Max Havelaar France’s Commitment to Fair Trade and Innovation
THE CHALLENGE
Consumers and business needs are evolving (slow down of organic food momentum, multiplicity of labels)
A team with great expertise, not yet engaged in the innovation process, sometimes perceived as unclear or "niche" compared to the business
THE OUTCOME
Renewed strategic alignment towards long-term commitment to innovation
Launch of the Innovation Unit of Max Haveelar France
The entire organization - 40 employees notation wide - engaged in a collective innovation process
THE STORY
At Max Havelaar France, everyone works with a passion and commitment to fair trade, respectful of human rights and the environment!
For 30 years, Max Havelaar France has been developing a certification and labeling offer on products from supply chains committed to paying a minimum price and a premium to producers of the raw material. First for producers from the South, it is now developing with “Origine France”.
This offer attracts companies despite the inflationary context in France.
And it is connected with an international network of both producers and stakeholders such as Fairtrade International in Bonn, Germany which establishes the criteria for fair trade certification.
Consumer needs are changing*:
The organic label is losing momentum and consumers are demanding more local, less environmental impact and less packaging
And could come to “challenge” certain aspects of fair trade: operation with products that come from far away – therefore with a greater carbon impact and perhaps sometimes requiring more packaging
And those of businesses too:
Digital transformation and data help streamline processes, reduce costs and improve productivity, raising expectations among the organizations that sell them services.
The different teams are close to the stakeholders in the fair trade sector (companies, consumers, other associations, public authorities, students, etc.) and therefore able to detect the hidden needs of these stakeholders today, needs which will potentially become the innovations of tomorrow.
However they still find the innovation process unclear…or even unnecessary.
We decided to organize a workshop with the entire workforce of the organisation, 40 employees, aiming at:
Helping the teams understand why it’s important to innovate and why now
Demystifying the innovation process and allowing the entire NGO to engage in it enthusiastically and peacefully in a process perceived as constructive and non-destructive
Allowing the organisation to coresource a maximum of ideas from the employees
Kick starting their long-term commitment to innovation by clarifying the workflow to “detect” and “instruct” innovative ideas
Photo credit: Max Havelaar* Sources: étude Nielsen 2020 et sondage Oney 2020