Sustainability Numbers for 2020

In 2020, gebana saw enormous growth and made the largest profit in the company’s history. At the same time, we have taken a large step towards greater sustainability and fairness, for example with wages in Togo.

A lot changed at gebana throughout 2020. We restructured our organisation in Europe, improved our processes and adapted to new circumstances in the North and the South. To get the background to all this and find out more, you can read our annual report (in German only).

In addition to our business figures, we assess around 50 different indicators every year, which we use to measure how sustainably and fairly we work and identify areas for improvement.

The following paragraphs and graphics are taken from the sustainability report. These numbers also appear in our annual report.

Revenue Sharing and Premiums

In 2020, we extended the gebana model – our sharing approach – to Togo and Greece. As a result, the premiums that we paid to family farmers rose by 132% compared to the previous year.

At 78%, the total share of our sales that remained in the South was slightly lower than in 2019. The reasons for this decline were our Corona aid campaign in Switzerland, Farmers Looking for Customers, as well as an improvement in wholesale margins.

Family Farmers and Farm Size

In West Africa, we are working directly with more and more family farmers. After a dip in 2019, the number of family farmers rose again last year. In Brazil, Burkina Faso and Togo, a total of 1,487 families were added.

Research and Consulting Expenses

In 2020, we invested more in working with family farmers and developing better farming practices than ever before. We have been focusing on agroforestry in West Africa since the beginning of 2021. As for what this term entails, we will offer a separate explanation on the gebana blog during the second half of the year.

We are working closely with universities in Brazil to promote organic agriculture. In Greece, we opened the Organic Agricultural Center together with Anyfion in 2020, where farmers can get advice and buy organic pesticides and fertilizers on favourable terms.

Investments and Risks in the South

In 2020, we invested 627,000 euros in Brazil, Burkina Faso and Togo. Of this amount, around 438,000 euros went to buildings, machines and vehicles.

We calculate investments as the share of total assets invested in the producing countries. We calculate absorbed losses as write-offs and debt relief for the companies in the South.

Jobs

To match our strong sales growth in 2020, the number of people who work at gebana also rose sharply. A total of 101 new jobs were created, 91 of them in the Global South. At the end of last year, 693 people were working at gebana worldwide.

We calculate the number of jobs as an annual average, as there are several seasonal jobs during and immediately after the harvest.

Jobs by Gender

Worldwide, there are significantly more women working for gebana than men, and they are still underrepresented in management in the Global South.

Wages

It took a change in management to bring the lowest wages in Togo well above the national minimum wage. In the coming weeks, we’ll explain how difficult it is to find the right people for management positions in the Global South and what role wages play.

Sustainability Range

In 2020, the share of organic products in our range slightly decreased because we sold a number of products without the organic certification during and after the first lockdown to support Swiss family farmers. The share of organic products is expected to increase again in 2021.

The share of products that go straight to our customers’ homes from the family farmers was 50.2%, almost 7% more than the previous year. Here too, our Corona aid campaign was a major driver. After all, all the products of the Swiss family farmers went straight from the farms to our customers. Record orders for oranges and other fresh products also contributed to this growth.

More good news: the share of products that are never repackaged rose from 65 to 67.8%. We hope to continue to improve on this in 2021.

Sharing Profit

gebana employees receive a third of all profits. Half of this goes to the people in the Global South and the other half to those in the North. The unbelievable profits of 2020 amount to two to three additional monthly wages in the South, and around an additional one in the North. We distribute the profit proportionally to the gross annual wage received in the North, whereas it is distributed per capita in the South.