Highlights
Reference to the DE Foundation projects in Vietnam
The Double Dutch edition of Feb 2010, a magazine of the Dutch Business Association Vietnam (DBAV) refers to the partnership between the Douwe Egberts Foundation, the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality and the Rabobank Foundation for the project to improve quality of coffee in Gia Lai, Dak lak and Lam Dong. You can find this article page 8 @
http://www.dbav.net/main/assets/files/Double%20Dutch%2010%20FINAL.pdf
Impression of Uganda/Luwero – feedback field trip Sara Lee employees
Sara Lee organized an international sales competition. Part of the ‘’Cafitesse Academy Award’’ was a field visit to Uganda. The winner, Paul Linssen, accompanied by Hotske Wesselius (Marketing Sara Lee Out of Home) and other participants (from various countries and areas of the business) were very positive about their field visit. One of the lessons learned is the complexity of addressing sustainability with small producers and how to create volume. ‘’Certification takes a lot of time and efforts and the costs for implementation are high. To help those producers, a local structure needs to be in place. The DE Foundation had a positive impact in Uganda. One of the participants, visited the same project 3 years ago and now saw a huge improvement. This experience drives pride internally.’’ said Paul Linssen.
IDH program
Sara Lee supported a joint industry call to the Dutch Government for more, integrated support to further sustainability in mainstream commodities. A common action plan, organized and executed under the umbrella of the Dutch Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH), was presented to the press. Sara Lee/Pickwick participates in IDH’s tea improvement program with the DE Foundation tea projects.
Project
To further sustainability of mainstream coffee & tea, DE Foundation executes projects all around the globe, working in particular with small-scale producers.
About DE Foundation
The DE Foundation was established by Sara Lee in 2002 as an independent foundation.The Board comprises of 5 members, all of whom have a passion for sustainability.