Fair Trade and Ecology

DAN MOI is an interface for musical instruments and primarily for Jew's harps from various parts of the world. Musicians from numerous countries around the world rely on our range of wind, percussion, and auxiliary percussion instruments. For many of our instruments are not mass products, that is they do not originate from large-scale industrial production, but rather we obtain them through direct contact with the manufacturers. Since the foundation of DAN MOI this direct contact to the producers and their home region has been a core concept.

The foundations for DAN MOI were set at the first meeting with Jew's harps producers in the mountains of North Vietnam. At that time we took on the adventurous journey to the Hmong minority of Vietnam because it was completely impossible to buy one of their fabulous Jew's harps in Europe. Today, just as we have done since the beginning, we still get many of our instruments such as wood instruments directly from the families who make them. For many years we have maintained close contacts with numerous manufacturers. We stay in touch with the manufacturers by means of reguar visits to the local area.

Three criteria are particularly important to us when assessing how fairly the instruments were produced: the sourcing of raw materials, the surface treatment and the working conditions at the production stage. The materials for our instruments are selected according to ecological criteria: we use no rare wood or other endangered raw materials but rather materials which reliably grow again. Our producers use no chemicals when treating the surfaces of the instruments.

Our wooden sounding animals instruments (except owls and dolphins), for instance, are manufactured in the workshop of a family business in Vietnam. By giving this workshop a long-term contract, new permanent jobs were created in a rural area. We purchase the finished instruments at higher prices than they would normally achieve on the Vietnamese market. This results in good wages and thereby promotes the well-being of the craftsmen concerned.

As far back as the year 2006, the regional authorities in Thuong Tin in Vietnam certified us as a company that "effectively supports traditional crafts". F.A.I.R.E., the regional organisation for fair trade, has also recognized us as a fair trade partner.

But lately our range has also been more and more extended by instruments of European producers. Every so often we discover one or another little workshop where instruments are lovingly hand made, which are of high quality and have an exciting sound. These instruments tremendously enrich our selection.