The first Fairtrade label, Max Havelaar, is launched in the Netherlands.
Fairtrade Nederland formerly known as Max Havelaar Stichting is the Dutch member of Fairtrade International, which unites 23 Fairtrade certification producer and labelling initiatives across Europe, Asia, Latin America, North America, Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
The Fairtrade label, the world's first Fairtrade Certification Mark, was officially launched by Stichting Max Havelaar on 15 November 1988, under the efforts of Nico Roozen, Frans van der Hoff and Dutch ecumenical development agency Solidaridad. The label, used to distinguish Fairtrade products from conventional ones, aims to improve "the living and working conditions of small farmers and agricultural workers in disadvantaged regions". The first fairly traded coffee originated from the UCIRI cooperative in Mexico and was imported by Dutch company Van Weely, roasted by Neuteboom, before being sold directly to worldshops and, for the first time, to mainstream retailers across the Netherlands.
Today, Fairtrade products are available in many shops throughout Europe, i.e. in the Dutch supermarket chains such as Jumbo, which sells an average of 18 Fairtrade products per store and Super de Boer, which sells an average of 17 products per store. Fairtrade products are also available at Albert Heijn supermarkets across the Netherlands and online at MUD Jeans, the Dutch fair trade certified denim brand.In 2006, Fairtrade labelled sales in the Netherlands amounted to 41 million, a 12% year-to-year increase.
The Fairtrade certification initiative was created to form a new method for economic trade. This method takes an ethical standpoint, and considers the producers first.
Fairtrade International started with the coffee industry, and now covers a range of products such as cocoa, fruit, cotton, flowers, tea, and others. The established buyers of these products make up a niche market, which makes marketing for Fairtrade a challenge.