Destination: organic and fair trade coffee, tea, sugar and cocoa

Context

Created in 1999 in Bordeaux by Christophe Lambard and Jeffrey Schopper, Destination Gironde company of transformation, roasting, packaging and distribution of organic and Fair Trade products. Original roaster and importer, they select the raw materials (coffee, tea, sugar, cocoa).

Project

Destination offers a rigorous selection of products from organic farming and fair trade. Coffee, tea, cocoa, sugar, fruit desserts, confectionery, rusks. More than 500 organic products are intended for organic specialty stores, mass distribution, the Café Bar Hôtel Restaurant (CBHR) network and direct sales via the physical store , at their headquarters, the online store, our partner Origines Tea & Coffee and the DirectObio site. Today, three new partners have joined Christophe Lambard and Jeffrey Schopper. Still located in the Bordeaux-Nord business area, the company has continued to grow and rent new premises.

Implementation

Destination is a responsible brand that wishes to engage with its producers. This is why they have chosen to certify some of their products with fair trade labels: ESR (Equitable, Solidarity, Responsible controlled by ECOCERT) and Max Havelaar (controlled by FLOCERT).

Values :

• Favor short circuits (one or zero intermediaries) : supplies to producers by forecasting through sustainable contracts, or even pre-financing for certain suppliers located in developing countries. The circulation of goods is systematically optimized, in containers or full trucks.
• Participate in the development of sustainable agriculture through the distribution of healthy products, from sustainable, organic or biodynamic agriculture.

Labeled:

• ESR (the Equitable Solidarity and Responsible ECOCERT label) * For the Paraguay sugar, Sri Lanka tea and cocoa Dominican Republic sectors
• FLO (Fairtrade Labeling Organization) for imports and Max Havelaar certified for the production and distribution of fair trade products.
• Favor eco-designed packaging: ecological containers, reusable when possible, by reducing the thickness of certain materials, eliminating overpackaging to reduce the weight transported.
• Investing sustainably: installation of photovoltaic panels generating a saving of 7.6 tonnes of CO2 over 20 years and purchase of our new 10,000m² site including 1,000m² of offices with one of the largest photovoltaic areas in the South Westof France.

Results

The company, which roasts and sells 1,000 tonnes of organic coffee per year, 1,000 tonnes of sugar, more than 150 tonnes of tea, 100 tonnes of cocoa, has rationalized its distribution. The brand that made it famous, Destination, is now reserved for organic stores in France and abroad. Export (2 million euros in 2010) is growing: Russia, Netherlands, Morocco.

The Little Extra

Destination Bio also gives workshops for professionals and individuals in order to better understand the aromas and flavors at a cost of 35€ per person for a 3 hour session in their professional coffee shops.

Written by Claire Caillaud, volunteer LFC - May 2019. 

Last modification : 02 Apr 2020.