Certified Fair Trade Products Spreading Across USA

INSIDE THE BEAT:

* Coffee Ice Cream Brings Fair Trade Label Into Frozen Foods
* New Product Launch - Saaaa-weet!
* Shop 'til you Drop
* Peru goes Bananas
* Kickin' Campus Campaigns
* Catholic Relief Services Expands Fair Trade Coffee Program
* United Students for Fair Trade, Presente!
* To Market, To Market...
* Co-op Close Up
* Happy World Fair Trade Day
* Fair Trade Featured in Online Chat
* Save the Date: October is Fair Trade Month
* Do you Fair Trade?

Spring 2005 FAIR TRADE HAPPENINGS Coffee Ice Cream Brings Fair Trade Label Into Frozen Foods Ben and Jerry's, a well-known US ice cream company, continues its 27-year commitment of supporting positive social and environmental change by recently introducing three ice cream flavors made with Fair Trade Certified coffee extract. Ben and Jerry's is the first ice cream maker in the US to introduce coffee flavors made with Fair Trade Certified coffee.

This AP story ran in newspapers across California, Nevada and Vermont.

New Product Launch - Saaaa-weet!
We are proud to announce that TransFair USA has officially started to certify sugar for the US market. In Europe, demand for Fair Trade Certified sugar expanded by roughly 220% in 2003, from 650 tons to 1430 tons. In the US, the launch of Fair Trade Certified sugar represents a new direction in the growth of Fair Trade products and relationships. Fair Trade Certified sugar is available from Costa Rica, Malawi, Paraguay, Peru, and the Philippines.

We have three sugar licensees: Alter Eco (boxes of sugar), Equal Exchange (sugar packets), and Wholesome Sweeteners (packets, bulk, and boxes). You can expect to see the product on retail shelves in the US this June.

Shop Otil you Drop Costco is currently offering three Kirkland Signature Fair Trade Certified coffee blends. Look for House Blend, Decaf or Espresso at a Costco near you!

Target Stores has launched four FTC coffee blends under its Archer Farms label. Over 1350 Target stores will carry one or more of these FTC coffees. Also, look for FTC coffees in the following grocery chains: Giant Eagle (150 stores in Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, W. Virginia and Maryland), Farm Fresh (40 stores in Virginia) and Gordmans (190 stores in the Midwest) Additionally, in the first quarter of 2004, TransFair added 20 new coffee roasters to our ever-growing list of licensed partners.

Peru goes Bananas Aproeco, a Peruvian Fair Trade coffee and mango producing group, has just completed it's first harvest of organic Fair Trade bananas, to be shipped to the East Coast and Midwest. This is the first time members of Aproeco have planted, harvested and packed bananas. Bravo, APROECO!

FRIENDS OF FAIR TRADE Kickin' Campus Campaigns:
Do YOU know of a campus Fair Trade campaign? Let us know! We'll be happy to highlight it in the next edition of the Fair Trade Beat.

* The Students for Peace and Justice at Suffolk University in Boston, MA are proud to announce that the largest and most frequented cafeteria on campus will serve only locally roasted 100% Fair Trade Certified coffee from the worker-owned Equal Exchange roaster starting 4/05. In the words of one student leader, "Though this is a small victory for our world community and us in general, we feel as though it's just one small step forward toward that greater realization of a more just world we all strive to achieve."

* Efforts to raise awareness and get more Fair Trade on campus are also underway at St. Norberts College in De Pere, WI, Northeastern University in Boston, MA, Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA, American University in Washington, DC, and Luther College in Decorah, IA.

* At California Polytechnic State University in CA, students in the Food Science and Nutrition Department have developed Fair Trade Certified chocolates for sale on campus and in local grocery stores and markets. For details, click here Catholic Relief Services Expands Fair Trade Coffee Program The CRS Fair Trade Program now partners with 14 Fair Trade coffee companies throughout the United States to connect more than 67 million Catholics to the growing Fair Trade movement. These 14 unique companies are all united by their deep commitment to the farmers who grow the coffee they sell. They are also united by their commitment to CRS ­ for every pound of coffee purchased through the CRS Fair Trade Program, participating companies will donate a percentage to support CRS's Fair Trade work on behalf of low-income farmers overseas.

CRS has also announced it will launch the CRS Fair Trade Chocolate Program in September 2005! The program will be designed to support school and parish fundraisers, and will feature Fair Trade Certified Divine chocolate bars already available through the Work of Human Hands catalog. Visit www.crsfairtrade.org for more information.

United Students for Fair Trade, Presente! 35 students from 20 different schools and 10 states turned up for the Specialty Coffee Association of America Conference in Seattle this April.

In the words of one USFT organizer, "On the SCAA exhibition floor we were able to meet and talk with many people about what we do and why we do it.

Students reported that the weekend was very motivating and provided them with lots of new information and ideas that they will take back to their campuses. It was a great chance for students new to the Fair Trade movement to meet other students and get a good inside look at the heart of the movement - its successes as well as obstacles. Plus, we had a lot of fun and built many new relationships that will be assets as we further our individual and communal work."

To learn more, click here FROM THE FARMERS...

To Market, To MarketS
In April, a record 126 producers representing 35 Fair Trade cooperatives from 14 countries participated in the Specialty Coffee Association of America Conference in Seattle, Washington. The conference and preceding 2-day Fair Trade Forum was a huge success. Presentations on Fair Trade in a high priced market, risk management, and pre-financing were all part of this year's Fair Trade Forum. Producer groups that participated in SCAA 2005 reported record sales at the event. The groups also reported generating over a hundred new contacts or leads for sales. The Producer Relations department at TransFair coordinated more than 50 industry-producer meetings, including a coffee cupping event at Starbucks for 20 coffee producer groups.

Congratulations to all!

Top Marks for Fair Trade Coffee Twelve Fair Trade producer groups were ranked in the top 10 highest-scoring coffees of their region in the SCAA Cupping Pavilion Competition. In the final round, the cuppers (judges) compared coffee from all regions to choose the top 10 coffees worldwide. Two of our very own Ethiopian producers, Sidama and Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperatives, were ranked in the top seven! With an impressive score of 88.86 out of 100, Sidama was awarded the title of second best coffee among all Cupping Pavilion contestants!

Congratulations to all Fair Trade producers for growing and submitting fantastic coffees and further demonstrating that Fair Trade = Quality.

Cooperative Close-Up

COARENE and RAOS are both members of Honduras' La Coordinadora organization that helps its member co-ops with marketing and export resources. COARENE has been registered with FLO since 1993 and RAOS since 1997 and both co-ops represent over 600 members in Intibuca and La Paz, respectively. Of RAOS' 400 members, over 225 are female, all of whom are incorporated fully into the organization. With Fair Trade revenue the co-ops have implemented the following projects: crop diversification, animal husbandry, soil conservation, technical assistance, and a scholarship program for members' children.

"Before I became a member of COARENE, I used to sell my coffee to intermediaries and I hardly ever made a profit. But now that I am a member of a Fair Trade co-op and started producing organic coffee, things began to change to send my kids to school."

SOPPEXCCA
Fair Trade certified since 1998, SOPPEXCCA is a coffee cooperative comprised of over 650 producers, 65% of which are female, from northern Nicaragua.

The co-op has provided members with technical assistance, established a woman's collective through which women produce and market their own coffee, and implemented a credit program sales. Demonstrating the cooperative's commitment to producing coffee of the highest quality, the co-op participated in the 2004 Nicaraguan "Cup of Excellence," in which members submitted 3 of the top 20 coffees.

³If it had not been for Fair Trade and the opportunities that SOPPEXCCA has provided for women, I never would have had the opportunity to participate in cupping competitions, and I never would have known that my coffee is among the best in Nicaragua.² FAIR TRADE AND YOU Happy World Fair Trade Day!

On May 14, Fair Trade supporters held events in over 60 countries worldwide, including Fair Trade radio programs in Africa, Fair Trade fashion shows in Europe, Fair Trade community discussions in Asia, Fair Trade Festivals in the US and Canada, and much more. Many TransFair USA partners celebrated World Fair Trade Day, including Starbucks, who offered Fair Trade Certified coffee as the Coffee of the Week at its more than 6,600 stores in the United States and Canada throughout the week of May 9-15.

Fair Trade featured in online chat As a recipient of the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, TransFair USA was invited to host an online chat session on Social Edge May 24 ­ 27.

Social Edge is a website where social entrepreneurs, their partners and allies connect to discuss cutting-edge issues, network, learn, inspire and share resources. TransFair USA's online discussion, entitled "The Business of Fair Trade," was led by VP for Policy and Development Martha Jimenez. To read the lively dialogue about the fair trade model, its impact at home and abroad, and its future - click here Save the Date:

October is Fair Trade Month. Join TransFair USA and thousands of student groups, community organizations, grocery stores, cafes, chefs, and consumers around the nation in promoting Fair Trade during the month of October. We will be focusing on the San Francisco Bay area, Denver/Boulder, Chicago, New York City, and Northern Ohio. Stay tuned for a farmer visit near you!

Contact FTmonth@transfairusa.org for more info ­ and to give us your ideas for creative events during the month. Live a Fair Trade Life. Participate in the Fair Trade Conference, hosted by the Fair Trade Federation and Fair Trade Resource Network, September 30 - October 2, 2005 in Chicago, IL. Go to www.fairtradefutures.org to learn more.

Do you Fair Trade?

We've distributed thousands of "I Fair Trade" iron-on transfers to Fair Trade lovers all across the country, and now we'd like to see how they look!

Please send us digital photos of you and your friends wearing your "I Fair Trade" T's and we'll post the best shots on our website.

Send to Jean@transfairusa.org.

FAIR TRADE AND YOU

* Buy Fair Trade Certified products
* Learn more about Fair Trade
* Get involved!

Photos: TransFair USA, Scott Chernis

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