About us
Who's behind this?
You're probably wondering: FAIREVER ... what kind of company is this? Is it trustworthy? And who's behind it? — Completely reasonable questions, especially if you pay to a company you don't know yet. Therefore, we'd like to provide you with some background information about us.
The company
Fairever GmbH (formerly TRAID GmbH), the owner of the trademarks FAIREVER and TRAID GOLD, operates the website www.fairever.gold and is based in Leipzig, Germany. You can contact us by email at info@fairever.gold. We do not have fancy shops or magnificent offices, but a personal meeting in Leipzig can be arranged by appointment.
Fairever was established in mid 2015. Our goal is to make gold & silver from responsible mining and fair trade better known and more easily available. In 2015 we became the first Fairtrade certified precious metals trader in Germany. In the same year we launched the world's first Fairtrade Gold Bars on the free market. Since 2016 we've been offering Fairtrade Gold Coins. Furthermore, since spring 2017, we're a Fairmined Authorized Supplier.
Our very own mission is to supply the jewellery industry with more sustainable raw materials. We now have an extensive range of semi-finished products (cast material, round wire, square wire, sheet) in various alloys of Fairtrade Gold & Fairtrade Silver as well as Fairmined Gold & Fairmined Silver.
Our principles on "Compliance & Ethics", "Supply Chain", "Human Rights", "AML & CFT" and "Whistleblowing" can be found in the document "Our Policies".
Fairtrade certification
Fairever (formerly TRAID GOLD) is an official partner and licensee of Fairtrade Germany (TransFair e.V., Cologne, Germany), which is publicly documented by our company profile in the association's database. There you'll also find links to our gold bars and semi-finished products.
Fairever GmbH is Fairtrade-certified by FLOCERT GmbH (Bonn, Germany), and is therefore authorized to offer certified gold and silver on the market. Here you can download our official Fairtrade Certificate. This ensures a seamlessly controlled supply chain from the mine to the end product.
Fairever's FLO-ID is 33345. This is our unique identification number in the Fairtrade traceability system.
FLOCERT is an internationally active, independent certification body for the fair trade sector, founded in 2003, ISO-65 accredited since 2007 and ISO-17065 accredited since 2015. FLOCERT is also recognized by the German Accreditation Body (DAkkS) of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Fairmined certification
In addition, we are a proud authorized supplier of Fairmined certified Gold & Silver. The Fairmined seal is awarded by the non-profit organization Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM). The organisation is headquartered in Colombia, operates in many countries around the world and has an internationally trained team of mining, gold and jewelry industry experts.
Please check out our latest Fairmined Authorization Certificate including the audit report. Fairever's Fairmined ID is DE20014. This is our unique identification number in the Fairmined traceability system.
Prestigious awards made out of Fairmined Gold include the Nobel Peace Prize Medal, the Golden Palm of the Cannes Film Festival and the Olympic Laurel Award. Further information can be found at www.fairmined.org and www.responsiblemines.org.
The two gold coins "175 Years Luxembourg" (sold out) and "D'Maus Ketti" are made of Fairmined & Fairtrade certified gold. Fairever GmbH is an authorized distribution partner of the Central Bank of Luxembourg.
The team
Florian Harkort is the founder & managing director of Fairever GmbH. He'd like to introduce himself:
Through the stages of my professional career — studying agricultural economics at the University of Stuttgart Hohenheim, sustainability & CSR consulting at Ernst & Young, development cooperation with the GIZ in Ethiopia, managing director of an online platform for authentic & sustainable travel experiences — an overriding theme emerges: sustainable development.
I understand fair mined & traded gold as a fantastic opportunity to sustainably improve the living and working conditions of (potentially) millions of mine workers and their communities in developing countries. On my field trips to artisanal mining communities in Peru, Colombia and Mongolia I've seen what a positive difference the certification and permium can really make. This is my personal motivation to get out of bed every morning ...
You can find more information and references on XING and LinkedIn.
A small and very dedicated team provides support in various areas such as order handling, IT development and administration.
Try to find me in the photo. Pro tip: I am not wearing a helmet.
Media about us
We are very pleased about the positive coverage in the media. (Until mid-2019 we were known as "TRAID GOLD".) In the following selection we translated the German texts to English.
- Fairever Magazine (01.04.2022): Gold but Fair - Why fair gold? Differences between Fairmined & Fairtrade and more topics.
- Fairmined Video (04.02.2022): Florian Harkort visiting miners in Iquira, Colombia.
- ECOreporter (10.05.2022): “Fair Gold instead of dirty precious metals: This is how you invest responsibly.” Florian Harkort: [...] In Germany, we are the only supplier offering Fairtrade Gold Bars. We are talking about a social investment in this case. The conditions for the gold mining are fair and by paying social premiums, the sustainable development of mining communities is being promoted. […]
- arte & ZDF (09.12.2021): “Re: Gold and Glitter” - Documentary about Fairever founder Florian Harkort visiting a fair gold mine in Colombia. English subtitles and French audio available.
- Der Spiegel (21.09.2019, p. 80): "This is how the artisanal miners are abandoned," says Florian Harkort, head of the Leipzig gold trading house Fairever. (...) Around one hundred million people worldwide depend financially on the sector. If they are not included in formal supply chains, there is a danger that they will switch to dubious customers, to addresses in Dubai or Istanbul. Harkort used to be a development aid worker in Ethiopia...
- Stuttgarter Zeitung (23.07.2019): Leipzig-based precious metal dealer Florian Harkort is one of the few worldwide to specialize in fair certified gold. They supply around 100 goldsmiths and jewelers throughout Europe.
- Publication by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (study commissioned by the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, BGR): In Germany there is currently only one significant trader of materials from Fairtrade and Fairmined production. The company [Fairever] cooperates with a number of certified small mining communities... 90 % of Fairtrade and Fairmined licensees in Germany purchase at least a part of their material from [Fairever].
Further reports in ticker format:
- Greenpeace Magazin(23.07.2019): "Bling-Bling without remorse - Why fair gold is so rare" +++ Society for Threatened People (2018): “Switzerland - a Hub for Risky Gold?” - Academic study on behalf of Greenpeace Switzerland about gold from illegal mines and how it enters the international gold market. +++ Goldschmiede Zeitung (GZ 6/2017): "Ways to clean raw materials" +++ Uhren Juwelen Schmuck (U.J.S. 3/2017): "Fair & golden opportunities" +++ ECOreporter (2016): Focus "Fair Gold" +++ Goldschmiede Zeitung (GZ 6/2016): "Investment with a clear conscience" +++ Utopia (10/2015): "Gold right: Fairtrade certifies gold" +++ Antizyklischer Börsenbrief (9/2015, 4/2016): "Good for people and nature" +++ Stiftung Warentest, Finanztest (9/2015): "Gold: New Fairtrade Seal" +++ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (8/2015) +++
Legal matters
Fairever GmbH (formerly TRAID GmbH) is registered in the commercial register at District Court Leipzig under the number HRB 36438 (formerly District Court Berlin Charlottenburg, No. HRB 76223 B). On www.handelsregister.de > Normal search > Company: Fairever GmbH > Find you'll find our entry. In section VÖ (Publications) you'll find the announcement of the change of name from TRAID GmbH to Fairever GmbH (sorry, German only):
"HRB 36438: Fairever GmbH, Leipzig, Torgauer Straße 231, 04347 Leipzig. Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung. Gesellschaftsvertrag vom 10.05.2000 (...) Die Gesellschafterversammlung vom 17.05.2019 hat die Änderung des Gesellschaftsvertrages in § 1 (Firma, bisher TRAID GmbH und Sitz, bisher Berlin, Amtsgericht Charlottenburg HRB 76223 B) beschlossen. Geschäftsanschrift: Torgauer Straße 231, 04347 Leipzig. Gegenstand des Unternehmens: Die Produktion von und der Handel mit Waren, die den Grundsätzen des sogenannten Fairen Handels und/oder den Prinzipien nachhaltiger Entwicklung entsprechen (z. B. Edelmetalle, Lebensmittel) (...) Stammkapital: 25.000,00 EUR. (...) Geschäftsführer: Harkort, Florian, Leipzig, (...) einzelvertretungsberechtigt (...)."
The company is the owner of the EU-wide protected trademarks FAIREVER and TRAID GOLD (see EUIPO database) as well as the operator of the online shop at www.fairever.gold and is your contractual partner when you purchase precious metals from us.