gebana AG

Manual

Short Version

gebana Manual Version 3 / ezValid from: 21.09.2017

Approved by board2

Content, sCope and objeCtives of this doCuMentThis is the gebana manual, a guidance document intended to define requirements and processes within the gebana group. This short version is an excerpt thereof for public release.

This manual is to be revised annually.

Changes to this manual need authorization by the board of gebana AG (changes affecting the strategic orientation) or the CEO of gebana AG (smaller changes not affecting the strategic ori-entation).

Versions and changes are to be documented.

This manual is to be distributed to the affiliates of the gebana group.

gebana Manual Version 3 / ezValid from: 21.09.2017

Approved by board3

CONTENT, SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES OF THIS DOCUMENT 2

1 VERSION AND CHANGES REGISTRY 4

2 VISION AND MISSION 5

2.1 Vision 5

2.2 Mission 5

3 ORGANIC AND FAIRTRADE STANDARDS 6

3.1 General notes on standards 6

3.2 Our standards 6

3.2.1 Organic production 6

3.2.2 Other ecological aspects in production 7

3.2.3 Processing and Trade 7

3.2.4 Fair trade and social criteria 8

3.3 Assurance of organic and fair trade standards 8

3.3.1 Review Committee 8

3.3.2 Assurance for products supplied by gebana affiliates 9

3.3.3 Assurance for products supplied from external suppliers (sold via direct sales) 9

3.3.4 Continuous improvement 9

gebana Manual Version 3 / ezValid from: 21.09.2017

Approved by board4

1. version and Changes registry

Version Date Changes from last version

gebana Manual Version 1

10.09.2013 (first version; based on “old” gebana Manual; but with substantial changes)

gebana Manual Version 2

30.09.2016 -chapter on Vision and further slight changes and amendments

gebana Manual Version 3

21.09.2017 -Vision, Mission and Values new

gebana Manual Version 3 / ezValid from: 21.09.2017

Approved by board5

2. vision and Mission

2.1 visionTogether we change global trade in favour of family farmers, local communities and the environ-ment.

2.2 MissionWe form value chains from family farmers to customers.

We produce and deliver authentic food with a maximum of social and environmental added value.

We invest with a long term perspective, also in difficult regions, and stay until we succeed.

gebana Manual Version 3 / ezValid from: 21.09.2017

Approved by board6

3. organiC and fairtrade stan-dards

3.1 general notes on standardsgebana products/suppliers need to be certified acc. to different external standards. The certifica-tion acc. to these standards is important for credibility in the market and in order to satisfy client’s demands.

That said, we agree that external certification can be laborious, bureaucratic and expensive and may exclude producers that are small or disadvantaged. Farmer families and processors need support on their way to certification, and with the receipt of the certificate the work is not done yet. We believe that while it is important to aim for defined standards to implement, experience has shown that this can only be achieved through continues work including all involved parties. We therefore believe in a process oriented approach.

Besides and beyond to external certification, gebana has its internal standards.The internal standards are an important tool for continuous improvement, decisions and internal audits. Under beyond, we understand our interest in and our commitment to new aspects of a sustaina-ble way of living. It‘s about biodiversity, water consumption, logistics, packaging, political enga-gement for the small-scale farmers and the question, where which activities make sense and where they don‘t.

3.2 our standards3.2.1 organic production

Organic production is very important to us. We consider it to be a major contribution towards a sustainable development.

Organic production includes the non-use of GMO as well as the non-use of chemical synthetic pesticides.

All gebana affiliates are certified organic.

Also the majority of external suppliers are certified organic, so that more then 80-90% of food products of direct sales are certified organic. A majority of the not-certified products is also cul-tivated biologically, but is in transformation or not certified for political or organizational reasons.

For its internal standard, gebana follows the guidelines for the organic farming of Bio Suisse for small-scale farmer groups in the south (simplified approval).

Additionally to the organic cultivation, further aspects are important for sustainability – ranging from the selection of the products over logistics to the packaging.

The gebana bio-criteria in production:

• Whole farm organic production1

• Natural diversity on the organic farm

• No genetic engineering

• No chemical-synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilisers

• For animal production: Particularly species-appropriate livestock farming and feeding (home country: livestock husbandry acc. to KAG preferred, otherwise according to Bio Suisse)

1 Whole farm bio-production is not always adhered to, since the farmer families are partly dependent on intensive cultures for their livelihood, for which a bio-market doesn’t exist yet.

gebana Manual Version 3 / ezValid from: 21.09.2017

Approved by board7

3.2.2 other ecological aspects in production

There are ecological considerations that go beyond organic certification but are important to us:

• Support of the biodiversity through cooperation with small-scale farmers, facilitation of traditi-onal cultivation methods (mixed cropping), GVO-free seeds breeding and consideration of old varieties in the range

• Prohibition of forest clearances and agriculture in High Conservation Value Areas (HCVA)

• Commitment for protection of forests and natural habits and fighting deforestation

• Regulated watering where water is scarce: drip irrigation or efficient, traditional watering systems, which neither cause erosion nor salinization

• Avoidance of waste and prevention of the contamination of waters; cleaning of waste water where necessary

• Commitment for ecological solutions such as for example sustainable forest use instead of eu-calyptus, energy efficiency in the company, adapted mechanization, handicraft, drying systems without fossil energy etc.

• Commitment for protection of the soil, and avoidance of erosion and soil compaction

• Improvement of natural soil fertility by appropriate cultivation techniques such as diverse vege-tation, rotation and composting

• No application of fertilizers with high heavy metal content

• Application of copper is permitted in organic agriculture, but applications must be moderate/controlled, so as to fight any accumulation in the soil

3.2.3 processing and trade

Ecological thinking includes the selection of the products, the partners, the packaging and the logistics. Even with the best labels, a product can be unecological, when repeatedly processed and packaged in smallest amounts, then delivered through different distribution partners to a supermarket, and finally picked up by car.

The following are our criteria:

• Efficient packaging (big packaging, avoid aluminium packaging, avoid re-packaging wherever possible)

• Direct logistics (local processing, direct trade relations, direct shipment)

• No unnecessary processing steps

• No air transportation (Exceptions allowed for justified reasons)

• Avoidance of additives such as artificial flavouring agents and colorants

• Gentle handling of the foods

Apart from those criteria, gebana aims to assess its ecobalance and analyse the lifecycle of some of its products on a periodic basis. Where sustainable possibilities to improve its ecobalance exist, these should be pursued.

gebana Manual Version 3 / ezValid from: 21.09.2017

Approved by board8

3.2.4 fair trade and social criteria

gebana AG is a dedicated member of Swiss Fair Trade and the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO). gebana participated in laying down the trade criteria of these organisations and complies with them.

In order to be able to deliver to major distributors, all gebana affiliates as well as gebana b.v. are also FLO certified.

With respect to external suppliers, a FLO certification is preferred (but not a must).

For its internal standard, gebana refers to the fair trade criteria as the have been elaborated by Swiss Fair Trade criteria and also WFTO:

• Trade Relations: Sustainable, long term relations and direct trade. Whenever possible the pro-ducts are bought directly from small farmers families in the south and processed on-site.

• Fair and transparent prices2 and wages.

• Pre-financing

• Worker’s rights: no forced labour, no discrimination, no child labour, freedom of association

• Correct working hours and safe and hygienic working environments (including access to drinking water, adequate sanitation equipment and medical supplies where necessary)

• Active support of the producers, empowerment

• No land-grabbing

For the trading/selling organisations (gebana b.v. and gebana AG), the following additional crite-ria apply:

• Aim of the organisation and its main activity is fair trade

• Direct contact to the producers and the most direct possible trade channels

• Compliance with the laws, no tax optimisation, stakeholder dialogue, good governance, tracea-ble wages of the leading personnel

• Complete transparency and open communication

Active support of producers is very important to gebana, as it is fostering local knowledge and empowerment. gebana’s aims and activities in this regard include:

• Direct and long term investments in local infrastructure and management to support know how and quality as well as to create jobs

• Focus on the development of special and high quality products so that the producers become independent from fair trade certifications in the long term

• Benefit of the gebana network for concrete, partly also political problems of the producers, for example: small-scale farmers against pesticides, olive oil campaign, Zapatista Cooperative Chi-apas

• Integration of small-scale producers and active development of new supply chains

• Engagement for fair trading conditions: no dumping, reduction of the import customs for pro-ducts from the south, no trade restrictions through the bio-label, for example through import bans

3.3 assurance of organic and fair trade standards3.3.1 review Committee

The Review Committee is a gebana internal committee that meets three times a year.The task of the committee is to review gebana’s internal standards, discuss compliance with stan-dards (self assessment) and establish focus points of attention.

2 Whereas prices are discussed and mutually agreed upon; prices are to cover costs of sustainable production, ensuring thus stability.

gebana Manual Version 3 / ezValid from: 21.09.2017

Approved by board9

3.3.2 assurance for products supplied by gebana affiliates

External standards:

Organic: Products produced by gebana network affiliates are certified by an independent Certifi-cation Body according to EU Regulation 834/2007 or according to customer demand under Bio Suisse, Demeter, NOP, or other organic standards.

FLO/Fairtrade: All gebana affiliates are certified FLO. Furthermore, gebana AG is a member of WFTO and as such, gebana is monitoring its suppliers for compliance with the WFTO criteria.

gebana requires information/documentation of the Certification results of its producers/exporters (certification summary/non-compliances).

The valid certificates and import authorisations are stored on info.gebana.com.

Internal gebana standards:

Producing/Exporting gebanas do have their internal control systems as f.ex. required for small-holder groups by the organic certification.

In addition gebana audits the producers/exporters occasionally – as a guidance at least every second year – to ensure compliance with the standards set down in this document. The audit is carried out on site. It covers the organic, fair trade and quality standards or relevant/chosen parts of it. It is based on (a) meeting(s)/ with the Manager and at least one employee. The findings of the audit are documented.

3.3.3 assurance for products supplied from external suppliers (sold via direct sales)

External standards:

The organic quality is assured through certification by independent Certification Bodies according to EU Regulation 834/2007 on organic production. Accordingly, all gebana affiliates are certified organic.As explained previously, a small part of food sold via direct sales is not certified organic, f.ex. when the products are in transformation to organic production or are not certified for political or orga-nizational reasons. In such cases, we consider the supplier to be worthy to support for other aspects (f.ex. social or political reasons).Of course, such products are not labelled “organic”.

FLO/Fairtrade: FLO certification is preferable but not a must. Direct, reliable information about a supplier is more important than the standard or certification. There are good projects that are not certified FLO.However if the information on a supplier is rather weak, then certification acc. to a reliable standard such as FLO is preferred.Furthermore, also external suppliers are monitored by gebana for compliance with the WFTO criteria.

Internal gebana standards:

gebana seeks an open, sincere contact with its suppliers. We ask for supplier related information, and a Questionnaire is completed, which covers various organic and fairtrade aspects, including criterias such as f.ex. air transport and producer support.

3.3.4 Continuous improvement

Not all suppliers may fulfil all the requirements from start. When gebana visits the suppliers, mea-sures and time schedule are agreed upon for continuous improvements.