Six thousand kilometers of bananas: Fairtrade Czechia and Slovakia celebrate 20 years
Fair trade, the idea that shoppers should pay a fair price for crops grown in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way, is gaining recognition in Czechia.
In 2004, the idea of fair trade in the Czech Republic was still new, and efforts focused on introducing the concept and making certified products available for sale. This was driven by three small NGOs that united under the association. Lubomír Kadaně, the current director of Fairtrade Czechia and Slovakia, highlights the progress made since then:
"Today, we can find 2,800 Fairtrade-labeled products on the Czech market—a significant achievement. Polls show that 67% of people now recognize the Fairtrade label, a notable increase from 16% twenty years ago. So, I think it is quite an achievement."
The NGO continues to expand, collaborating with trade partners ranging from fair trade online stores to gas station bistros and major supermarket chains. According to Kadaně, bananas are a flagship product:
"Bananas are a key item for Fairtrade in Czechia. You can find them in two of the most successful supermarket and hypermarket chains. Over the past 20 years, so many fair trade bananas have been sold in the Czech Republic that, if placed end to end, they would form a line stretching from Prague to Nairobi—around 6,000 kilometers."
Globally, cocoa and coffee remain the most popular fair trade products, a trend mirrored in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Among the pioneers in obtaining the Fairtrade label locally was the cooperative FairBio, which processes green coffee beans from Brazil, the Congo, and Papua New Guinea in Kostelec nad Labem. Martin Třešňák is the cooperative’s director:
"Our roastery is celebrating half the milestone of Fairtrade—10 years. We started with EU funding, which allowed us to hire staff and purchase the necessary equipment. Starting from scratch was slow, but the funding gave us the time to learn the craft of coffee roasting and managing a team, most of whom have disabilities."
At the same time, the NGO remains focused on direct connection with farmers from the Global South. It regularly invites farmers to the Czech Republic and sends young ambassadors, journalists, and influencers to visit coffee and cacao plantations, fostering firsthand understanding of the challenges faced by farmers. Mirka Van Gils Slavíková, a pastry chef, blogger, and former TV baking show judge, participated in one such mission to Peru:
“The fundamental and crucial realization that this journey brought me is that we need to make people aware that what they have on their table is not something to be taken for granted. Behind the coffee, there are people; behind the chocolate, there are people; and the same goes for bananas. And really, when you consider that all these three crops are mostly cultivated manually, in places where machines cannot easily, and sometimes not at all, be used for processing or harvesting, you realize the amount of care and effort involved. I think it’s truly an incredible amount of hard work.”
