Fair trade peanut butter, what does that actually mean?

We regularly receive questions about the origins of our peanut butter. Is your peanut butter fair trade? What about the working conditions of the peanut farmers where your peanuts come from? You may already know that we are happy that there are many peanuts growing in the world, otherwise read this blog! As a farmer's son, I also know what it's like on farms in the Netherlands and in part of Europe, but my knowledge doesn't go much further. That's why I'm taking you on an investigation and explaining what's going on with our and other peanuts.

Argentina

Our peanuts come from Argentina: we have eaten all kinds of peanut butters and peanuts and find the Argentinian peanuts (the type of peanut used is called runner) by far the tastiest for peanut butter. Compare it to coffee or chocolate, there are also different types of those and they all come from different countries. A different type or different region gives a different taste.

Our peanuts come from a cooperative of peanut farmers in Argentina. In Argentina, agriculture is at a high level, it is modern agriculture with large areas and large machines. The average farm in Argentina is about 750 hectares. This is quite different from peanuts from farmers in Asia or Africa where the average farm is very small, namely between 1.5 and 2.5 hectares. The small farmers in Africa and Asia have a hard time. They have to deal with uncertain rights to land, lack of access to high-quality raw materials and natural resources. This often causes small harvests and therefore poverty, which contributes to poor working conditions. It is therefore not strange that we wonder whether the peanuts that are used have a good origin. Fortunately, this does not apply to all peanuts. The peanuts from Argentina are at a high level in terms of working conditions and income for the farmer. So you can eat our peanut butter with a clear conscience!