At the end of the 1970s Tradin’s founders, Wim Rabble and Gerard Versteegh, pioneered the market for many of the organic foodstuffs sold in Europe. Within 20 years the pair had built up an extensive worldwide network.
Management secretary Geert Termeer explains "In order to give our clients the best prices for our commodities while giving a more than reasonable price to the farmers, we buy directly from these farmers mostly in developing countries.
“By having big trade volumes we can further decrease our operational costs, so that we can keep our margins down, and still more than guarantee that all our clients get the quality needed.”
Indeed, the company does not only work following the IS0-9002 standards, but also follows HAACP guidelines.
Tradin therefore has its own quality control department, which is responsible for the quality of raw material and control of the whole process, from sowing and delivery to the customers.

BRIDGE GAP
By bridging the gap between farmers and manufacturers, Tradin’s 19 employees in Amsterdam, and more than 100 world-wide, make it easy for businesses that want to get involved in the organic market. The company’s philosophy is “one-stop shopping”, which means that it wants to be the single source of supply for all organic ingredients for the food industry and wholesalers, guaranteeing quality and quantity, as well as continuity throughout the year.
The business now has more then nine sales offices in the western world and has sourcing companies in China, the Dominican Republic, India, Croatia and Brazil. Exports amount to 90%, including to all European countries, but also countries such as the USA, the Middle East, Australia and Japan.
Since 1980, Tradin has developed social farming projects in Latin America, Asia and eastern Europe. The company deals directly with farmers to help them develop certified organic crops, thereby helping the farmers to build up a stronger position by avoiding the environmental damage of non-organic farming and by participating in the organic market-place.
Tradin guarantees farmers fair prices for their products, but in return demands high-quality products from the growers.

The company is the largest supplier of organic raw materials worldwide, with a turnover of NLG60 millions in 1999 and NLG9I millions in 2000.
Tradin offers a wide and varied selection of products from frozen foods and vegetables, dried fruits, coffee, cocoa, cereals, rice, sugar, soya beans, pulses, seeds, nuts, oils, bakery fats, fruit concentrates, dairy products, seasonings, sweeteners, animal feed and much more.
All Tradin's products are certified as organic and comply with EU regulations. This means that the farmers do not use pesticides, artificial fertilizers or any other chemical products during the production process.
Besides non-perishable foodstuffs, the Trabana B.V. sister company imports and exports a range of fresh exotic fruits, accounting for 30% of the turnover of the whole group.
Trabana is growing at a speed of 100% this year, especially because of product line extension. It has also started to trade in fresh vegetabtes. Still one of its main products is organic bananas, importing more than 10 000 tonnes last year.
Trabana provides all the main supermarket chains in Europe and is a preferred supplier for specialist shops. The fact that it can deliver a broad range of products makes it a favourite provider for its clients.
Tradin strives for a professionalism in the whole organic industry.
"For instance, the marketing of organic consumer products can still be taken a lot more seriously in many countries," Termeer said. “The existence of organic product alternatives is not even always clear in the mind of the average consumer and, if so, the difference between organic and non-organic products should be made clearer to these consumers. The marketing should also indicate how organic products can be distinguished from the enormous quantities of non-organic products.
“If we achieve this then the organic market can keep on growing for many, many years to come, outperforming nearly all other consumer product groups.”

PRICE FACTOR
The higher price of organic consumer products is still a limiting factor, according to observers. But prices are not always that much higher if compared with 'A' brands. Furthermore most prices for conventional products are artificial, according toTradin. Subsidies lower the cost of non-organic products, while not all the costs for damage to the environment are taken into account. If this were so, then the price difference between conventional and organic products would be much smaller or even nil.
One way of solving this problem is by working more efficiently and increasing volumes, so costs may be reduced without harming the income of organic farmers. Tradin and its people keep on striving for this aim.

This article was prepared by Tradin Organic Agriculture B.V.