Highlights of 2019’s Fairtrade Fortnight.

I’ve split this post into three – {1} shoes, {2} chocolate and {3} coffee – probably my favourite three consumerist treats if I’m completely honest!

{1} SHOES – Fair Trade Rubber
On DAY ONE of Fairtrade Fortnight, I met with Po-Zu shoes, a client who produce shoes in Sri Lanka using organic cotton, and locally farmed fair trade rubber.
Fairly produced rubber has only a tiny market share. Since 2012, a little over 300 tonnes of dry rubber content have been traded according to the criteria of the Fair Rubber Association. As a result of this, more than 150.000 € of Fair Trade premiums could be passed on to their producer partners. Each plantation has a Joint Body which decides which Fair Trade projects are selected. Fair Trade projects so far have included the following:
- The first private supplementary pension fund for rubber plantation workers in India.
- The supply of clean drinking water for 64 families in a plantation in Sri Lanka.
- The expansion of the processing capacity of the small farmer association in Sri Lanka, enabling more small farmers to join and participate.
- The construction of a biogas unit to clean the water and supply gas for the smoke house (small farmers in Sri Lanka).
- Provision of electricity for 21 families in a Sri Lankan plantation so that their children too are able to do their homework after dark.
- Financial support for extraordinary medical expenses and weddings.
Watch a quick video here featuring Po-Zu.com‘s fair trade rubber sneakers:
{2} What’s on – Hot Chocolate at the pop-up cafe
I then jumped on the tube to Old Street and walked to Kingsland Street where the Fairtrade Foundation have set up a pop-up shop, and hot chocolate ‘salon’ – hidden away like a speakeasy, behind the shelves of sweet treats (noticeably hardly a Fairtrade logo amongst them) press a bell, and be transported into a low lit salon of loveliness – where hidden inside this unassuming East London newsagent, you are invited to enjoy a delicious hot chocolate to support Fairtrade’s ‘She Deserves’ campaign, Rosine’s Hot Chocolate Salon is named after a real cocoa farmer from Côte d’Ivoire – and aims to tell the true story behind our favourite chocolate bars and why cocoa farmers, like Rosine, deserve a fair living income.
Julia Nicoara, from the Fairtrade Foundation, said: “We’re excited to launch the immersive Rosine’s Hot Chocolate Salon, an experience that allows chocolate lovers to interact with the very people who make their favourite delight possible. This is not just any pop-up; visitors are engaged in the lives of the cocoa farmers behind a bar of chocolate and every time you buy a Fairtrade certified product you are making a real difference.”
Visit 66 Kingsland Road, Dalston, E2 8DP
until 3rd March 9am – 8pm link here
{3} Coffee Story about female Fairtrade farmer Luz Marina:
‘For me, Fairtrade is an opportunity to make dreams come true and improve living conditions for all the people involved in the production of coffee. Thanks to Fairtrade I was able to study and work for the wellbeing of my family and the small producers from my region.’
During Fairtrade Fortnight this year, the spotlight is on women ? It’s all about showcasing and celebrating the amazing female farmers who grow the food and drink that we consume.
This is Luz Marina Garcia Ruiz, who – with the support of Fairtrade – is helping improve the livelihood of 1,500 farmers in the Asprocafe Ingruma Cooperative in Colombia, more than 25% of whom are women ??

But for Luz Marina, Fairtrade isn’t just about growing coffee and earning enough to make ends meet. It’s about teaching others how to grow the beans, it’s about improving the living conditions of the communities around her; it’s about sowing the Fairtrade seed so that more and more farmers can receive a fair living income.
Percol Coffee is one of the Fairtrade coffee brands who buys their beans from the cooperative where Luz Marina works. The good news? They’ve recently made their range of Ground & Beans 100% Fairtrade certified, meaning they’re constantly continuing to support this cooperative and the next generation of coffee growers.
By looking out for that Fairtrade mark on the supermarket shelf, you too can support these wonderful women and together we can spread the message loud and clear that every woman, everybody, everywhere, deserves a living income.
Every woman deserves a secure income. Every woman deserves to have their destiny in their own hands.
She deserves an equal shot. She deserves a living income. She deserves Fairtrade.
@fairtradeuk @percolcoffee #Shedeserves #ShedeservesFairtrade #Fairtrade #Shedeserves #Fairforall #Fairtradefortnight #Fairtradefortnight2019 #farmers #femalefarmers #percol #percolcoffee #ethicalfarming #sustainablefarming #coffeegrowers
Interested in getting involved yourself? Head over to Fairtrade to find out how you can join, be it organising an event or getting social on social media.
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