Fair Trade Fortnight starts 7th May

MEDIA RELEASE
5th May 2011

Kiwis urged to get loud and proud as Fair Trade Fortnight starts this Saturday (7th May)

With just a day to go to the annual celebration of all things Fair Trade, the final touches are being added to events for Fair Trade Fortnight up and down the country. The aim is to spread the word about how buying Fairtrade products helps more than six million farmers, workers and their families living in poverty in 58 developing countries.

The theme of this year’s Fair Trade Fortnight is Show Off your Swap. Fairtrade ANZ CEO, Stephen Knapp said “We’re going a step further with Fortnight this year, we don’t just want people to swap to Fairtrade products, but to tell their friends and really shout about how buying everyday Fairtrade products such as coffee, tea, chocolate, bananas, cotton tees and sports balls helps provide a much better life for the people who grow the beans, cotton, bananas etc.
“We want to connect New Zealand consumers with growers. We want to be really bold about it so that many more people in developing countries can trade their way out of poverty, and I hope this year’s Fair Trade Fortnight will be the biggest and best yet and show the world that Kiwis care about making a major difference” said Mr Knapp.

As well as telling stories about how developing world producers benefit from Fair Trade, the Fortnight website encourages people to show off their swap for a chance to win. A$1,000 Mazzer professional grade coffee grinder with Eden coffee, and a Fair Trade hamper are on offer. Supporters are encouraged to upload a picture of themselves with their Fair Trade swap at www.fairtradefortnight.com

“New Zealand is one of the fastest growing markets in the world for Fairtrade Certified™ products. 51% of Kiwis recognise the FAIRTRADE Label and last year retail sales of Fairtrade products reached $36.6 million, that’s a 100% increase on the previous year” said Mr Knapp.

A wide array of events will be occurring across Fair Trade Fortnight around the country, including more than 1200 Oxfam Biggest Coffee Breaks. Wednesday 18th May is National Pay Fairtrade Forward Day, organised by the P3 Foundation. Kiwis will be called to action in a unique and thought provoking way. Pay Fairtrade Forward encourages customers in Fairtrade cafes to buy a drink and leave it as a gift for the next customer. That next customer in turn gets a free drink if they swap to Fairtrade, they are then asked if they’d also like to pay it forward and buy someone else a free Fairtrade drink. The Fairtrade gift is passed along and a domino effect is created. The result is not only advocating for Fairtrade and showing generosity but also benefiting Fairtrade producers in developing world countries.

For more information go to www.fairtradefortnight.com

ENDS

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