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Small Kiwi Company named the world’s ‘fairest trader’

Published: Fri 13 Jun 2014 09:08 AM
Small Kiwi Company named the world’s ‘fairest trader’
Most Kiwis believe everyone deserves a ‘fair go’ and according to Pulitzer Prize-winning American historian, author and scholar David Hackett Fischer, “on the subject of fairness, no nation in the world has more to teach than New Zealand.”
Now a small Kiwi food & drink company has been recognised as one of the fairest in the world.
Fairtrade International, a global not-for-profit organisation that oversees 27,000 products that carry the Fairtrade mark in 120 countries, has named New Zealand’s All Good Organics as the world’s ‘fairest trader.’
The accolade will be announced at the International Fairtrade Awards, which take place as part of Fairtrade International General Assembly in Bonn, Germany on Friday June 13, at 4.30am (NZT). The Fairtrade International Fairtrade Trader award recognises outstanding and special efforts from traders worldwide, especially those involved in innovative projects and programmes.
According to International Fairtrade Awards judges, All Good ‘demonstrated a strong commitment to Fairtrade and engagement with Fairtrade producers; for having created an innovative Fairtrade product and for their significant contributions to the growth of Fairtrade sales and awareness in New Zealand.’
Kiwi owned and operated All Good are known in New Zealand for Fairtrade Bananas helping small banana farmers in Ecuador and Samoa and more recently with Karma Cola, a soft drink that is helping people in Sierra Leone rebuild their lives in the aftermath of war.
There’s a 1950’s song that goes, “if you want to be the top banana you have to start at the bottom of the bunch,” says All Good Director and Founder Simon Coley. “It certainly applies to us. The banana industry is big, its history isn’t pretty, it’s littered with failed dreams and there have been many times we’ve wondered if we’d bitten off more than we could chew. When we launched New Zealand’s first Fairtrade bananas just over four years ago we were told that no one would want to pay $1 more a bunch. But we’ve shown Kiwis where their bananas come from and why it's a good idea to buy the ones that directly support growers, their families and the environment – the All Good ones.
“The international Fairtrade Trader award is fantastic recognition for our team and the work we’ve done to put All Good Fairtrade bananas on the map in New Zealand. Kiwi consumers have rallied behind our truly ethical fruit and we are now on sale in supermarkets throughout the country.
“Support from conscious Kiwi consumers gave us the confidence to create Karma Cola – to do the same for soft drinks and give a face and a voice, for the first time in the history of cola, to the people who grow its naming ingredient in Sierra Leone.”
Simon Coley, Chris Morrison founder of Phoenix Organics and his brother Matt Morrison conceived the idea for All Good on a West Auckland beach over 5 years ago. They started with bananas because they are the most consumed supermarket commodity and arguably one of the least ethical. In 2010 they began importing New Zealand’s first Fairtrade bananas from the El Guabo Fairtrade cooperative of small banana farmers in Ecuador.
In 2012, they launched Karma Cola to address the injustice in the fact that every day the world consumes more than 1.7 billion cola drinks, yet very few contain real cola and the people who grow the name ingredient don’t get a cent. Proceeds from the sale of every bottle are going back to the Boma village in Sierra Leone to help the people who grow the cola rebuild their lives in the aftermath of war.
Four years on, All Good bananas can be found in supermarkets throughout the country and Karma Cola and its brother and sister drinks Lemmy and Gingerella, are now on sale in cafes, restaurants and bars throughout New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore, and as of last month London. An idea that came to life in West Auckland is now benefitting people in West Africa, Ecuador, Samoa, Sri Lanka and India.
All Good Bananas are also on sale in New World, Pak’nSave and Four Square, and independent grocers such as Moore Wilson, Farro Fresh, Fruit World, Nosh and Huckleberry Farms.
Ends

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