Gepa The Fair Trade Company

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GEPA - The Fair Trade Company

Type	Non-profit organization
Founded	May 14, 1975
Headquarters	Wuppertal, Germany
Industry	Fair trade
Products	Coffee, Tea, Cocoa,Handicraft, Honey, Nuts, Rice, Wine, Sports Balls, Jewellery, Textiles etc.
Revenue	45.3 million EUR (2005)
Employees	~100 (2004)
Website	www.gepa.de

The GEPA is Europe's largest alternative trading organization. The abbreviation GEPA³ stands for "Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Partnerschaft mit der Dritten Welt mbH“, literally meaning "Society for the Promotion of Partnership with the Third World".

1 Mission
2 Partners of GEPA
3 Sale Structure
4 Membership
5 Campaigns
6 Periodical Publications
7 See also
8 External links

[edit] Mission

The main goal of GEPA³ is to improve the living and working conditions of people in the South, following the spirit of the UN Agenda 21 for economic, social and ecological sustainability.

[edit] Partners of GEPA

Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (EED) (Evangelical Development Service),
Bischöfliches Hilfswerk Misereor der Katholischen Kirche (Misereor Episcopal Welfare Organisation of the Catholic Church),
Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Evangelischen Jugend (aej) (Consortium of the Evangelical Youth),
Bund der Deutschen Katholischen Jugend (BDKJ) (Federation of the German Catholic Youth),
Päpstliches Missionswerk der Kinder in Deutschland e.V. (PMK) (Papal Missionary work of Children in Germany (since 25th October 2004).

[edit] Sale Structure

15 regional fair trade centres in the Federal Republic of Germany supply approximately 800 shops worldwide and roughly 6,000 action groups with fairly traded groceries and handcrafted products. Numerous supermarkets and food retailers also sell gepa products. Cafetiras of companies, student unions, conference houses etc are provided by gepa on a wholesaler basis. The gepa website also has an online shop which generates sales.

The "Regionalen Fair Handelszentren" or RFZ (Regional Commercial Fairs) are partly owned by gepa with the other part belonging to independent sponsors.

RFZs sponsored by GEPA themselves:

West (Wuppertal)
Central (Alzenau)
South (Leonberg)
Fair Trade Centre (Berlin)

RFZs sponsored independently:

Saarland (Saarbrücken)
North (Hamburg)
Bavaria (Haimhausen/Amperpettenbach)
Saxony (Dresden)
Aachen
Bad Abbach
Bonn
Cadolzburg
Münster
Munich
Northeim

[edit] Membership

GEPA is a FLO International registered Fairtrade licensee and importer. The organization is also a licensee of Naturland Zeichen GmbH and a member of the European Fair Trade Association (EFTA), the International Fair Trade Association (IFAT) and the Forums Fairer Handel.

[edit] Campaigns

As a member in the Forum Fairer Handel, taking part in the Fairen Woche ("Fair Week") organisation.
Togethor with the Weltladen-Dachverband, leading a campaign for the development of activities ("Professionalisation") of Weltladen until 2006.

[edit] Periodical Publications

Info Dienst
Info Service
Pressedienst (Press Service)

[edit] See also

Fair trade topics	Fair trade \| History of fair trade \| Fairtrade certification \| Fair trade and politics \| Fair trade impact studies \| Fair trade debate \| Alternative trading organization \| Trade justice \| Worldshop \| Black Gold (film) \| One Cup (film)
Federations	Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International \| International Fair Trade Association \| Network of European Worldshops \| European Fair Trade Association \| FINE \| Fair Trade Federation
Certification	FLO International (standard-setting & producer support) \| FLO-CERT (inspection & certification) \| International Fairtrade Certification Mark \| Fair Trade Certified Mark
Campaigns	Fairtrade Town \| List of Fairtrade settlements \| Fairtrade fortnight \| Make Trade Fair \| World Fair Trade Day

ATOs	AgroFair \| Alter Eco \| Artisans du Monde \| Cafédirect \| Claro Fair Trade \| Ctm altromercato \| Divine Chocolate \| Equal Exchange \| Equita \| El Puente \| EZA Fairer Handel \| Fair Trade Original \| Gepa The Fair Trade Company \| Ideas \| Intermon Oxfam \| La Siembra \| Oxfam-Magasins du monde \| Oxfam Trading \| Oxfam-Wereldwinkels \| SERRV International \| Solidar'Monde \| Traidcraft \| Twin Trading \| Ten Thousand Villages

ATOs