15 Years of Bristol's Fair Trade Businesses

Our local Fair Trade businesses are something we’re very proud of. To celebrate Bristol's 15th as a Fairtrade City we asked a few of our local Fair Trade businesses what Fair Trade means to them, and how they as a business can support the movement by using, selling, or manufacturing Fair Trade products and supporting Fair Trade through policy, staff and public engagement.

The Swan

“We are a Fair Trade business because we are very community minded far and away and we want to help everyone far and wide.”

Wogan Coffee

“We're a Fair Trade business because at the core of our importing and roasting values, we believe in traceability and sustainability. It is hugely important for us to know that coffee producers on the farms that we choose to import our beans from are receiving a fair wage, which helps them to improve and enrich their and their families lives.”

The Community Farm

“We're a Fair Trade business because the destructive practices of intensive, centralised agricultural systems are undermined when small-scale farmers have a voice within supply chains and are able to obtain fairer prices for their produce, an ethos that we adamantly uphold in our ways of working and doing business at The Community Farm.”

Kool Skools

“We’re a Fairtrade business because we know that the sourcing on Fairtrade terms of ALL of our lovely cotton gives our cotton farmers two major benefits that, sadly, conventional cotton farmers in their marginalised cotton farming area do not receive: a fair and business-friendly price for their cotton; and the Fairtrade social premium for community development and improved farming techniques.

This is why we are proud to be part of the Fair Trade business family, and to see students all over the UK in our client schools wearing school uniform carrying that all-important Fairtrade cotton Mark.”

Tangent Books

“We’re a Fair Trade business because I’ve been to talks by producers visiting Bristol and heard first hand how buying Fair Trade directly benefits communities. New roads, schools and healthcare provision are just some of the benefits that producers and their communities see when you buy Fair Trade.”

New Kings Coffee

“We're a Fair Trade business because when I started my business and read that millions of farmers and workers who produce the food we love still don’t earn enough to feed their own families, I wanted my business to be part of the solution not part of the problem. Hence choosing Fairtrade coffee to put in our coffee bags was an absolute must from day one.”

Diana Porter

“We’re a Fair Trade business because we are committed to making jewellery from Fairtrade gold and are committed to responsible sourcing and ethical practices. Based on the simple idea that the products we sell are connected to the livelihoods of others, Fairtrade is a way to make a conscious choice for a better world, so since 2015, we have been producing all our gold rings in Fairtrade gold.”

Better Food

“We're a Fair Trade business because we believe that small-scale, non-intensive farming that puts farmers, their communities and their local environment before profit is the only way to achieve a truly sustainable future for our planet and its precious inhabitants. We want to give our customers the chance to be part of that future by choosing Fair Trade.”

In 2020, Bristol celebrates its 15th year as a Fairtrade City, marking fifteen years of campaigning from individuals, commitment from businesses and support from Bristol City Council. Hear from some of the individuals and organisations who are shaping Bristol's own fair future on what Bristol 15 years means to them.