Fair Trade Month Highlights 2005

Fair Trade Month 2005 was an amazing success with events and promotions nationwide! Fair Trade Coalitions, non-profits, schools, cafes, churches, grocery stores, and countless other businesses and consumers participated - the Fair Trade message reached an estimated 30 million people this year! Some of the highlights from the month are listed below . . .

PR

TransFair USA reached out to several hundred reporters, producers and editors with a national PR pitch to newspapers, magazines, radio stations and TV shows, with intensive regional efforts in Boston, San Francisco, Chicago, Ohio, Colorado and New York City.

• At least 75 media outlets across the country covered Fair Trade Month, and an estimated 30 million consumers heard about Fair Trade Month through TV, radio and newspapers!
• Print - Articles ran in papers such as the Denver Post, the Plain Dealer, the Baltimore Sun, the Daily Camera, Rocky Mountain News, Akron Beacon Journal, Epoch Times and a number of college papers.
• Radio - Interviews were broadcast on stations around the country, including Voice of America, KGO and KUSF in San Francisco, KGNU in Boulder, WNYC in New York, and WBZ in Boston.
• TV - Segments ran on ABC Broadband's Money Matters Show, NBC4 and the local channel 7 in Denver, and the NBC TV affiliate in Columbus, Ohio.
• A Radio News Release was broadcast 853 times across 749 radio stations around the country and reached an estimated 5,268,000 listeners.

PROMOTIONS AND ADVERTISING
In order to spur sales, retailers nationwide discounted at least 75 Fair Trade Certified products during the month of October. Public transit ads were placed in stations across Boston and San Francisco, and over 80 college campuses in NYC, Boston, Denver, Chicago and Cleveland were plastered with Fair Trade Month posters. Many companies that manufacture Fair Trade Certified products also participated in a special advertising section in Utne magazine. Industry ads were placed in Supermarket News, Progressive Grocer, Buyers Club ad (UNFI), the Tree of Life catalogue, Cooperative Grocer, and Food and Drink.

RETAIL DISPLAY CONTEST
TransFair USA sponsored the first Retail Display Contest of Fair Trade Certified products this year. Major chains such as Sam's Club, Wild Oats, Giant Eagle and Whole Foods participated, along with many independent grocers. Elevating the store presence of FTC products increased customer awareness of FTC, which in turn increased the purchase rate for these products; some participating stores reported a sales lift of over 500% for October. Winners in three categories will be announced in December - stay tuned to find out which stores will win trips to Costa Rica!

EVENTS
Farmers from Fair Trade Certified cooperatives and TransFair USA representatives toured five cities during Fair Trade Month this year: New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Denver and Cleveland. More than 70 events were attended by over 2500 students, retail employees, church members, grocery shoppers, café patrons and others.

New York City - Justino Peck from the Toledo Cacao Growers Association and Ella Silverman, Cocoa Accounts Manager with TransFair USA, visited New York City in early October to present at events organized by the New York Fair Trade Coalition, United Students for Fair Trade, interrupcion* and many others .  They participated in classes, panels and conferences at Columbia and NYU and attended events promoting Fair Trade Certified products at retail locations such as Wild Oats, Pret a Manger and Habana Outpost .   They also met with students at the Promise Academy in Harlem and the General Theological Seminary.  In mid-October, Shelly Kaldunski, senior food editor for Martha Stewart Living, hosted "Sweet Success: Professional Secrets to Perfect Desserts," a baking workshop at the French Culinary Institute that featured Pauline McKee of Wholesome Sweeteners.  TransFair USA also provided gift bags filled with Fair Trade Certified products, and information for the post-performance reception of the Symphonic Eurythmy Tour 2005 at the Juilliard & Manhattan School of Music .

San Francisco - Fatima Ismael from the Soppexcca Cooperative and Jennifer McKay, Producer Relations Associate with TransFair USA, toured the Bay Area and ENGAGE, a nationwide non-profit, hosted three rice farmers from a Fair Trade Certified cooperative in Thailand.  To kick-off Fair Trade Month, Alter Eco hosted a Fair Trade breakfast at the award-winning vegetarian restaurant, Millennium.  Educational events were held at UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz and the University of San Francisco.  A t the Bioneers Conference in San Rafael, Fatima participated in a panel with Kevin Danaher, author and co-founder of the human rights organization Global Exchange; Paul Katzeff, co-founder and CEO of Thanksgiving Coffee, and co-founder of the Specialty Coffee Association of America; and Valerie Orth, the Sweat Free Communities organizer at Global Exchange.  Fatima was also on-hand at Santa Clara's Barefoot Coffee Roasters for a traditional coffee cupping, and at Nomad Café with John di Ruocco, the roastmaster for Oakland roaster, Mr. Espresso.   To round out the month, The Young Women's Social Entrepreneurs, the Young Professional's International Forum and Net Impact sponsored an evening of sumptuous Fair Trade Certified chocolate desserts and Fair Trade Certified coffee cocktails at Rx Gallery & Lounge in San Francisco.  A few days later, Nell Newman, President of Newman's Own Organics and daughter of actors Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, served samples of her organic, Fair Trade Certified Green Mountain Coffee at a San Francisco-area Albertsons. 

Chicago - Fatima Ismael also visited Chicago with Charlotte Opal, New Products Manager with TransFair USA.  October in Chicago started with the amazing and inspirational Fair Trade Futures Conference, led by the Fair Trade Resource Network and the Fair Trade Federation.  TransFair USA led several panels and was a major sponsor of the inaugural conference.  ENGAGE and three rice farmers from a Fair Trade Certified cooperative in Thailand participated in a presentation at Angelic Organic Farms and the University of Chicago.  Fatima and Charlotte participated in the grand re-opening of the Evanston Wild Oats, presented at a Loyola University event hosted by Pura Vida, and spoke during a tasting event at Thyme Restaurant led by the Chicago Committee on Fair Trade.  They also spoke to students at the Inter-American School in Chicago, and met with employees of Coffee Masters in Spring Grove, Illinois.

Colorado - Jovanny Coronel, a banana farmer from El Guabo cooperative in Ecuador, and Hannah Freeman, Produce Accounts Manager with TransFair USA, and Sarah Christensen, Retail Accounts Associate with TransFair USA, gave presentations about Fair Trade throughout Colorado.  They facilitated Fair Trade Certified product tastings for customers and staff at Colorado Wild Oats stores and the Boulder Co-op.  Jovanny spoke at the Jefferson Unitarian Church in Golden, to students at the University of Denver and to first- and third-graders at the Academia Ana Marie Sandoval Elementary, where students ate banana splits made with Fair Trade Certified ingredients donated by Wild Oats.  Members of the press were treated to desserts made with Fair Trade Certified ingredients at Rioja restaurant in Denver, and Nell Newman was at the Glendale Wild Oats for a book signing and Fair Trade Certified coffee sampling later in the month.  The Sam's Club in Colorado Springs also hosted a Fair Trade Certified coffee tasting and brewing demonstration. 

Ohio - Jovanny Coronel then traveled to Cleveland, Ohio where he and Lauren Friedman, Producer Relations Associate with TransFair USA, spoke to students, staff and the public at John Carroll University in University Heights.  Afterwards they spoke with four economics classes at Magnificat High School in Rocky River about the cooperative model, and how Fair Trade improves the quality of life for producers, followed by a similar presentation at the Crown Point Ecology Center in Bath.  Jovanny was also on hand at the Mustard Seed Markets in Akron and Solon, as well as the Woodmere Wild Oats, for samplings of Fair Trade Certified products.

In addition to TransFair USA-sponsored events, Fair Trade supporters held independent events in cities across the nation.  Totals are still being tallied, but in preparation for Fair Trade Month events, orders for promotional materials jumped from about 80 in August, to over 220 in September, and held steady at around 180 during October.  The average size of the orders increased tremendously as well. 

Thank you to everyone who helped promote Fair Trade this month.  We're looking forward to next year - start planning with us now!  Let us know if you have any suggestions, or would like to have your city be considered for one of our farmer tours: ftmonth@transfairusa.org