St. Peter-Ording is the capital of fair trade

St. Peter-Ording took first place in the competition “Hauptstadt des Fairen Handels” (“Capital of Fair Trade”) for the first time. The coastal town was honoured for its commitment to fair trade and fair procurement at an award ceremony in Fürth on 5 October 2023 in the presence of Dr Bärbel Kofler, Parliamentary State Secretary of the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

In the “Capital of Fair Trade” competition, which was launched in 2003 and is sponsored by the BMZ, 125 municipalities applied this year – more than ever before. In its 20th anniversary year, the prize was awarded for the first time to one small, one medium-sized and one large municipality. With a population of 4,000, St. Peter-Ording is the winner in the small towns category. As the winner of 1st place, St. Peter-Ording received 35,000 euros of prize money. The “Capital of Fair Trade” competition is organised every two years by the Service Agency Communities in One World (SKEW) of Engagement Global, the German government’s central service agency for civil society and community engagement.

Sankt Peter-Ording combines tourism with fair trade in an exemplary manner by integrating restaurants, hoteliers and retailers with business-to-business (B2B) events, thereby attracting 1.5 million holidaymakers each year. Together with the city marketing’s fair trade products, this creates the image of a sustainable and fair tourism destination. Visibility is ensured by a fair trade app, its own SPO chocolate, city bets with the mayor and numerous events on the topic of fair trade and global justice. The holiday resort, which has been a certified fair trade municipality since May 2022, is involved in many other projects for greater sustainability – from subsidising a uniform reusable container deposit system in the town to fair sports balls for sports clubs and schools. To strategically anchor this commitment in the long term, corsus is supporting Sankt Peter-Ording in the development of a sustainability strategy to implement the local development concept, which is based on the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. We look forward to continuing our collaboration and offer our sincere congratulations!