Record Number of Fair Trade Certified™ Products Bring "Global Farmers' Market" to Fancy Food New York
Oakland, CA (July 03, 2007) - TransFair USA will showcase a record number of Fair Trade Certified™ products at this year's Fancy Food Show, July 8-10, in New York City. In its fifth year of exhibiting at the largest of the Fancy Food trade shows, TransFair USA, the nation's only independent, third-party certifier of Fair Trade products, will showcase more than 55 brands and 300 products. Products represented will contain Fair Trade Certified specialty coffee, cocoa and chocolate, sugar and rice.
"Showcasing our licensees' products demonstrates that a breadth of well-known food brands in America actually offer Fair Trade Certified products," said Sandra Beaton, director of channel development for TransFair USA. "The Fair Trade system really acts as a 'global farmer's market,'" Beaton added. "Fair Trade Certified products represent the work of farmers around the world, and this show is our opportunity to illustrate the scope of the Fair Trade community at the product level."
The brands represented in the TransFair USA booth will include specialty food products from companies small to large. Many licensees, such as John Simmons, CEO of Third Street Chai in Boulder, Colo., emphasize quality as one motivation for carrying Fair Trade Certified products.
"Our company made the decision to source Fair Trade Certified ingredients whenever possible because we brew from scratch, and the quality of the teas we use is crucial," said Simmons. The micro-brewery uses 100% Fair Trade Certified teas in all seven of its different flavors. "Our partnership with TransFair is important to our business, because we believe in setting the highest possible standard for quality throughout the supply chain," Simmons added.
Visit Booth #4449 at the New York Fancy Food Show at the Jacob K. Javits Center, July 8-10, to see the scope of specialty foods bearing the Fair Trade Certified label and to speak with TransFair USA experts.
About TransFair USA
TransFair USA is the only independent, third-party certifier of Fair Trade Certified™ products in the United States. TransFair USA audits and certifies transactions between U.S. companies offering Fair Trade Certified products and their international suppliers to guarantee that the farmers and workers producing Fair Trade Certified goods were paid fair prices and wages. TransFair USA certifies coffee, tea, herbs, vanilla, cocoa, chocolate, rice, sugar and bananas. Visit www.FairTradeCertified.org.
The following brands will comprise the Fair Trade Certified product showcase in the TransFair USA booth #4449 at Fancy Food New York 2007:
Alexandra Watlington Candy Company, AlterEco, Alterra, Ben and Jerry's, Café Altura, Café Bom Dia, Café Mam (Royal Blue Organics), Caffe Ibis, Celestial Seasonings, Choice Organic Teas, Coffee Labs Roasters, Crescent Moon Coffee Roasters, Dagoba Organic Chocolate, de la Paz Coffee, Devas, Divine Chocolate Company USA, Ecco Bella, Eco – Prima Incorporated, Enchanted Teas, Equal Exchange, Food for Thought, Frontier Natural Products Cooperative, Gorilla Coffee, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters/java pop, Grounds for Change, Guittard, Honest Tea, Ithaca Fine Chocolates, Java Joe's Coffee, K&F Select Fine Coffees, Lara Bar, Light of Day Organics LLC, Longo Coffee & Tea, Moka Joe, Mountain Rose Herbs, Numi Organic Tea, Orpha's Coffee Roasters, Pachamama, Pacific Natural foods, Paramount Coffee Company, Perk & Brew, Pierce Brox Coffee Roasters. Queen City Coffee Company, Queen Helene, Republic of Tea, Rishi Tea, Robin's Chocolate Sauce, Sencha Naturals, Serendipitea, Shaman Chocolates, Starbucks, Steaz – Healthy Beverage Company, Stone Creek Coffee, Sunspire, Swiss Water Decaf, Tea Masters Ceylon, Temptation = Chicago Soy Dairy, Theo Chocolate/3400 Phinney, Third Street Chai, Tony's Coffee, Traditional Medicinals, Tully's Coffee, Vasquez Coffee Company, Veloce Coffee, White Heron Tea LLC, Wholesome Sweeteners, Zhena's Gypsy Tea
About Fair Trade Certified™
Fair Trade Certified is an innovative, market-based approach to sustainable development that helps farmers and workers in the global South benefit from international trade, while offering a simple way for consumers to know that their products were produced in a responsible manner. Fair Trade Certified farmers are guaranteed a fair price for their crop, and learn how to compete in the global marketplace through direct, long-term contracts with international buyers. This empowerment lifts farming families from poverty through trade, not aid, keeping food on the table, children in school and families on their land. Fair Trade Certified workers are guaranteed fair wages and safe working conditions, and forced child labor is prohibited. Fair Trade Certified producers are also paid an additional social premium for use on long-term community and business development projects such as healthcare, scholarships, women's leadership initiatives and micro-finance programs, as voted on by the farmers and workers themselves.
Snapshot of Fair Trade Certified's impact*
- Fair Trade Certified imports (measured in overall pounds) grew by 53% between 1999 and 2006.
- Since 1999, TransFair USA has certified nearly 217 million pounds of coffee, cocoa, tea, herbs, rice, sugar, vanilla, bananas, mangoes, pineapples and grapes.
- Fair Trade Certified products have generated more than $94 million in additional, above-market revenue for farmers in 60 developing countries throughout Latin America, Africa and Asia since 1999.
- Fair Trade Certified products benefit more than 1.2 million farmers worldwide and farm workers in Africa, Asia and Central and South America.
- Nearly 700 U.S. companies now sell Fair Trade Certified products in approximately 40,000 retail locations nationwide, including supermarkets, club stores, cafés, restaurants, specialty food stores, college campuses and faith-based organizations.
- Fair Trade Certified products have won some of the food industry's top quality awards including recognition from the Cup of Excellence, Ken Davids' Coffee Review, Food & Wine Magazine, the American Culinary Institute, The Times of London and Progressive Grocer Magazine.
*Updated July 2, 2007 by TransFair USA. All figures are sourced internally using tracking data.
Contact:
Anthony Marek
PR director, TransFair USA
510.663.5260 ext. 346
amarek@transfairusa.org
