By Rodrigo Ponce, Food Products Manager

In a 10-day tour and string of presentations in Italy and Germany, three independent food producers from Compare were directly in contact with the European consumers and buyers of their products. Robinson González, olive oil producer from Huasco; Wilson Muñoz, walnut producer from Montepatria; and Enzo Gazolo, olive paste producer from Putaendo, took the motivating experience back to Chile this week to continue their work in Fair Trade.

After a long journey, we were welcomed by the Italian organization LiberoMondo in the northern city of Bra. They are currently one of our main importers of food and artisan products in Europe. In their office, we gave a presentation to all of their staff about Chile, Comparte and its history, and the relationship between its different producers of food and handicrafts which totals more than 500 producers throughout Chile.

After the presentation we visited the processing plant where LiberoMondo transforms raw materials it sources from all over the world into new products using various different ingredients. For example, walnut paste made from Chilean walnuts and crackers made from prunes and plums, all imported from Comparte. Next, we visited LiberoMondo’s shop in Bra where they promote and sell products from different parts of the world, all of which are Fair Trade, and where products from Chile and Comparte can also be found.

On May 27, we travelled to a processing plant close to Turin where they work mainly with organic products creating various types of products such as sauces, creams, pesto, etc. Our producers took this opportunity to talk with the staff of the plant so that they could understand each of the process better and apply this new understanding to their own processes of production. In the afternoon, we travelled and visited a shop close to Milan called Altro Mercato. There, we had a cocktail and were able to spend time with the store’s managers, give our presentation and learn a little bit more about Fair Trade in Europe: the most popular products, who buys them, and how different publicity campaigns are managed.

Just a few days later, we were off to Germany to visit another very important partner, El Puente. We visited their offices and warehouses located in the city of Nordstemmen, south of Hannover. El Puente gave us a presentation about the company and each one of its departments, explaining all of the processes involved in each step of importing and distributing goods.

The quantity of the products that they have, as well as the different countries from which they are sourced, is what mostly caught the eyes of Robinson, Wilson and Enzo. It is possible to find their products in other parts of the world; whether it is olive oil, walnuts or olive paste amongst others; it is all Fair Trade.

On Monday, we travelled north to the city of Schortens where the following day we were due to set up a small stall in a Fair Trade shop selling products from El Puente as well as from other German importers. After sorting out and preparing everything for our presentation on Tuesday, we were invited to home-cooked dinner by the owner of the shop and his wife. We ate spaghetti in a very special sauce containing various Fair Trade products: tomato sauce, pepper, garlic, and our very own olive paste. At the time, our host didn’t know that one of the producers at the dinner had made the olive paste and was quite surprised when he found out and said he was a big fan!

On Tuesday, we set up the stall and gave a presentation about Comparte the work of all three producers. It generated a lot of interest amongst the attendees and a lot of questions for Robinson, Wilson and Enzo. The attendees wanted to know more about what each company produced, how they produced it, the benefits of selling as Fair Trade and the support that Comparte offers as a business platform, helping them to achieve their goals of selling their products in different parts of the world.

On Friday, June 3rd, we were already on our way back to Chile, very satisfied and motivated by the experience we had together. Fair Trade creates a relationship of trust, transparency and respect which allowed us to meet, and cooperate with, producers, exporters and importers, shops and consumers, all united in one place with the same idea, Fair Trade.