Fair Trade Month Highlights 2004

Fair Trade Month October 2004, designed to raise consumer awareness via national and regional media outreach, retail promotions, and consumer events, was TransFair’s largest-ever national consumer outreach program. By all accounts, Fair Trade Month effectively spread the word to hundreds of thousands of new consumers. Eight farmers visited six cities on both coasts and in the American heartland; retailers, clients, chefs and community groups participated – and the media rushed to report it all!
See here for the faces of Fair Trade Month>

Farmers and TransFair representatives toured six cities: Seattle, Portland, Eugene, Milwaukee, Boston, and Minneapolis. Here are a few highlights from our five city retail tour:

SEATTLE, PORTLAND, & EUGENE
For starters, in Seattle, Nicaraguan farmer Arminda Trochez met the media and food suppliers at PCC Markets, and visited community groups. A Pura Vida sponsored Seattle University event turned out over 100 supporters from the academic community. In Portland, Arminda was joined by Ecuadorian banana grower Jovany Coronel for a private media tasting hosted by Stumptown Coffee Roasters, with banana, coffee, and chocolate-enhanced treats by Portland’s own Chef Greg Higgins. Oregon’s Tao of Tea and chocolate products from Dagoba and Equal Exchange were also featured. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and Nell Newman held a media tasting at Sustainable Harvest.

MILWAUKEE
In Milwaukee, Nicaraguan coffee farmer César Gonzales joined Alterra Coffee Roasters, Rishi Tea and Divine Chocolates for a private media tasting hosted by Alterra and Chef Mark Weber of Watermark restaurant. César also spoke at Marquette University, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, and the Fratney Bi-lingual School. Caribou Coffee in Milwaukee also hosted César with an enthusiastic and welcoming group of Caribou employees, some of whom drove in from Chicago, hanging on to his every word. Stone Creek Coffee, Rishi Tea, and Omanhene Chocolates were featured at subsequent events. Banana fans in the heartland were further inspired with a Minneapolis farmer tour that got the attention of 300 consumers, produce buyers, and university students.

BOSTON
In Boston, coffee farmer Edmundo López pitched the Red Sox to victory (just kidding!). Edmundo of PRODECOOP joined coffee quality pundit George Howell of Terrior Coffee Company and Ecuadoran banana producer Iván Ramón in a visit to numerous cafés, businesses, and consumer groups. Almost 300 students at Tufts, MIT, Boston University, and Suffolk University turned out to meet coffee farmer Miguel Paz from Peru. Equal Exchange employees also were enthusiastic hosts, as Equal celebrated Coop Month with Miguel.

NEW YORK
New York City was the hub for a private media tasting, held at Chef Dan Barber’s Blue Hill Restaurant in Manhattan. Dallis Coffee Roasters joined TransFair in speaking to the media about the exceptional quality of Fair Trade coffees. NYU’s Food and Nutrition Department Chair Jennifer Berg hosted TransFair, Dallis Coffee Roasters, Gillies Coffee, and Rishi Tea, to discuss the future of food with food visionary Marion Nestle, author of “Food Politics,” and the media.

Did we mention media coverage? TransFair reached out to several hundred reporters, producers, editors, with a national PR pitch to newspapers, magazines, radio stations and TV shows, and intensive regional efforts in New England, New York City, Milwaukee, Portland and Seattle. To date, at least 65 media outlets (TV, Radio and Print) across the country have covered Fair Trade month, including the Boston Globe, WYNC (NPR affiliate in NYC), FoxNews and NBC News Milwaukee, Wisconsin Public Radio, NY Daily News, and many more. We estimate that several million potential consumers have been reached in the month of October alone with the Fair Trade message – proving that despite election fervor, baseball, and Halloween, Fair Trade is a hot topic. Additionally, starting in mid-September, TransFair sent out public service announcements to a targeted number of radio stations in 10 major US media markets; a total of 250 stations. Statistics are not currently available on how many stations actually aired the public service announcement. Finally, the Associated Press news wire ran a trend story on October 24th chronicling the success of Fair Trade Certified foods in the US. To date, at least 35 newspapers and alternative web sites across the country have carried the story. Those media outlets have a combined readership of approximately 3.5 million people.

A sincere thanks to all the clients and supporters who helped make our first annual Fair Trade Month such a rousing success! We’re already planning for next year.
See here for the faces of Fair Trade Month>