Spice brand The Good Spice, a pioneer in the food sector in terms of social sustainability, will receive a financial contribution from the DOEN Foundation. This support enables The Good Spice to further strengthen its mission of importing and selling sustainably grown and fairly traded spices.
Good for farmers, nature and you
The spices that The Good Spice imports are grown sustainably in harmony with nature. Regenerative practices without the use of pesticides result in spices brimming with flavour. Importantly, the farmers receive a fair price and can continue their sustainable (often traditional) methods, which ensures quality is maintained. The spices then arrive in the Netherlands via the shortest possible trade chain. The craftsmanship of the farmer, the short chains and the fact that the spices are completely pure, you taste it. The spices are real taste explosions.
"There are quite a few challenges involved in importing fair and pure spices directly from the farmer. Each supply chain has its own challenges. We also need to convince consumers that their purchase does make a positive impact. With the financial support of the DOEN Foundation, we can take significant steps to grow in this area in the coming period." - Iona Mulder, founder of The Good Spice
Changing the spice market
The traditional spice trade is based on long supply chains that start with anonymous farmers. The result is powerful companies dominating the market, little money for farmers, little regard for sustainability and only a fraction of flavour. This can and should be different. With this in mind, in 2019 Iona Mulder founded The Good Spice, which aims to make the spice market more sustainable and socially responsible.
Fair spices
Currently, The Good Spice has seven spices in its range. One of them is paprika. Due to cheap imports from China, the average market price of chillies - which includes paprika - is currently between €1.59 and €2 per kilo. At this price, the farmer only makes a profit through very intensive farming and a very fast, cheap drying and milling process, to the detriment of nature and flavour. The Good Spice pays €24 per kilo. By purchasing well above market prices from farmers who do not follow this negative trend, but collaborate with nature and work patiently, The Good Spice contributes to the preservation of flavour and nature.
For their paprika, The Good Spice works with farmer Szabó Péter in Hungary. He is all passion when he talks about paprika: "Preserving the flavour of my grandmother's paprika and passing on my land to my children in a healthier state than it is now, is the best thing there is."
Freija Vermeer, programme manager at the DOEN Foundation: "The Good Spice makes consumers aware of the problems in the spice trade and shows that things can be done differently. They take farmers and nature as their starting point, which goes hand in hand with a fair price as well as quality."
The Good Spice serves its own mission
To best focus on its raison d'être, The Good Spice is a steward-owned company. With this form of company, formal voting rights, which normally lie with shareholders, lie instead with people who are committed to the company and close to its mission. Investors invest in the company's mission. They have no or only limited control. By eliminating profit maximisation incentives and putting the mission first, The Good Spice can focus on long-term goals and maximising positive impact.
