PICO Products – 100% Produced in country of origin
Jeroen Kruft, managing director of Amigos International, is interviewed about a new generation of ecological products and responsible shopping. He, Bastiaan Bais and Sander Dijkslag founded Amigos international in 2005 with the purpose of introducing goods that are 100% Produced In Country of Origin (so-called PICO-products). Amigos international imports coffee, chocolate and tea from producing countries like Ecuador and India to distribute them in Europe.
Christina Krebs (CK): You are saying Fair Trade is not enough. What is missing?
Jeroen Kruft (JK): The first attempts of Fair Trade started in the fifties and sixties and lead to the Max Havelaar organization in 1988. In the decades afterwards, the Fair Trade shops started to sell their products. They did a good job in raising salaries for farmers, but they do not look at how a good is
processed. Fair trade only deals with raw material, which is only part of the story of producing a merchandise such as a bag of coffee.
CK: What is the difference of products Amigos International offers? What is the step involved in PICO products?
JK: We involve people like packers, roasters, managers and designers of the brand from the original coffee producing country. Typically European, North American or Japanese companies dominate the processing of the raw material into the finished product. Amigos international involves the small and medium sized enterprises from the country of origin.
CK: What is the reason behind the PICO products?
JK: We want to allow people in developing countries to add value to their crops. In other words Fair Trade plus also supports the country of origin in its processing capabilities. If you believe in Fair Trade then lets go all the way and not just let the farmers from producing countries benefit but also the roasters, packers and the designers.
CK: What are the difficulties within the process of the production?
JK: Part of the challenge with the PICO products is to ensure that the quality is always consistent. You are dealing with distant countries. It would be easier to deal with the process of roasting and packing in your own country if you want to produce a chocolate brand. To coordinate the work for the product, you have to go abroad and coordinate the process.
The second challenge is to introduce new brands. The Ecuadorian, Argentinean or Indian brands we work with are unknown. EScoffee is not even very well known in Ecuador, as it is a new name there too, and in Europe it’s even younger. You have to position a new brand among the big ones. You have to get shops interested in the product, then get distribution with wholesalers, visit trade fairs to expand in the market so you have enough income as the margin on coffee is very low.
CK: How did the adventure start?
JK: I took 12 bags to Holland where they were sold quickly in the Koffiebarak of Wageningen’s Droevendaal. Then I contacted surrounding organic stores, such as Buys & Ko, and supplied them with the first 100 boxes of coffee which I imported by plane. With their interest I got a national distributor interested (De Nieuwe Band) and since then we have been importing sea containers. Later, we added clients in Belgium, Germany, Bulgaria and Scandinavia. We also added other products; we now offer the best in coffee, tea and chocolate – a nice combo!
CK: What is the goal for the next years?
JK: To continue being creative, travel, and sell responsible products for a clean Earth. We want to raise awareness among people about stimulating developing economies by trade, not aid. Also, we have a goal to eventually package all of our products in biodegradable material. In September we will launch ANANDA CHOCOLATE, which is the first bar ever to have a 100% home-compostable inner wrapper!
Read more about Amigos
here
