Trade Aid media release, 5th May, 2002

"Give us a break", say Nescafe's coffee farmers.

So Nestle has increased its prize pool for a promotion to a "whopping" quarter of a million Aussie dollars. Ever wonder how they can afford to do that? One reason is that world coffee prices are so low families are starving and leaving their lands. Another is that small coffee farmers around the globe are paid a pittance by multinational giants like Nestle. A third is that the price of Nescafe hasn't dropped in line with the market price they pay for coffee. It all means more money going into Swiss banks.

The social and environmental crisis for one hundred million people whose lives depend on coffee is acute. A small but growing percentage of them are finding hope in certified fair trade coffee. It guarantees a living wage is paid directly to farmers. This means they can stay on their land, afford to send their children to school and provide basic community amenities.

Last year Sam Neill kindly lent his name to our fair trade coffee campaign. Thousands of New Zealanders signed the pledge to support fair trade coffee. Nestle refused to reply to our request for their position on the matter. Meanwhile farmers and their children are living in poverty while the coffee corporates get fat. We think the response from farmers to Nescafe's promotion would be "give us a break".

If the corporates won’t listen to the voice of consumers we know they will listen to our dollar. So buy only fair trade coffee, and ask Nestle what they're doing about paying a fair price to coffee farmers. Trade Aid sells certified, organic fair trade coffee, freshly ground in NZ. To find out more about how fair trade makes a difference visit www.tradeaid.co.nz.

ENDS. .

Simon Gerathy Campaigns Manager Trade Aid Aotearoa/New Zealand ph 64 3 385 3535 fax 64 3 385 3536 mobile 025 937 875 email simong@tradeaid.co.nz web www.tradeaid.co.nz

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