For 30 years, Fairtrade Luxembourg has been trying to build a stable bridge between producers in countries of the global south and consumers in Luxembourg. The main goal: to create awareness in Luxembourg that one’s own consumption has a direct impact on producers in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

“We have not only created awareness, but also opened eyes and given a voice to those who are normally forgotten in blind consumption. We have contributed to having more ‘consumer-actors’ in Luxembourg,” says Jean-Louis Zeien, president of the NGO Fairtrade Lëtzebuerg.

Today, the NGO counts around 30 partners in the grand duchy, who put around 390 fairtrade products under their name and in total 2,950 fairtrade products on the market. “We have not left it at economic theories but have shown clear ways that a different trade is possible,” adds Zeien.

Changing traders and consumers

But Luxembourg’s traders have not always been open to fair trade. “Racism is no stranger, even here in Luxembourg. That is the experience we certainly had in the early days. And I am glad that we have disproved such statements. I’m glad we’ve shown, people who do hard work, whether that’s in Africa or in Luxembourg or in Asia or anywhere else in the world, deserve a living wage.”

The Luxembourg consumer has also changed over the last three decades, he said. Keyword: purchasing power. “There has been a greater awareness among consumers that they have a responsibility with their--literally--buying power.”

The demand and sales figures of fairtrade products would also confirm this.  say they consume or buy products with the Fairtrade label. And with every purchase of a fairtrade product, Zeien said, it underlines the idea that every human being has the right to an adequate income, as defined by the Convention on Human Rights.

Enhancing corporate responsibility

Zeien sees the greatest challenges in the strategic decisions of distributors, suppliers, and manufacturers in the grand duchy and throughout Europe. In his opinion, it is a false expectation to shift responsibility onto consumers alone. Moreover, fair trade should not stop at food, but raw materials, clothing and industrially manufactured products should be taken more into consideration.

There are companies that are already demonstrating that it is possible to uphold human rights. We would like that to become the norm.

Jean-Louis Zeien, President , Fairtrade Lëtzebuerg

The president of Fairtrade finds another important point in legislation: “A supply chain law, like in Germany, for example. That’s exactly what we need in Luxembourg and in the European Union. Because there are companies that are already demonstrating very concretely with their supply chains that it is possible to uphold human rights. We would like that to become the norm.”

For the future, Zeien hopes that fair trade as such will no longer be needed, because “if in 2052 socially and environmentally responsible products are the new normal, then I would be the first to be happy about it.” Zeien is already convinced: “Fair trade works and makes a difference on the ground.”