FairTSA Newsletter: March 2022

A Word of Welcome

Dear friends and colleagues,

First and foremost, I hope you’re safe and sound during these trying times. Aren’t we all sick and tired of viruses of any kind? Fortunately, we have been mostly spared and so far, had only one mild COVID case in our team. So we’re still hanging in there. Since we will not be able gather in person at BIOFACH 2022 this month due to its postponement to July 2022, we will redouble our efforts to contact as many of you as possible to hear your feedback, discuss the current situation and your contributions to the community projects, and brainstorm possible new projects and ways of cooperation between us. And we’re truly looking forward to seeing as many of you in person later this year.

So, we wish all of you, albeit belated, a healthy and happy New Year.

Winfried Fuchshofen

Executive Director

Standard Version 4.11

As announced earlier, we have been working on a new version of the FairTSA Standard. After its publication last year, we received valuable feedback that we have been incorporating during the last few months. The latest changes we have made are now included in version 4.11, officially published on January 1, 2022. Our policy in this regard is that we will grant a period of one year with some leniency for full compliance with Standard version 4.11. Please check out our website at fairtsa.org/standards for a compilation of changes between Standard 3.22 and Version 4.11.

Learn More

New Inspection Documents Version 4.11

We have also created a new set of FairTSA System Plans (FSP) and Inspection Reports (IR) for our Cooperating Certification Agencies. As usual, the latest documents can be downloaded from our website at fairtsa.org/certifiers. Certifiers will need a password to access the page. If you don’t have the password, please contact us and we will be happy to provide it. Please note that these documents should be used immediately. If necessary, documents of the version 3.2x may still be used until March 31, 2022. At that point the documents of this version will not be longer accessible and they are no longer acceptable with regards to compliance.

Exciting Transitions in the FairTSA Team

Here at FairTSA, we have undergone several staff transitions in the latter half of 2021. We have officially welcomed our new Compliance Manager, Aureliano Eguren, based out of Peru, to aid in Inspector Trainings and Spanish communications. In addition, we have welcomed Sam Luca, raised in Brooklyn, New York, who has taken over as the Administrative Assistant and Social Media Manager for FairTSA.

In the last year we have also said goodbye to two long-time FairTSA team members, Osiris Abrego Plata and Eileen Quinn. We thank Osiris and Eileen for their years of invaluable work at FairTSA and wish them the very best in their new endeavors. We also thank Mahmoud Qudai for his work as Social Media Coordinator and wish him well in his new challenge.

Thank you to all of our organizational partners and followers and cheers to a new chapter of working together!

Community Development Updates:

Celebes Coconut

FairTSA has certified Celebes Coconut Corporation since 2014 and their annual Community Development Projects have always directly served their agricultural communities in significant ways. For this year’s project, it was decided ahead of schedule to immediately begin food aid distribution. Celebes is a coconut producer in the Philippines, which was hit hard by Typhoon Rai the end of last year. It was a category 4 typhoon which damaged several cities in the area. With warehouses flattened, without water, power, or cell phone service, they organized the disbursement of their Fair Trade Premium into a food aid distribution project. Food was immediately distributed to many affected families. This is an example of how open lines of communication and working relationships with producers at FairTSA enable projects to protect and foster the wellbeing of the worldwide communities that grow our food. Check out the full Celebes project report on our website to learn more about previous projects.

Read More about Celebes

New to the FairTSA program:

Akshayakalpa!

FairTSA is happy to have entered 2022 with a new, innovative Licensee - Akshayakalpa Farms And Foods Pvt. Ltd.! Akshayakalpa is the first certified organic milk operation in India, based out of Karnataka. They have a long list of FairTSA products, including Farm Fresh Milk, Lactose Free Milk, Artisanal Set Curd, Table Butter, and a variety of fresh Cheddar. It is a delight to be supporting the Akshayakalpa team as they guide the future of farming through helping young farmers to set up profitable, sustainable dairy farms. You may read more about them at their website akshayakalpa.org.

In addition to producing excellent products, Akshyakalpa has several initiatives going that are at the vanguard of creating sustainable food chains. They are currently in the process of diversifying agricultural production and specifically including legumes in the crop rotation. The goal is both to improve food security and food variety for the farmers themselves, but also to create a surplus of vegetables to sell commercially and thereby expand their sources of income. Akshayakalpa also have a program where they invite customers from nearby cities to spend a night with the farming families. That way the customers have the opportunity to learn about the life of the farmers. They can help with chores, experience where their yogurt and vegetables come from, and create a whole new relationship with their food and the people who produce it.

Congratulations to Akshayakalpa!