Fri, 23 Jan 2004

Demeter farm awarded ecological farming prize by German consumer protection minister

Berlin, 23 January (NNA) – One of the largest Demeter enterprises in the world, Ökodorf Brodowin, was awarded the Ecological Farming Prize 2004 by the German minister for consumer protection, food and agriculture, Renate Künast, in Berlin today. Brodowin received the second prize for its marketing strategy and innovative business management.

Other prize winners were Lämmerhof-Hack&Brüggemann from Schleswig-Holstein and the Werratal/Thüringen GmbH Eco-Centre in Thuringia.

“The prize winners are in the vanguard of ecological agriculture. They have worked in an exemplary manner to create new jobs and for consumer protection, the preservation of the environment and the prevention of cruelty to animals,” Künast said at the award ceremony during International Green Week.

“Innovative concepts and committed, good management convinced the jury. These enterprises have provided important stimuli for organic agriculture and farming as a whole,“ the minister added.

Brodowin, comprising 1,200 hectares with a herd of 650 cattle and a small herd of sheep, is situated about 80 kilometres north of Berlin. “Agriculture in Brodowin means working with the rhythms of nature,“ Brodowin chief executive Peter Krentz was quoted as saying in a Demeter statement.

“Bio-dynamic agriculture with product processing on the farm has created jobs in Brodowin,” Demeter chief executive Dr.  Peter Schaumberger said at the award ceremony. More than 50 people work in the enterprise, according to Demeter, supplemented by five trainees, seasonal workers and practice students. „One of the important social benefit provided by this show project, which also sets standards in environmental protection,“ Demeter proudly declared.

Demeter enterprises have been among the top ecological businesses every year in the four years since the prize was introduced.

END/cva

Further details about Ökodorf Brodowin at: www.brodowin.de

Item: N040123-01EN Date: 23 January 2004

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GLS-Gemeinschaftsbank continues successful growth

Bochum, 23 January (NNA) – The German ecological and ethical investment bank GLS Gemeinschaftsbank eG, headquartered in Bochum, has continued to grow significantly despite taking over another bank in the same sector, Ökobank, last year. Separately from the business taken over from the bankrupt Ökobank, GLS Gemeinschaftsbank achieved growth of eight percent despite the takeover costs.

The earnings position was sustained on a “positive and stable” basis, representatives of the bank told a press conference in Bochum yesterday. “Together with the previous year’s growth we are even moving into two figures at 12 to 14 percent. That represents a trend not seen in many other banks at the moment,” GLS board spokesman Thomas Jorberg said.

One year after the takeover, the balance sheet total of the bank now comprises 442 million euros and equity capital has risen from 13.7 auf 19.7 million euros. All in all, the ethical investment bank now comprises approximately 40,000 customers who wish to invest their money specifically in ecological, social and cultural projects.

The takeover of Ökobank has also meant that GLS has been able to extend the range of its products, including building finance for ecological building projects, bank giro accounts and pension provisions.

“Using a phrase coined by the American sociologist Paul Rey, we might describe our customers as ‘cultural creatives’ who consciously wish to use their money to change things in the world,” Jorberg said. They were not satisfied with “handing over responsibility for their money at the bank counter”.

Here the potential had not been exhausted by a long stretch: “Where is growth in society to come from if not from these future-oriented areas,“ Jorberg added.

The GLS bank currently provides finance for 3,250 projects, including for independent schools, organic farms, facilities for people with disabilities, sustainable housing construction projects, cultural projects and renewable energy.

The largest share of loans, almost 20 percent, is taken by alternative housing projects, followed by arts and cultural projects and projects with citizen involvement at 12.1 percent and curative education and social therapy projects at 11.4 percent. All projects are regularly published in the in-house publication “Bankspiegel”. Transparency was a key business principle of the bank, the board emphasised.

According to bank figures, GLS customers have created about 5,000 jobs with their money in the past three years. Altogether about 35,000 staff were employed in supported projects.

The GLS Gemeinschaftsbank itself has a total of 158 employees at its Bochum, Hamburg , Frankfurt , Stuttgart und Freiburg offices. Each year the bank offers two training places and three places for trainees with a higher education degree.

The subject of credit losses was also raised at the press conference. These, too, were held at a lower level at the GLS bank than at other banks. Adjustment for bad debt had only had to be undertaken to a small degree and the bank had been forced to post as good as no loans, or only very small amounts, as “irrecoverable”. GLS had taken measures to protect itself against risks arising from the takeover of Ökobank.

In this connection the board explained the principles on which the bank advised its customers, including with regard to the content of projects. “The personal presence of our consultants at the projects means that we can discuss their direction in quite a different way,” board member Andreas Neukirch emphasised.

Above all, the know-how of the GLS experts in the various sectors played a major role in minimising risk, for example if a housing project or a school building project was being established: “The judgements we make are based on the experience of our consultants and if we do not have an expert for a given area we are very careful about granting loans,” he said.

end/ung/cva

Item: N040123-02EN Date: 23 Januuary 2004

Copyright 2004 News Network Anthroposophy Limited. All rights reserved. See http://www.nna-news.org/copyright/

More NNA reports at: http://www.nna-news.org/content/