While we are stereotypically a nation of tea drinkers, really coffee is just as popular a drink. I am a huge tea fan and don’t really have a relationship with coffee, although I’m drinking more mochas than ever before! But something that is important no matter what you’re drinking is how the drink is sourced.
It’s easy to not think about where our food and drink comes from, we only see the finished, packaged product and we all have a million and one things to think about everyday that we can be forgiven for not giving our food a second thought. Take a moment now though, and think about how the tea or coffee is grown, how it is harvested and how it is finished – there are people involved, and it’s so important that these people are not exploited.
This is where Cafédirect comes in – by no means the only Fairtrade tea and coffee brand, but importantly the first to bring Fairtrade Certified coffee to the UK. The company was created with three coffee growing communities from Mexico, Peru and Costa Rica each shipped a single container of coffee to the UK loaned on trust, the beans then roasted and sold in charity shops, churches and at local events. Three years later the Fairtrade mark was created, and Cafédirect became the first UK coffee brand to hold it.
Cafédirect buy direct from smallholder farmers and have built strong relationships with these expert suppliers. Not only do they pay the Fairtrade premium for the crops, Cafédirect also reinvest one third of profits into the co-operatives and communities of their farmers, whilst also listening to the producers who hold 2 out of the 8 seats on the Board so they can be involved in company decisions.
So if you’re looking for award winning, ethical and sustainable tea, coffee and hot chocolate Cafédirect is great to try. They never compromise on quality, so you know you’re getting a great cup of coffee, and since it’s ethically sourced you can be safe in the knowledge that not one person has been exploited for you to enjoy that great cup of coffee.