Traidcraft Bulletin - February 2020

Bulletin

EASTER COMPETITION

FA I R T R A D E FORTNIGHT

SUMATRA COFFEE

T R A I D C R A F T S H O P. C O . U K

FEBRUARY 2020

in this issue...

Your February Bulletin is a bumper edition filled with offers

#BuyRight

6

WIN

a Fairtrade Easter Hamper

4 Exciting news!

Following all of your very helpful feedback, we have redesigned our invoices and statements, in perfect time for our new catalogue drop – we hope you’ll agree that they are now a lot more concise. Plus, back by popular demand, invoices now have a VAT summary table and 'pay now' button, making payments quicker and more efficient, via Sage Pay.

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BY ROBIN ROTH

4

Easter Competition

5

Spring / Summer '20 Catalogue

6-7 8 9 - 11 12 - 14 15

Transparency: The true cost of everything Fairtrade Fortnight Offers Product Update from Kirsty & Lizy Sumatra Coffee - Traidcraft's Jude Visits Producers Spotlight on: The London Tea Company

16 - 17

Meet the People Tours

18 - 21

Traidcraft Exchange Update

22

Vegan Sweet Potato and Lentil Curry Recipe

You Spoke, We Listened.

Print-Friendly Bulletin Articles It has come to our attention that many of you wish to print certain articles from our Bulletin, but are finding it tricky to do so in their current format. This is why in this Bulletin, as well as future Bulletins from now on, you’ll see a ‘print-friendly’ option, where you can download stripped back versions of articles and print them at your leisure. We hope this helps!

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traidcraftshop.co.uk

Look for the button!

Fleece February

After our successful Black Friday boycott and extra refreshments/provisions station at Newcastle Cathedral, we’re gaining momentum in our campaigns to fight social injustice!

Next up, we’ve got Fleece February; this is a Traidcraft initiative we’ll be running throughout February, where staff/customers are invited to donate their pre-loved fleeces and warm coats, to be donated to the less fortunate at our next event.

If you’d like to get involved, have a rummage through your wardrobe and send or drop off any pre-loved fleeces/coats to: Traidcraft: Fleece February Appeal Kingsway, Team Valley Gateshead, NE11 0NE

Welcome.

Friends

February promises to be a packed month. First, we will be launching our Spring / Summer Catalogue, full of exciting new products like our new Traidcraft Easter Eggs that come with a wonderful fair trade surprise.

We will also be supporting this year’s Fairtrade Fortnight, by promoting the Foundation’s superb set of resources.

After Fairtrade Fortnight, we will be holding two roadshows in London and the Midlands. These day-long conferences will give you the chance to see the whole range, as well as pick up a bargain on the day in our sale. We will also be holding a series of seminars highlighting the work of ourselves and some of our partners.

You can sign up on the links below and we hope to see as many of you as possible.

Happy fair trading,

Matt.

LONDON SIGN UP

Traidcraft: Fighting Social Injustice

MIDLANDS SIGN UP

Tickets going fast!

Black Friday and Beyond Thank you to all of you who donated sleeping bags, hats, gloves, toiletries, foil blankets and other provisions for the less fortunate this month! Our refreshment and provision station at Newcastle Cathedral was extremely well-received and appreciated by all who benefitted from them. traidcraftshop.co.uk

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M

GE T Inv olved !

Bulletin

YOUR

Winning DESIGN!

To celebrate, we thought we’d give the little ones in your life a chance to get their creative juices flowing, in the prospect of getting their hands on some delicious chocolate eggs!

To win our Fairtrade Easter hamper, we'd like you to get creative and design the front cover of our special Easter Bulletin, with the question 'what does fair trade mean to you?' in mind when designing. The lucky winner's design will be the front cover of our April Bulletin, with runners up announced in the same issue.

If you’d like to get involved, please send your entries, along with your name, age and contact details to: VIEW FULL T&Cs HERE

E-mail: social@traidcraft.co.uk Post:

T raidcraft Easter Competition Kingsway, Team Valley Gateshead, NE11 0NE

CLOSING DATE: MONDAY MARCH 16TH 2020 4

traidcraftshop.co.uk

N

We are super excited to be launching our 2020 Fairtrade Easter eggs, with our very own Traidcraft-branded Easter eggs in this year’s range.

E

a Fairtrade Easter Hamper

IO IT ET P

M TI

WIN

Spring/Summer '20 is almost here!

Our spring / summer catalogue will be landing on doormats up and down the country from Wednesday 12th February. Keep an eye on your letterbox...

Exclusive SS20 Catalogue Offers 20% OFF!

20% OFF!

10th Feb – 11th March inclusive

Bio-D Fabric Conditioner – Lavender 27916 (1L) WAS £2.85 NOW £2.28 27950 (12x1L) WAS £30.60 NOW £24.48

10th Feb – 7th March inclusive

Eat Your Hat Dark Chocolate with Sri Lankan Turmeric & Black Pepper 39302 (91g bar) WAS £3.95 NOW £3.16 37012 (10 bars) WAS £35.50 NOW £28.40

Bio-D Laundry Liquid – Lavender 26988 (1L) WAS £5.65 NOW £4.52 26990 (12x1L) WAS £60.96 NOW £48.77

Eat Your Hat Milk Chocolate 38% Cocoa 40080 (91g bar) WAS £3.95 NOW £3.16 68452 (10 bars) WAS £35.50 NOW £28.40

69836 (750ml) WAS £2.40 NOW £1.92 69870 (12x750ml) WAS £25.92 NOW £20.74

Bio-D Washing Up Liquid – Grapefruit

Eat Your Hat Milk Chocolate with South African Sea Salt 32192 (91g bar) WAS £3.95 NOW £3.16 29688 (10 bars) WAS £35.50 NOW £28.40

25%

OFF!

25%

OFF!

10%

25%

Cafedirect Fairtrade Freeze Dried Coffee 25706 (100g) WAS £4.60 NOW £3.45 37800 (6x100g) WAS £24.90 NOW £18.67 24682 (500g) WAS £22.50 NOW £20.25 65404 (6x500g) WAS £121.80 NOW £109.62

12th Feb – 7th April inclusive

Cafedirect Fairtrade Kilimanjaro Ground Coffee 58752 (227g) WAS £4.25 NOW £3.18 45266 (6x227g) WAS £22.92 NOW £17.19

OFF!

12th Feb – 7th April inclusive

Bio-D Laundry Bleach 27016 (400g) WAS £2.10 NOW £1.68 27244 (12x400g) WAS £22.68 NOW £18.14

OFF!

12th Feb – 7th April inclusive

Cafedirect Organic Machu Picchu Ground Coffee 50536 (227g) WAS £4.25 NOW £3.18 51040 (6x227g) WAS £22.92 NOW £17.19

Whilst most of the products you see in our SS20 catalogue will be available from the drop date, there are a few exceptions. Where we have been advised by our suppliers, we have annotated due dates in the catalogue to help you plan and save you time calling our Sales Support Team. We hope this helps, and we thank you in advance for your patience!

REQUEST YOUR SS20 CATALOGUE HERE Anticipated land date 12th Feb traidcraftshop.co.uk

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The World Fair Trade Association (WFTO) list 10 principles that fair trade companies are expected to “live out” in their day to day work.

TRANSPARENCY:

the true cost of everything

BY ROBIN ROTH

L

ast month I talked a little bit about training and how we hope that staff at Traidcraft are given every opportunity to develop their skills, whether personal or professional, in the manner they choose themselves.

For the record, “Capacity Building” is the 8th principle.

This month I would like to talk about the 2nd principle, “Transparency and Accountability”; two long, meaningless and probably tedious words to most people.

Tedious maybe, but what a transformation we would see if Government Ministers, or opposition leaders, for example, were actually held to account for everything they promised and did or didn’t do – and what a shocker 6

traidcraftshop.co.uk

1 OPPORTUNITIES FOR DISADVANTAGED PRODUCERS 2 TRANSPARENCY & ACCOUNTABILITY 3 FAIR TRADE PRACTICES

it would be if their activities were really, truly transparent.

4 FAIR PAYMENT

oring words – but B transformational if implemented.

5 NO CHILD LABOUR, NO FORCED LABOUR

The same principle applies to businesses and business leaders. If companies were really held accountable for the environmental damage they cause, and if customers were really informed about these activities transparently, then wouldn’t that be a horror show for many household brands? How radical would that be? You don’t have to be a cynic to imagine something like this as completely unthinkable, impractical and pie in the sky. Don’t expect any legislation soon.

6 NO DISCRIMINATION, GENDER EQUITY, FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION 7 GOOD WORKING CONDITIONS 8 CAPACITY BUILDING 9 PROMOTE FAIR TRADE 10 RESPECT FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

And if most customers were told how much Welcome to Transparency Coffee, grown by a women’s co-operative of farmers in Honduras products really cost to make, and how much and from a co-operative in Sumatra that works profit lands where in any supply chain, they hard to support independent women farmers would be genuinely horrified. Can you even amongst its members. If we had bought any old begin to imagine how much it costs to make a beans at today’s hugely deflated world price, bottle of fizzy drink, or a branded perfume, or each bag of 227g coffee would have cost around a bottle of shampoo? If you did, and it turned 53p to buy. Had we paid minimum Fairtrade out that a bottle of fizzy pop costs a few prices, we would have spent about 84p per pence to make, would you still pay bag (a huge, life-saving difference). In £2.00 for it? I suspect not. And fact, we chose to pay £1.32, because that bottle of perfume at £50 we paid more premiums than GIVE US A BAD which probably costs virtually normal and we value the quality nothing to make?

RULE AND WE'LL of the coffee highly. (These prices

RUSH TO

The truth is, nobody knows the real cost of things. No company in its right mind would give away its trade secrets. No one ever gets to know what producers are really paid, and even the most progressive companies have only been able to agree on “minimum” prices and “cost of living” wages which are independently verified to be “fair”.

Break it.

are approximate and are based on a 15% roasting loss and an exchange rate of 0.77 $ to the £.)

SHOP TRANSPARENT COFFEE

Wouldn’t it be amazing if every company in the country was forced to reveal the prices it paid to suppliers and partners in far away countries so that consumers could decide if that was appropriate? How many CEOs would then be able to award themselves salaries that are 350 times more than their average worker?

If you know Traidcraft well enough, you will know that there is nothing we relish more than upsetting a few apple carts and slaying a few sacred cows. Give us a bad rule and we’ll rush to break it.

Transparency has many levels and we are not able to change everything all at once, but we are genuinely keen to see how the world reacts to the very first product which tells you exactly what we paid the growers of our coffee on its front label.

Fairtrade is defined as “a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect, that seeks greater equity in international trade.”

As consumers, you and your customers are all part of the trading partnership and it is our duty to treat both you and producers with equal transparency and respect. We hope you agree.

We hope others start to yearn for a bit more of it, too. This is how I think fair trade was meant to be. traidcraftshop.co.uk

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Fairtrade Fortnight is almost here!

Stock up, while stocks last!

During Fairtrade Fortnight 2020, individuals, groups and companies come together to celebrate the people in developing countries who grow our food, but who are often underpaid and exploited.

Why not stock up with our exclusive Fairtrade Fortnight offers?

10th Feb – 7th March inclusive

20%

Traidcraft Fairtrade Organic 70% Dark Chocolate 29418 (100g bar) WAS £2.65 NOW £2.12 23962 (10 bars) WAS £23.50 NOW £18.80

OFF!

Traidcraft Organic Dark Chocolate Mint Cream 36186 (100g bar) WAS £2.65 NOW £2.12 35896 (10 bars) WAS £23.50 NOW £18.80

This year, the focus of Fairtrade Fortnight will be on women in the cocoa and coffee industries across the world, with the #SHEDESERVES strapline, as well as campaigning for living incomes. The campaign will highlight how many cocoa farmers, particularly women, are underpaid and exploited, and the scandal of unfair trade.

Traidcraft Organic Milk Chocolate with Hazelnuts 50616 (100g bar) WAS £2.65 NOW £2.12 60452 (10 bars) WAS £23.50 NOW £18.80 Traidcraft Organic Milk Chocolate with Praline 40610 (100g bar) WAS £2.65 NOW £2.12 38404 (10 bars) WAS £23.50 NOW £18.80

If you haven’t yet got your Fairtrade Fortnight resources from Fairtrade Foundation, you can get them here:

Traidcraft Fairtrade Organic Muscovado White Chocolate 28846 (100g bar) WAS £2.65 NOW £2.12 36330 (10 bars) WAS £23.50 NOW £18.80

DOWNLOAD RESOURCES

Traidcraft Organic Milk Chocolate 28846 (100g bar) WAS £2.65 NOW £2.12 36330 (10 bars) WAS £23.50 NOW £18.80

15%

20%

10th Feb – 8th March inclusive

OFF!

Traidcraft Fruity Golden Granola 27578 (350g) WAS £3.90 NOW £3.32 69620 (6x350g) WAS £21.00 NOW £17.85

OFF!

GeoMuesli Exotic Fruit 46778 (750g) WAS £4.15 NOW £3.60 60264 (5x750g) WAS £18.75 NOW £15.94 10th Feb – 7th March inclusive

Liberation Salted Cashews & Peanuts 58260 (90g) WAS £1.80 NOW £1.44 43726 (10x90g) WAS £16.00 NOW £12.80 Please note that these offers won’t be advertised in your SS20 catalogue, as we didn’t want the prices to be incorrect after less than a month.

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10%

OFF!

7th Feb – 8th March inclusive

Ma's Happy Life Kitchen Organic Fair Trade Coconut Milk 25890 (400ml) WAS £1.95 NOW £1.75 49682 (12x400ml) WAS £21.00 NOW £18.90

SEE ALL FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT OFFERS HERE

Product Update

from Kirsty & Lizy Beauty Gifts and Toiletries

Easter eggs

Vegan

Our 2020 Easter egg range is here! Make sure to stock up on our biggest and best range ever.

Vegan

New in for spring 2020, we’ve launched a wonderful range of sustainable beauty and self-care products. These are the eco-friendly essentials each everyday activist needs in their bathroom cabinet.

SHOP ALL EASTER

Vegan

Coming mid - Feb

Organic

Roll-on Deodorant • Fair trade • Made from a blend of natural essential oils • No alcohol, parabens or aluminium salts • Non-sticky, nongreasy formula • Gentle on skin

Organic

Expected week commencing 17th Feb

Maroma Coconut Face Night Cream

Vegan

10%

OFF!

• Fair trade • Made from cold-pressed, organic coconut and essential oils • Synthetic fragrance and colour-free • Paraben, PPG, henoxyethanol and PEG-free

FAIRTRADE RANGE

from Thought Just when you thought your favourite sustainable clothing brand couldn’t get any better… they bring out a Fairtrade-certified range of wardrobe essentials!

SHOP ALL THOUGHT FAIRTRADE FASHION

Maroma 100% Natural Orange Lip Balm

Hampers Due to the popularity of our hampers at Christmas, we are continuing to offer our hamper selections into 2020, so you can gift the perfect hamper all year round!

• 100% natural • Made from natural essential oils and waxes • No GMOs or preservatives • No animal testing

SHOP ALL BEAUTY AND SELF-CARE traidcraftshop.co.uk

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London Tea Company Herbal Teas We have launched six herbal teas from our friends at The London Tea Company. For more information, see page 15.

SHOP THE LONDON TEA COMPANY TEAS

Keep an eye out for two new flavours coming very soon!

Marmalade and Jam packaging updates In the next few months you will see our Organic Strawberry Jam and Orange Marmalade in their new packaging; the recipe is exactly the same, it’s just the packaging that’s had a facelift!

Muesli The Traidcraft team are busy updating the packaging of the Fruit and Nut and Exotic Fruit Muesli. We will be reducing the amount to 500g, which allows us to use the same size box that the Granola comes in. Keep your eyes peeled for this change coming to you within the next few months.

Zaytoun Product Update Zaytoun’s 250g boxes of Maftoul and Freekah will stay in their current format until we sell through our existing stock, then will be updated to a different size and packaging.

Keep an eye on our website for further details.

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It ’s all about coffee!

Traidcraft Coffee - We have introduced two new, single origin coffees and have limited stock on the Malawi Coffee that comes from the Mzuzu Co-operative. Our best-selling medium and rich roast blends are also transitioning to Organic. As these are blends, some of the beans were already Organic, but going forward, all of the blend is Organic.

Burundi Coffee - In 2020, we are growing our range of fair trade coffee and improving to Organic, where possible. Our Burundi coffee is not Organic because previously it was unsafe to send an Organic auditor into Burundi. However, at the end of 2019, this was made possible and we hope to be able to use the Organic logo in the very near future which is great news!

Instant Coffee (A Learning Curve) - At the end of 2018, we had hoped to continue buying regular instant coffee from Guatamala. We were unlikely to be able to do Fairtrade instant decaf; we were already below the minimum order quantity for decaf and even with this, we would encounter short shelf life issues and be left with coffee past its best before date.

We had hoped to buy the instant regular coffee - however, the cost of this is over £100,000. As you’ll be aware, at the start of 2019, we still had a very tight cash flow and the decision was taken to not buy the coffee, we just didn’t have the funds. After much research and discussions with other fair trade companies in Europe, we have found a supply of Fairtrade and Organic instant coffee, meaning that we do not have to buy two container loads (a lot of coffee) at a time, making it a viable solution. The producers we’re working with are also no strangers to being in the Traidcraft ranges of coffees!

Traidcraft Coffee Tin - Our new instant coffee will be coming packed in a 500g bag. We hope that with this, you will also purchase our reusable, eco-friendly storage tin, designed to store 500g of instant coffee.

This attractive tin has been made in a family-run, solar powered factory in London, and will provide better storage conditions for the instant coffee than the bag (however, the bag is better than the thick plastic tub the instant coffee used to come in!).

Eat Your Hat Chocolate

Traidcraft Sugar Back in 2018, we had to agree a sugar contract for ALL orders in 2019. We went from thinking we were closing, to having to guess how much sugar we may sell in 2019; the business plan only being a plan and a predicted down turn of 40% maximum on sales.

We decided to order 20% less than in 2018, little did we know we would actually need more, so the small team took on a new role of importing sugar and did a great job getting the sugar into the UK (there is a lot of paper work to go through!). Unfortunately, our shipment plan was delayed, so we experienced out of stocks and we are still awaiting that last shipment that was meant to be with us at the end of 2019.

Our sugar is packed at Sukpack in Mauritius. When we enquired why there was a delay, we were told that this was due to there being a limited amount of workers to pack our order. We wanted to order more sugar, but we are not able to go over what was agreed in our contract. We have increased our quantities going into 2020, so we hope that we will be able to resolve the out of stocks very soon.

We appreciate your understanding and patience in this tricky situation! We hope that in sharing our situation with you, it will help answer many of your questions about the availability of our sugar.

Sweet Update Where we can, we are updating our packaging; we are bringing all of the Traidcraft product packaging into line so that the form a brand family and updating the materials so that they are more environmentally friendly.

At the end of 2019, we started to look into using NatureFlex (the same material that our chocolate is wrapped in) for our sweet bags.

The minimum order quantity of this material is quite high and as it is compostable, it also has a shelf life. We have recently been completing trials at two manufactures on two different production lines, and we are finally happy with the quality of the seal strength to be able to hold our sweets and chocolate raisins. The complexity of this has meant that it has taken longer than we had hoped.

However, the base material has been ordered, so keep an eye out towards the end of March for the sweet range to come back in compostable packaging.

We finalised our last production of Eat Your Hat Chocolate in 2019 in its current form. We made the difficult decision to move away from our UK manufacturer, as we felt our values were not shared. We are in the process now of researching to find a new manufacturer; the flavour combinations, packaging and bar shape may be different in future.

We don’t yet have the final answer, but we do have a few ideas up our sleeves! We wanted to share this news with you before items go out of stock and aren’t replenished.

Even more reason to bag yourself a bargain with our Fairtrade Fortnight Eat Your Hat discounts!

SHOP EAT YOUR HAT CHOCOLATE

Price increases - in 2019 and going into 2020, we have had some supplier cost increases – Traidcraft Cookies, for example. You may see a few price increases across our range, but we have tried to keep them to a minimum.

oops!

Our catalogue had gone to print before we spotted the following mistakes. Apologies!

Wrong Product Code

Traidcraft Burundi Kayanza Coffee Beans 46906 (227g) £4.25 46994 (6x227g) £22.92

Wrong weight

Meru Herbs Pesto 61814 (180g) £3.00 46994 (6x180g) £16.20 traidcraftshop.co.uk

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This does not mean we don’t pay a premium. When buying coffee beans from Permata Gayo Cooperative, Roasters United (who buy coffee on behalf of Traidcraft) pay much more than the Fairtrade price.

YOUR FAVOURITE

Sumatra Coffee

TRAIDCRAFT'S JUDE VISITS SUMATRAN PRODUCERS

H

ere at Traidcraft, we believe that visiting producers is crucial to our understanding of fair trade and our ability to progress and pioneer the future of fair trade. That’s why at the end of 2019, Traidcraft’s Jude travelled to the source of some of our most popular coffee, Sumatra, accompanied by Traidcraft’s resident coffee expert, Alex Urban.

The trip to source was extremely eye-opening for Jude. Here, Jude explains all about Permata Gayo Cooperative and what difference fair trade has made to their cooperative, workers and community.

“The real purpose of the trip was for Alex and I, in collaboration with Roasters United (a group of European coffee roasters committed to working directly with small farming cooperatives to promote high quality coffees that are organically grown in democracy), to support the on-going relationship with Permata Gayo Cooperative.

However, I also wanted to delve into the world of our 12 traidcraftshop.co.uk

coffee producers, come back with some real-life stories behind the coffee you buy from Traidcraft and to get a better understanding of what fair trade really is.

The eagle eyed amongst you will have spotted that our Eat Your Hat coffee range doesn’t display the Fairtrade mark on the packaging. The reason for this is simple: in order to use the Fairtrade logo, all of the various organisations in the supply chain must be Fairtrade certified. Although Traidcraft and Permata Gayo Cooperative are certified, Roasters United and some of the other cooperatives from whom we buy coffee beans for Eat Your Hat are not certified.

During my visit to Sumatra I wanted to see what Permata Gayo spend this additional money on. Some of the extra income is used communally by coop members – as they see fit – to improve their social, economic and environmental conditions. In 2018, with some of the money, they decided to buy agricultural tools for the processes involved in farming, e.g. brushes for cleaning and rakes for drying the beans.

Fairtrade money has also enabled Temas Mumanang village to invest in a new depulping unit (a machine used to remove the red cherry skins from the coffee beans, a crucial step in the bush to bean journey – more on this later). We were lucky enough to see this machine in operation during our visit!

Partly financed by Fairtrade money, Permata Gayo Coop are currently implementing a new Compost Project, which uses, amongst other things, the red cherry skins to produce natural fertiliser for the coffee bushes.

I even had the opportunity to contribute by planting an orange tree myself!

In collaboration with Permata Gayo Coop and Coop Coffees in Canada, Roasters United are also contributing to what’s called a Project Fund. This additional pot of money helps the coffee farmers to launch more innovative projects. 75% funded by Roasters United and Co-op Coffees, and 25% funded by the Fairtrade Premium, one such project is the Climate Change Adaption Program which was implemented in 2019 and was one of the most exciting things I saw during my visit. It is primarily a tree planting scheme with three main aims: 1. To protect the coffee bushes (they require partial shade and protection from the rain to grow best).

2. To help farmers diversify their income (from fruit trees).

3. To improve soil quality.

Different crops and trees are being planted on different farms, for many different reasons. The following factors are involved in the decision: • Rainforest Alliance states there must be at least 12 tree varieties within the scheme.

• F armers decide what type of tree they need based on what’s good for their coffee bushes and their own requirements. As well as the tree planting scheme, the programme involves planting more coffee crops, but specifically those that are more pest-resistant such as Tim-tim, Bourbon and Catimor.

One final thing I discovered is that Permata Gayo Coop have a programme in place to help their farmers during the low seasons. That is, some of the additional money received from organisations, such as Traidcraft, who pay more than the fair price, enables the coop to distribute rice to their farmers and workers during the off season, when they don’t have an income from coffee. This fully holistic approach shows why fair trade is fundamental to smallholder farmers of seasonal products such as coffee".

Eat Your Hat Sumatra Ground Coffee BUY ONLINE

Transparent Honduras and Sumatra Organic Ground Coffee BUY ONLINE

Did you know?

It only takes three/four years from planting the coffee bush to being able to pick the cherries.

In Sumatra, it only takes four/ five days for a coffee bean to be dried out ready for export. The first drying gets the beans to 40% moisture and takes place straight after depulping. The beans are then transported and the second stage is done at the Dry Mill in Medan, where the coffee is raked and dried in the sun to reduce the moisture to 12-13%. Only then is it ready for packing and shipping.

There are 35 villages in the Permata Gayo Cooperative.

Each village has about 5060 farms delivering to 59 collectors. Overall there are about 2000 workers within the Permata Gayo Cooperative.

Sumatra is the only place in the world to practice wet hulling. Most other coffee growers use the washed process. Why? The humid and rainy climate of Sumatra makes it difficult to dry coffee for extended periods and the wet hulling process allows for a shorter drying time. traidcraftshop.co.uk

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From Bush to Cup Ever wondered how a red cherry on a bush is transformed into your morning caffeine hit? Traidcraft explains...

HARVEST: RED CHERRIES HAND PICKED

GREEN BEANS FERMENTED AND WASHED

CUPPING: COFFEE SAMPLED FOR UNIFORMITY, TASTE AND AROMA

GREEN BEANS ROASTED AND GROUND (AT RINGTONS!) 14 traidcraftshop.co.uk

RED CHERRIES DEPULPED

GREEN BEANS DRIED GREEN BEANS PACKED FOR SHIPPING

FRESH COFFEE BREWED AND ENJOYED

GREEN BEANS HAND SORTED TO REMOVE DEFECTS

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SPOTLIGHT ON:

The London Tea Company

We know how much you love our own brand, Great Taste Awardwinning tea range, however, we do often have customers asking if we could offer a Fairtrade range of herbal teas.

Well, herbal tea lovers of the world, you’re in luck… This month, we’ve launched a range of herbal teas, sourced from our friends at The London Tea Company – including calming chamomile, settling pure peppermint and their renowned raspberry inferno blend, which is sure to tingle the taste buds with its subtle kick of chilli.

Blending, brewing and drinking teas since 2003, The London Tea Company are on a mission to bring excitement and creativity back to tea.

Their mission is simple; to share quality, creativity and their passion for England’s capital city with the like-minded people who drink their tea.

All of The London Tea Company’s delicious, refreshing teas are free from artificial flavourings, colourings and preservatives. They are also a certified B Corporation; a business which balances purpose and profit, legally required to consider the impact of their decisions on their workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment.

They’re also a social enterprise, reinvesting up to 50% of their profits

into farmer communities, supporting workers from some of the most marginalized parts of the world.

Of course, The London Tea Company are fully Fairtrade, too, supporting growers and surrounding communities by paying a guaranteed minimum price for their crop, as well as a Fairtrade Premium which is invested back into the growers’ businesses and local communities. Many of the farmers and workers who supply The London Tea Company live in some of the most marginalised parts of the world and are facing the challenges of increasing fuel and food prices, climate change and rapidly changing market pricing.

The guaranteed minimum prices which these growers receive, enable them and their communities to develop their businesses and infrastructure and to help them improve their conditions and dignity.

Committed to sourcing the right teas in the right ways, The London Tea Company have the environment’s best interests at the heart of everything they do and are dedicated to reducing their carbon footprint through selecting their teas and extracts from trusted partners.

Two new herbal tea flavours coming soon... watch this space!

Fairtrade Teas

Free from artificial flavourings, colourings and preservatives

Certified B Corporation and social enterprise, reinvesting up to 50% of their profits into farmer communities

SHOP LONDON TEA COMPANY TEAS traidcraftshop.co.uk

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meet the people tours

A r e y o u l o o k i n g fo r a h o l i d a y b u r s t i n g w i t h a u t h e n t i c e x p er i e n ce s i n a m a z i n g p l aces , m eet i n g p eo p l e w i t h i n cre d i b l e l oca l k n ow l e d g e a n d e n t h u s i a s m ?

R e a d o n t o d i s c ov e r m o re a b o u t M e e t t h e P e o p l e To u r s .

Partnership

Our tours combine Traidcraft’s expertise in fair trade with Skedaddle’s experience of running tours, to ensure a very special and unique holiday. We are privileged to visit Traidcraft suppliers and friends in the fair trade network to offer a first-hand experience of the benefits of fair trade.

the people tours

16 traidcraftshop.co.uk

Expert Preparation

meet the pe

Our team at Skedaddle share a passion for fair trade, and we have a wealth of knowledge to help you enjoy the very best holiday possible. We’ve travelled extensively, experiencing first-hand visits to producer groups, and scouting out exciting new holiday experiences to share with you.

meet the people tours

Inspired by Producers

Responsible Travel meet the people

Local Passion

Join a Group

Our tours are made special by visits to producers and projects. We’re welcomed to places of work, homes, and projects for a unique insight into products being grown and made, often with the opportunity to have a go ourselves.

Working with local partners in each country ensures that local people benefit economically and socially from our visits. We know how important good guides are to our travel experiences and fantastic local guides bring knowledge and enthusiasm for their country to every tour.

Alongside visits to producers, we also use fair trade principles to form the basis of how we work with partners; working with people in long term relationships, paying a fair price and respecting local cultures, people and the environment.

Travelling with like-minded people is all part of the experience and we know that travel on our tours has made for lasting friendships. Our reunions are a great place to meet up with new friends to swap stories, photos and memories.

Visit www.meetthepeopletours.co.uk to request a brochure or to browse itineraries for all our tours. We’ve visited all the Meet the People destinations and are keen to share our travel stories and answer any questions you may have.

You can also call Hannah or Lizzie on 0191 2651110 or email us at traidcraft@skedaddle.com to check availability and to chat through any questions you may have. traidcraftshop.co.uk

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It’s almost Fairtrade Fortnight… which means it’s time to get ready for your brilliant Big Brew event! Every penny you raise will help transform lives through trade all over the world – what better reason than that to get together and celebrate with your community?

This year, we have a coffee-themed celebration lined up. We hope you’ll join us to learn more about this life-changing little bean – even if you’re more partial to a cup of tea!

Fairtrade Fortnight will run from Monday 24th February to Sunday 8th March

Don’t have a pack yet?

If you don’t already have a pack, order one at traidcraftexchange.org/bigbrew

SKU:61898

£1ON S STPER JUPER

It ’s Big Brew season!

Bring the raffle to your Big Brew We’ve got some amazing prizes in our raffle this year, and by getting your friends and family to take part, you’ll be making the world a better, fairer place. At just £1 per ticket, it’s a win-win!

1st PRIZE A once-in-a-lifetime trip to India with Meet the People tours

or call our friendly team on 0191 497 6445

2nd PRIZE

You can also pop one in your basket when you next shop at Traidcraft.

A two-night stay at Low Wood Bay Resort & Spa in the Lake District

3rd PRIZE

Order Fair Trade refreshments for your event ORDER YOUR BUNDLE SKU:25912

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Apple iPad AND the chance to win one of four delicious fair trade hampers from the Traidcraft shop!

To order raffle ticket books to sell at your Big Brew, go to: traidcraftexchange.org/raffle

Challenge yourself to change a life Would you like to do something a little different this year? Change up your routine, set yourself a new goal, get excited about the grand finale – and make the world a better place at the same time?

That’s what the Challenge Exchange is for. With our brand-new sponsored events platform, you can take on an exciting new challenge of your choice, and change lives, too.

Find out more about the Challenge Exchange at: www.traidcraftexchange.org/challengeexchange

Trek the Camino de Santiago Great South Run There are still a few places available for our flagship Camino de Santiago trek!

Organised in conjunction with Global Adventure Challenges, we’ll be trekking 72 miles along the world-famous Camino Frances route, ending up in the historic city of Santiago de Compostela where we have organised a very special church service to thank our team of trekkers.

We’ve secured ten places for the Great South Run on Sunday 18th October – join us for this iconic 10 mile run around Portsmouth and Southsea.

Join the team at www.traidcraftexchange.org/ greatsouthrun

Sign up now at: www.traidcraftexchange.org/camino-desantiago

traidcraftshop.co.uk

19

G. Hilary Gbah.

Credit: Traidcraft Exchange/Derick Snyder

Stolen land.

Broken promises.

This month, Traidcraft Exchange is launching a new campaign in support of people around the world whose lives have been devastated by the activities of British companies.

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G Hilary Gbah was a smallholder farmer in Liberia, West Africa.

Though rich in natural resources, Liberia is one of the world’s poorest countries, trying to rebuild itself after years of civil war. When a UK company came to Hilary’s community to set up a palm oil plantation, he was interested.

'We embraced the company, because we wanted development,’ he says. He handed over his land, expecting payment in compensation, as well as promises of investment in the area.

"WE DON’T HAVE LAND TO LIVE FROM. LIFE IS UNBEARABLE" - G. Hilary Gbah.

However, the compensation payment was a fraction of the pledged amount and the promises never materialised. ‘They promised us a school, ...education. We have nothing. They promised us job opportunities – no job... They promised us healthcare... nothing.

Nothing they have done,’ says Hilary.

Hilary’s village is now surrounded by the plantation and he, like others, has been left struggling to make a living after their land was taken for a palm oil plantation without land to grow food and earn an income.

What would the new law do?

Give UK companies a duty to prevent harm to human rights and the environment.

Companies are used to checking financial risk, sometimes known as carrying out ‘due diligence’. It’s time to do due diligence on human rights as well.

Hold companies to account if abuses do occur.

Until companies are held liable for their actions and those of their subsidiaries, there’s no incentive for them to change.

Other countries are introducing similar laws and the UN has called for action. Now the UK needs to act.

For people like Hilary, land is the foundation of other basic human rights. It is their source of water, food and income. Take away their land and you take away their hope. As Hilary says, ‘We don’t have land to live from. Life is unbearable.’

Right now, it’s too easy for UK companies to grab precious land, break promises and divide communities in some of the world’s poorest countries. We want to make sure other communities don’t suffer the same devastation as Hilary and his community.

That’s why Traidcraft Exchange is calling for a new law to help stop this and other human rights abuses. It would make respecting human rights and the environment a standard business practice.

We have a new government and we want to put this issue firmly onto their agenda. But we need your help.

What can you do now?

Visit www.traidcraftexchange.org/our-land-our-rights to:

 Sign the campaign  Find out more about the issues  Share with your friends online traidcraftshop.co.uk

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DOWNLOAD PRINT-FRIENDLY VERSION

Vegan Sweet Potato and Lentil Curry Recipe

Shopping list

Ma’s Kitchen Organic Coconut Milk

Eswatini Kitchen

METHOD If you’re looking for a tasty, vegan, tea time treat, this easy to follow, fair trade recipe from our friends at JTS is an excellent, ethical option.

INGREDIENTS 1 diced onion

Add some fair trade flavour!

1 diced clove of garlic 1 large, chopped carrot 1 chopped sweet potato ½ can of Ma’s Kitchen Organic Coconut Milk ½ jar Eswatini Kitchen Medium Curry Sauce 340g lentils 600ml vegetable stock

400g Kilombero Brown Rice

Medium Curry Sauce

1 Heat onion and garlic, stirring until browned 2 Add ½ jar of Eswatini Kitchen Medium Curry Sauce 3 Add the chopped carrot and sweet potato 4 Add 340g of lentils and 600ml vegetable stock.

Bring to the boil and simmer for 25 minutes

Kilombero Brown Rice

5 Cook 400g Kilombero Brown Rice 6 When lentils and sweet potato are tender, mix and stir in 200ml of Ma’s Organic Coconut milk, then serve with rice…

Get to know us better...

CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FAIR TRADE RECIPES