El Puente

El Puente GmbH
legal form	GmbH
founding	1972 (association), 1977 (GmbH)
Seat	Nordstemmen , Germany
management	Martin Moritz ( managing director )
Number of employees	60 (April 2017)
sales	EUR 10.04 million (2016/2017) ; - 2.5%
Branch	Wholesale and retail trade , ; fair trade
Website	www.el-puente.de

Company headquarters in Nordstemmen

The El Puente GmbH based in Nordstemmen is an importer of products of fair trade . As a bridge (span .: el puente) between the global north and global south , the fair trade organization promotes small businesses and cooperatives in Africa, Asia and Latin America. In addition to trading in goods, El Puente conducts development education and public relations work .

Goal setting

The aim is to enable companies in structurally weak countries to develop through fair trade . El Puente works with smallholders and small businesses that aim to develop independently. For El Puente, the core elements of fair trade are:

Payment of fairer prices calculated together with the producers
Promotion of social projects in the health, social and political fields
interest-free pre-financing of production
continuous cooperation and long-term trade relationships with trading partners
Support of sustainable product development
Education and public relations
Cost-covering, not profit-oriented business
direct trading partnerships
Transparency and verifiability of trade relations and economic practices

history

Founding members of El Puente

Beginnings

The story began in the “Ecumenical Development Aid Working Group” in the Hildesheim district at the end of the 1960s. The first fair trade relations arose from the young members' trips to Latin America. In order to give the growing activities a legal form, the 'El Puente - Association for Employment and Social Promotion in Developing Countries eV' was brought into being in July 1972. In 1974 the association opened one of the first world shops in Germany in Hildesheim .

Professionalization

With its voluntary structure, El Puente eV was soon no longer able to cope with a trade on the scale to which El Puente gradually grew. In 1977 a trading company was founded - El Puente - import and distribution of everyday objects and handicrafts for the promotion of small businesses and cooperatives in developing countries GmbH . The association continues to support the work of the company and sets its objectives. Otherwise, from now on, he is increasingly involved in local educational work. In the autumn of 1983 the project partner committee emerged from an initiative of volunteers, whose task it is from now on to check old and new trade contacts based on the El Puente project criteria. Until 1985, El Puente only imported handicrafts . Only then were more and more foods added to the range.

The difficult 1990s

El Puente GmbH found itself in a situation that threatened its existence in the 1990s. In a generally difficult market environment, the company had problems ensuring solvency. There were wage cuts and layoffs. The principle of a so-called practice firm (profiling as a regional training company) ultimately saved El Puente. Since then, the GmbH has recorded sustainable growth every year. The El Puente Foundation was founded in 2001 to make educational and public relations work financially independent from now on .

Aerial photo of the company headquarters in Nordstemmen

2004 until today

After the company had been active at various locations in the Hildesheim area since its foundation , in 2004 a newly built headquarters with an attached large warehouse was moved into Nordstemmen . In 2010 the association created a development fund to support trading partners' own measures that go beyond the possibilities of fair trade. In 2012, the Michaelis World Café was opened in Hildesheim and the El Puente World Shop moved into new premises on Scheelenstrasse in Hildesheim. In May 2017 El Puente handed over the Michaelis WeltCafé to the Diakonisches Werk.

structure

About 140 trading partners in Africa, Asia and Latin America supply El Puente GmbH with handicrafts , food and cosmetics . The trade organization El Puente provides all other services, primarily for the approx. 800 world shops and approx. 800 action groups in Germany.

Structure or organization of El Puente: GmbH, association, foundation, project partner committee, etc.

The shareholder groups each hold 20% in the El Puente trade organization:

El Puente eV
Association of producer organizations PaCo eV
Employee association CoCo eV
World shops and action groups
Individuals from El Puente eV, world shops and action groups

The shareholders' meeting elects the supervisory board and the two managing directors of the El Puente trade organization.

In addition to helping to shape the activities of the GmbH, the El Puente eV association is responsible for on-site educational work. The El Puente Foundation ensures that this work can be expanded and secures funding regardless of the economic situation of El Puente GmbH. In Hildesheim, the association also operates the El Puente Weltladen and, until May 2017, the Michaelis Weltcafé.

The project partner committee (PPA) controls the cooperation of El Puente GmbH with the trading partners as an independent body. The committee consists of ten representatives from El Puente eV, as well as from the world shops and action groups. Public meetings of the PPA take place at least four times a year, at which detailed information is provided about new trading partners and about developments in existing partnerships.