Douwe Egberts is a Dutch brand of

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. Seeds of ...

which is majority-owned by JDE Peet's. It was founded in Joure, Netherlands, by Egbert Douwes in 1753 as De Witte Os ("The White Ox"), a general grocery shop. The company later started dealing specifically in coffee, tea, and tobacco. By 1925, it had changed its name to Douwe Egberts (as in Douwe, the son of Egbert) and introduced its logo, a red seal with a "D.E." initialism. Its former tobacco brand White Ox was named for the original De Witte Os grocery store in Joure; Douwe Egberts sold White Ox to Imperial Tobacco in 1998. In May 2017, Douwe Egberts launched aluminium coffee capsules across supermarkets.

Origin and tradition

Douwe Egberts punten as collected by the author of the picture

Douwe Egberts' origins are in Joure, West Frisia where Egbert Douwes established a grocery shop called "De Witte Os" ("The White Ox") in 1752. The company transferred to his eldest son Douwe Egberts in 1780, from whom it adopted its current name.

Court case against the Province of Groningen

The

Dutch Province There are twelve provinces of the Netherlands (), representing the administrative layer between the national government and the local municipalities, with responsibility for matters of subnational or regional importance. The most populous provi ...

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

was sued in 2007 by Douwe Egberts for explicitly requiring its coffee machine suppliers to meet th
EKO organic standard
() and the

fairtrade A fair trade certification is a product certification within the market-based movement fair trade. The most widely used fair trade certification is FLO International's, the International Fairtrade Certification Mark, used in Europe, Africa, ...

criteria set by Stichting Max Havelaar, most notably the payment of a minimum price for its coffee and a development premium to producer cooperatives. Douwe Egberts sold a number of coffee brands under self-developed ethical criteria and argued that the requirements were discriminatory. After several months of discussions and legal challenges, the province of Groningen prevailed in a well-publicised judgment in favor of the Province. Coen de Ruiter, director of Stichting Max Havelaar, called the victory a landmark event: "it provides governmental institutions the freedom in their

purchasing Purchasing is the process a business or organization uses to acquire goods or services to accomplish its goals. Although there are several organizations that attempt to set standards in the purchasing process, processes can vary greatly betwe ...

policy to require suppliers to provide coffee that bears the fair trade criteria, so that a substantial and meaningful contribution is made in the fight against poverty through the daily cup of coffee".Max Havelaar Foundation (2007), [85.82.218.199/fileadmin/Bruger_filer/Dokument_database/IKAvaerktoej/EU_siden/Max_Havalaar.pdf Dutch Province of Groningen wins summary brought by Douwe Egberts and can continue specifying fair trade coffee]

References

External links

* * {{official website, http://www.douwe-egberts.com/ JDE Peet's Coffee brands Food and drink companies established in 1753 Drink companies of the Netherlands Dutch brands Tea brands Buildings and structures in Utrecht (city) Coffee in Europe Agriculture companies of the Netherlands