work of the pioneers of fair trade and shift fair trade products from a niche into a mainstream retail market. The first product was coffee, followed by honey, cocoa, sugar, tea, bananas, orange juice, flowers, rice, pineapples, mangoes, avocadoes, dried fruit, nuts and cotton. Today the range extends from 60 different coffee blends, babygros and cotton buds through iced tea and chocolate bars to fruit juice, jam and cola baers.
As well as in retail outlets, fair trade products are also increasingly available in restaurants, cafes, gas stations and florists.

This is the vision held by the Max Havelaar Foundation: fair trade as a matter of course. Help us achieve this goal. With each purchase you can make a personal contribution. It's a fact: your product tastes better when you know the farmer and his children in the South can make a living out of it.

Geert van Dok (chairman), Caritas, member since 1997
Miges Baumann (vice chairman), Brot für alle, member since 2006
Markus Brun, Fastenopfer, member since 2003
Melchior Lengsfeld, Helvetas, member since 2006
Jürg Rückert, C.M.C. Consulting-Management-Coaching SA, member since 2007
Esther Oettli, HEKS, member since 2009
Patric Fuhrimann, Swissaid, member since 2009