Fair Trees Fund

About us

How the Fair Trees Supply Chain is devoted to environmental and human sustainability

The subsidiary Fair Trees LLC harvests and processes cones in Racha, Georgia, under license purchased from the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture. The cones are organic and Fair Trade certified, and all processes are performed with the highest care for the natural resources and workers; No usage of climbing spurs and at least 30 percent of the cones are left unharvested, benefitting animals of the natural habitat. Every year, all cone pickers must pass a safety course, health check-up and first aid training. They receive a fair salary, work- and health insurance, and in addition a living wage paid by the Fair Trees Fund every year with no harvest. The Fair Trees Fund is supervising the development of a set of industry leading safety standards in collaboration with leading climbing safety experts. It is committed to following these guidelines and works towards implementing them as the benchmark for the entire industry. After processing, the cones are shipped to nurseries in Europe, typically located in Denmark, UK and Germany. They produce Fair Seedlings, plants that are up to four years old, using the Fair Seeds and following the guidelines and restrictions and set out in the Fair Trees license agreement. Nurseries must be certified under either FSC, MPS or GLOBALG.A.P, or become certified organic. Licensed nurseries sell plants grown from Fair Seeds as Fair Trees Plants with the Fair Trees label, which includes the Fair Trade and the Fair Trees logos. Licensed Christmas tree producers can sell their existing trees labeled as Fair Trees under the same requirements, if they replant a Fair Trees seedling. Most Fair Trees are sold through retail partners such as Toom Baumarkt/REWE in Germany, who also actively markets the product. Every Fair Trees license holder, whether nursery, producer or retailer, agrees to pay a fixed amount to the Fair Trees Fund for every Fair Trees product they sell. The generated premium is invested in various projects in the Racha region of Georgia, focusing on safety, education, health and sustainability. At the core of our operation is UN SDG nr. 12 about responsible production and consumption, which we implement in every aspect of our business and investments.