Fairtrade towns to top 500‏

Fair trade is growing fast with ever more Fairtrade towns that promote ethical shopping and even twin with their producer communities. A decade on from Garstang in Lancashire being declared as a Fairtrade town, the Fairtrade Foundation is set to crown the UK's 500th Fairtrade town, with Basingstoke and Deane borough in England, Fife in Scotland and the Welsh town of Llanelli all in the running. Fairtrade groups are as likely to be found in urban areas as in rural idylls. Twenty-three London boroughs have Fairtrade status, and Fairtrade cities include Edinburgh, Cardiff and Liverpool.

Win Chocolate for Fairtrade Fortnight

A competition for all chocolate lovers! All Divine chocolate products are Fairtrade certified and to celebrate Fairtrade Fortnight 2010 Divine have a hamper worth £100, filled with all chocolate-y goodies to giveaway. Details of all Divine competitions can be found here.

The Big Swap - Fairtrade Fortnight 2010

For this year's Fairtrade Fortnight we're asking the nation to join us in The Big Swap. For two whole weeks we'll be asking you to swap your usual stuff for Fairtrade stuff. Your usual bananas for Fairtrade bananas, your usual cotton socks for Fairtrade cotton socks, and your usual cuppa for a Fairtrade cuppa. This means that every time you go shopping, you can use your wallet to make a stand.

The Big Swap website is the home of all things swap, a hub for all your swapping needs. It tells you how to get involved, what you can swap and most importantly, how to register them. Because we need lots of swaps made. One million and one in fact. Every swap will be proof that the people of the UK want producers in the developing world to get a fairer deal.

Host a Cafédirect Tea Party this Fairtrade Fortnight

This Fairtrade Fortnight (22 Feb - 7 March), Cafédirect are asking tea drinkers to 'turn over a new leaf' and make The Big Swap to Cafédirect and our fantastic range of teas. Tea Parties are a great way to get people together, have some fun and try some truly exceptional tea. That's why they've created some fabulous kits packed full of everything you need to host your own Cafédirect tea party! Each kit is full of ideas to liven up your party, posters to promote the party, recipes to try as well as three packs of tea (English Breakfast, Earl Grey & Everyday Tea) - definitely enough tea to go around! Party guests will also receive money off coupon to use when they next go shopping! Join the Tea Party on Facebook, follow Cafédirect on Twitter and read the blog so you don't miss out on these fantastic kits!

International Tea Day

Today is International Tea Day - please ask the top 5 British tea brands to go Fairtrade and make every cuppa a fair cuppa.

The Make It Fair website has now launched - check out http://www.makeitfair.org.uk/ to find out about our new tea campaign!

Fairtrade Chic

The Fairtrade chic website describes itself as "your guide to buying fairtrade products and services in your country and area". The website aims to provide information about why you should buy Fairtrade, what products are available from fairtrade producers, and where in your area or online you can buy the fairtrade products.

New Fairtrade Towns website

A new Fairtrade Towns website has been created to enable supporters from around the world to share ideas and inspiration. Communities across the world are working to promote Fairtrade in their area, in order to enable more farmers and workers to get a better deal. In the process many communities are meeting goals to become recognised as a Fairtrade Town. On the website you can find resources and top tips from over 600 Fairtrade Town campaigns in different countries.

“…if I owned a chocolate company...”

Today is National Poetry Day.

Divine, the chocolate company owned by cocoa farmers, is delighted to announce the eighth annual national Divine Poetry Competition in association with Christian Aid. This year the mouthwatering theme is “…if I owned a chocolate company...” and the guest judge is top author Anthony Horowitz. This hugely popular nationwide competition which attracts thousands of entries each year. is open to all ages. The deadline for entries is Monday 21st December and the winners of great Divine prizes will be announced at the end of January 2010.

Divine and partner Christian Aid are asking aspiring poets to write a poem imagining how wonderful it would be to own their own chocolate company. They are asked to consider what sorts of delicious chocolate products they would make & sell as well as thinking about how they would ensure the cocoa farmers received a fair deal. Alternatively entrants can think about what it would be like for cocoa farmers to own their own chocolate company (like Divine) and what this would mean for the lives of their families & communities.

Still shopping ethically during the recession

A recent poll of Friends of Cafédirect asked them if they were still shopping ethically in the recession. By an overwhelming majority, 77% are still shopping ethically, 21% do sometimes and only 2% have stopped shopping ethically in the downturn.

Tea pickers lose jobs to machines

Cafédirect has tweeted that tea pickers in Kenya are losing jobs to machines. More than 800 tea pickers have been sent home after a multinational company in Kenya introduced tea picking machines. The workers of the Eastern Produce Tea Company in Nandi were ordered to vacate company houses immediately and those defying the directive were warned that they would be arrested and charged with trespass. The company’s decision protests from the Kenya Plantation and Agriculture Workers Union (KPAWU).

A top manager at the tea company told a government official that the firm had cut spending by half since it started using machines in some tea estates. He praised the machines, saying they could be manned by a few people and dismissed union leaders’ concerns that the quality of tea could be compromised.

Divine competition

Divine Fairtrade chocolate will be launching a new flavour in stores inthe autumn: 70% Dark Chocolate with Raspberries will join the range in September.

To become one of the first to try the rich dark chocolate infused with real zesty raspberries, enter the competition to win an exclusive bar. Closing date is 31 July.

World Fair Trade Day

Today is World Fair Trade Day - a global festival of Fair Trade with events organised worldwide to campaign for justice in trade. The theme for this year's World Fair Trade Day is Big Bang!

Toolkit and quiz for World Fair Trade Day (May 9th)

To celebrate World Fair Trade Day on May 9th, Cafédirect have created a short quiz that you can hold over a cup of delicious Cafédirect coffee, tea or hot chocolate at home with friends or in your work canteen. You can download the quiz, and get in touch to receive a Toolkit packed full of resources and delicious samples to make more of a bang!

• Download the quiz
• Order a Toolkit

Fasting and feasting

As Fairtrade Fortnight ends, check out the cartoon from Dave Walker on how Lent and Fairtrade Fortnight cancel out each other.

Top-selling chocolate to go Fairtrade

Cadbury and the Fairtrade Foundation today announced yesterday their plans to achieve Fairtrade certification for Cadbury Dairy Milk, the nation’s top selling chocolate bar, by end of Summer 2009. This groundbreaking move will result in the tripling of sales of cocoa under Fairtrade terms for cocoa farmers in Ghana, both increasing Fairtrade cocoa sales for existing certified farming groups, as well as opening up new opportunities for thousands more farmers to benefit from the Fairtrade system.

More posts on Fairtrade matters

20% off Fairtrade products

During Fairtrade Fortnight, the Co-op is offering 20% of all Fairtrade products. The Co-op was the first UK supermarket to launch anown brand Fairtrade product back in 2000, and stocks around 150 own brand products and over 50 branded Fairtrade products, providing the largest range of Fairtrade products in any UK supermarket.

Drink Fairtrade

Don't read on if you have given up alcohol for Lent...

Fairtrade wine used to be regarded as inferior but it's now seen as good value, fruity and easily drinkable. Check out Worthy, but tasty, an article about Fairtrade wine. Maybe you should try one of these bottles during Fairtrade Fortnight?

See also: Fairtrade communion wine

Fairtrade Fortnight 2009

Fairtrade Fortnight 2009 will be launched on London's South Bank on 22 February 2009. One of the activities will be Go Bananas! on 6-7 March when supporters are encouraged to eat a Fairtrade banana and be part of the world’s biggest banana event.

Ethical foods backed despite downturn

A recent poll has discovered that consumers are buying more Fairtrade and locally produced products despite the tough economic climate. In addition to locally-produced and Fairtrade foods, shoppers are concerned to purchase goods with higher animal welfare standards. Only organic foods have suffered a decline, food and grocery researchers IGD found in a poll of 1,051 shoppers conducted in December.

Remember the LOAF principle? It encourages people to choose food that meets at least one of the following criteria: Locally produced, Organically grown, Animal friendly or Fairly traded.

Film showing: Black Gold

Remember the blog posts about the Black Gold film last year? Black Gold is a film about fighting the injustice that coffee growers in Ethiopia face day-to-day, which traces one man's fight for a fair price.

The film will be shown at Loughborough University on Wednesday 22nd Oct in the EHB atrium. Fairtrade stalls and refreshments from 6.30pm. Film Screening @ 7.30pm. The film is supported by imago, ethics and enviro society, people and planet society and CAFF (Charnwood Action For Fairtrade)