Vodafone Netherlands has switched the coffee in its offices to Fair Trade trade supplied brands. In the past few weeks all the coffee machines in the Vodafone offices in Maastricht have been converted to Max Havelaar coffee. The catering department serves this coffee too in every meeting at Vodafone.
The supplier, the Fair Trade organisation, guarantees fair trading prices to coffee growers in Third World countries thus improving their living conditions.
Fairtrade Labelling was created in response to the request of coffee farmers in southern Mexico. In 1986 they told the development co-operation organisation Solidaridad that instead of aid they needed trade.
Working in partnership with the farmers, the first Fairtrade Label was created in the Netherlands two years later. Today, there are 17 Fairtrade Labelling Organisations that included initiatives in the UK, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, USA and Japan.
Staff get through 1.5 million cups of coffee each year."
Posted to the site on 5th January 2004
Posted to: www.cellular-news.com/story/10369.php