We are gebana

Together we are changing global trade in favour of family farmers, local economies and the environment.

Together with hundreds of thousands of customers and family farmers worldwide, gebana is leading the way in sustainable trade.

Direct Impact at the Source

gebana Trade keeps on building and investing into sustainable supply chain.

We share

Sharing is our way of making global trade fairer: 10 per cent of the sales price in our online shop goes back to the family farmers. If the gebana Group generates a profit for the financial year, a third of this profit goes to employees, one third to customers and one third to shareholders.

We think holistically

We are committed to much more than just organic and fair trade certifications. gebana always looks at the entire value chain and gradually develops the most sustainable product, because we acknowledge sustainability as a continuous process.

We know the farmers

We know our farmers personally, provide agricultural training and pay them directly. No place is too far for us to meet them, not even the most remote villages.

We invest

Investing in local food production creates jobs and income. In doing so, we knowingly take great risk and get involved in the poorest countries in the world.

We trade

We support our local producers by selling their organic and FLO Fairtrade certified products to wholesalers. This creates autonomous companies that work independently of us.

We shareSharing is our way of making global trade fairer: 10 per cent of the sales price in our online shop goes back to the family farmers. If the gebana Group generates a profit for the financial year, a third of this profit goes to employees, one third to customers and one third to shareholders.

We think holisticallyWe are committed to much more than just organic and fair trade certifications. gebana always looks at the entire value chain and gradually develops the most sustainable product, because we acknowledge sustainability as a continuous process.

We tradeWe support our local producers by selling their organic and FLO Fairtrade certified products to wholesalers. This creates autonomous companies that work independently of us.

We know the farmersWe know our farmers personally, provide agricultural training and pay them directly. No place is too far for us to meet them, not even the most remote villages.

We investInvesting in local food production creates jobs and income. In doing so, we knowingly take great risk and get involved in the poorest countries in the world.

SINCE

gebana operates as a fair trade company.

THE GEBANA ENTERPRISE

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THE GEBANA ENTERPRISE

gebana AG is founded in 1998 as a trading company with the aim of economically combining social and ecological values and building sustainable food supply chains. As problems arise in production in the South, gebana invests in local processing and direct contact with the farmers. In close cooperation with local partners, subsidiary companies are gradually established in Brazil, Burkina Faso, Tunisia, Togo and Benin. The risk associated with investing in these countries and the proximity to the farmers make gebana unique to this day.

Beginning in 2003, gebana distributes products from the South directly to consumers via mail order, followed later by the first Swiss organic and fair trade online shop. The direct link between family farmers and consumers is born. Direct sales prove to be the right strategy in gebana's business model to cushion the high risk in the South and the fluctuations in global trade.

In 2009, gebana slides into a crisis. The small business struggles with the global market environment on the one hand and with problems in the risky production in the South on the other. gebana keeps going, not least thanks to thousands of customers, but also partners and investors who show solidarity. Based on this experience, in 2015 gebana defines itself as a network of customers, farmers and partners who share the vision of fairer trade.

The strength of this network comes through in 2017: the subsidiary in Burkina Faso is facing bankruptcy but is ultimately saved thanks to joint efforts. In the same year, gebana redefines its vision: "Together we are changing global trade in favour of family farmers, local communities and the environment".

gebana emerges as a movement for fairer global trade.

THE "BANANA WOMEN"

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THE "BANANA WOMEN"

"Why does one kilo of bananas cost less than a kilo of Swiss apples?", in 1973 a group of Swiss women is wondering and begins to denounce the exploitation of workers on the banana plantations of Latin America. The women's group soon grows into a Swiss-wide movement. In the 1980s, the "Banana Women" actively participate in the banana trade and start the "Working Group for a Fair Banana Trade" (in German "Arbeitsgemeinschaft GErechter BANAnenhandel" or "gebana" for short). In the 1990s, when fair trade becomes institutionalised and supermarkets sell the first bananas with fair trade label, the founders step down. gebana converts from an association to a company. Today, the "Banana Women" are regarded as pioneers of fair trade in Switzerland and their ideas are still an important pillar of gebana's work to this day.