We share

Sharing is our way of making global trade fairer.

We share our revenue

10 per cent of the sales price in our online shop goes back to the family farmers. We pay them this amount on top of the organic and fair-trade price without any conditions.

Revenue sharing is a key element of our gebana model, accounting for the majority of the premiums we pay out each year.

We pay these premiums to the family farmers regardless of how profitable we are. They receive this amount, even if we incur a loss (see diagram).

We share our profit

If the gebana Group generates a profit for the financial year, a third of this profit goes to employees, one third to customers and one third to shareholders.

Of the third for the employees, 50 per cent goes to the team in the north and 50 per cent to the team in the south. The percentage each employee receives depends on their annual salary. We use the customers' third to lower our everyday prices or offer limited-time discounts. Our shareholders reinvest their third directly into gebana, so we've never paid it out to them.

More questions?

Why do we share?

There are many ways to make trade fairer. Sharing is a very effective way of doing so. Sharing drives radical systemic change and is also beneficial for the economy

In the fair-trade system, family farmers receive a minimum price, and their cooperatives receive a premium per kilogram of raw product. Importers, processors and supermarkets then decide on pricing and add a margin at each level. As a result, fair-trade products can end up being quite expensive. But only a small part of the price goes to the family farmers – not because any of the parties involved are acting in bad faith, but because this is how the system is set up.

We're changing all of this by considering the retail chain as a whole. The family farmers receive 10 per cent of the price paid by our customers in the online shop. They receive this amount in addition to the usual organic and fair-trade price.

That's because we believe it's not right for only shareholders to profit in the end. Shareholders and investors are not the only ones contributing to the success of a company. Why should they be the ones to benefit the most?

How much do we share?

We introduced the gebana model in 2019. Since then, we've paid out a total of €4.75 million. By 2023, we were giving 10% of just over half of our online sales (52%) back to the family farmers.

Over time, we aim to reach 62%. However, there are too many products in our product range with sales figures that are too low for us to be able to allocate a direct premium.

Products in the gebana model

Burkina Faso: cashews, dried mangos, fresh mangos
Togo: chocolate
Greece: all fruits
Brazil: Brazil nuts
Turkey: dried figs
Georgia: hazelnuts
Mexico: coffee/espresso house blends

Diagram: premiums vs. success gebana Group

What does this mean for the family farmers?

Applying the gebana model, we paid out €1'176'520 in premiums to 5'676 family farmers in Burkina Faso, Togo, Brazil, Greece, Georgia and Turkey in 2023. The amounts per family varied greatly depending on the country and the product.

The families in Togo fared the worst compared to the others. This is because 90 per cent of their organic cocoa ends up with wholesalers and not in our online shop. Given that we still distribute a share of the revenue to all the families who supply us with cocoa, the amounts are relatively modest. Unfortunately, our wholesale customers are not yet participating in the gebana model. We're working at the moment to change this.

On the other hand, our families in Greece received very high payouts. This is because we sell their fruit exclusively through our online shop rather than wholesale. The families therefore receive their full share of the revenue. Moreover, citrus fruit from Greece is one of our best-selling products, and this has a direct impact on the total amount of the revenue share.

Diagram: Premiums from the gebana model & number of farming families

What do family farmers do with the money?

We want to work with our family farmers as equal partners. That's why we share our revenue with them in the same way that we share our profits with our employees: without any conditions. They are entitled to the money, and we don't tell them what to do with it. But that doesn't mean we aren't curious about what the families do with the money, so we ask them about it from time to time.

"I use the money to maintain and care for my trees. It's expensive." – Zoumana Traore from Samogohini, Burkina Faso.

"Last year, I had to take out a loan for my farm. I used two thirds of the money to pay off the loan." – Soley Djideal from Badou, Togo.

"I used the money to pay for my eye surgery, which I urgently needed." – Giorgos Gotsis from Prosymni, Greece.

Check out our blog for more answers from family farmers in Burkina Faso, Togo and Greece.

How do family farmers benefit from the gebana model?

Wherever we are in direct contact with family farmers, they have already been included in the gebana model. We've also been able to welcome even more family farmers into the gebana model through our partners in many other countries.

The most important thing is that the local partner shares our values and is truly interested in helping improve the living conditions of producers. A partner must be able to prove that they are in direct contact with the producers. It's not enough for them to prove that they're in contact with a cooperative. If that were the case, we wouldn't be able to ensure that the family farmers actually receive the money paid out as part of the gebana model.

Partners must also be willing to work on jointly defined projects aimed at improving sustainability and increasing the impact of our efforts in line with our vision. This includes transparent communication and the prices paid by the partner to the producer.

If all the above criteria are met, an additional factor is considered, and that is whether we trust that the payment can be carried out correctly and transparently within the framework of the gebana model – via bank transfer or mobile payment – and whether our partner is acting in the interests of the family farmers.