I have been an environmental activist and trainer for over 20 years, working for Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth , and more locally for groups such as HUMUSZ, Energia Klub and others. About 4 years ago I was working for Nyitottkert Alapitvany, an organic farm near Godollo. Vedegylet  organized an anti-globalisation festival called Globfeszt at the Godor Klub and Nyitottkert was selling organic food next to the Vedegylet Fair Trade coffee stand where I was introduced to the idea of Fair Trade.

Fair Trade started in The Netherlands in 1988 with the Max Havelaar brand. Fair Trade (Meltanyos Kereskedelem) is a system that guarantees that small farmers and small craftsmen receive a fair wage for their work and does not exploit them. Consider that most of the world’s handmade carpets and footballs are made by child labor in places like Pakistan, Bangladesh and India. Consider that worldwide there are about 240 million kids working in horrible conditions rather than going to school. Consider that there are over 284000 kids, 2/3 of them in the Ivory Coast, working as slaves in the cocoa fields to make chocolate. In Fair Trade certified products, child labor, prison labor and slave labor is not allowed.  IF, IF a cocoa harvester gets paid they get about 25 cents/pound; under the Fair Trade system they get guaranteed 89 cents. When Green & Blacks became the first Fair Trade chocolate in 1994, its signature product being the Maya Gold chocolate bar. High school enrolment for farming families supplying Green & Black has grown from 10 percent to 70 percent. Small coffee farmers might get 50 cents per pound, depending on the market, but under the Fair Trade system, these farmers get guaranteed $1.26 .
About the time of this conversation at Globfeszt, I was looking for something new to do. My girlfriend at the time was lobbying for 4 kids, and on an activists’ virtually non-existent salary, even reusable diapers are terribly expensive, so I was looking for an investment. I decided on an English language used bookstore and organic Fair Trade café. Now I admit, I probably picked the two worst careers for making money – environmental activism and used books, but maybe the two best careers for the soul. It has now been 4 years and there are no 4 kids and no girlfriend - but there are 4 Treehugger Dan’s locations.

I did not have any major experience running my own business, but I did have experience as a campaigner, so I wrote my business plan like a campaign plan. To me, the basics seemed the same. An environmental campaign and a business plan are both selling a message using specific strategies to reach specific target groups to get them to do something:  conserve energy or buy Fair Trade chocolate.

To answer some frequently asked questions:

Where does the name come from?

"Treehugger" is something the bad guys use as a swear word. For example, you are locked to the gate of a nuclear power plant trying to shut it down, and the security forces and workers may scream at you, "fucking treehuggers!" My friend Scotty Fairmont gave me the nickname "Treehugger Dan" a few years ago and I thought it was appropriate for the shop and a name to be proud of.

Where do the books come from?
From you. I imported the first 4000 books from the US, but after having to deal with useless and corrupt shippers, customs officials, tax officials, and others, I will never, ever do that again. We buy English books every afternoon at Csengery u., and they are flooding in constantly. Many people have kids that have left home and left their books "cluttering" the family home and the parents come in to sell them. Others have relatives that have died and left them all these books in a language they cannot read. For example, about 3 years ago there was this guy walking his dog on Csengery u. who poked his head in and asked if I could use 1000 used English books? I was skeptical, but I went to his house and goddamn if he did not have them. It turns out he was trained as an engineer but could not find a job, so has been washing windows for the last 30 years, including washing windows for 3 old folks in a house up around Romai. These folks all died around the same time, and being childless, left the house and all the books to him!

And you can live on this?
That is not the point.

Aren't Fair Trade and organic products more expensive then non-organic and non-Fair Trade?
First of all, my coffee is 100% Arabica, the best quality coffee, so you can only compare it to other 100% Arabica coffees. Not something bottom-end like tshibo, family, dowe egberts, etc. For the moment, ignore that it is organic and Fair Trade and just compare prices like this. The cheapest 100% Arabica kilo of coffee in Budapest is around 7500 forint, and I have seen it as high as 54000, and it is not even organic or Fair Trade. Whereas mine is less than 6000 forint. An espresso at my shop is 250 huf. Gresham palace charges 1700!  Do you have any idea how much profit is made per kilo?  On average, you get 144 cups of coffee per kilo. You can do the math. I am an environmentalist first, businessman second, but I have to live from something. I made a choice about how much profit to add based on my needs, and also because if the product is viewed as a luxury and priced like a luxury, no one will by it. If it is not accessible, it does not help the farmers or help me.

What about the ecological footprint of Fair Trade products - they are imported?

It is true, most Fair Trade products come from the Third World, so they have a large ecological footprint. The best of course is to eat local and organic. For many items this can work, but unless you are prepared to give up bananas, coffee, chocolate, oranges, and most spices...So, if you are going to buy coffee, cardamom or chocolate, at least make it Fair Trade and organic.