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How green is your coffee shop?

Posted by Cafédirect, May 22nd, 2012, Comments (0)

Do you own a café and want to make it greener? If so our newly launched EcoToolkit will help you find out what more you can do. When we first carried out a study to identify the environmental impact of our products; we were surprised to find out that … Read more

A storm in a coffee cup…

Posted by Cafédirect, May 14th, 2012, Comments (0)

We’re often reminded that climate change is one of the biggest challenges we face globally today. And yet sometimes we can get lost in the overwhelming scale of the problem. But, if like us, one of the highlights of your day is a great cup of coffee, then the challenges … Read more

WeFarm comes to life!

Posted by Cafedirect Producers Foundation, May 2nd, 2012, Comments (0)

The Cafédirect Producers’ Foundation (CPF) is proud to introduce our new WeFarm Video! Created by award-winning agency Airside, the video comes shortly after our we completed our first international WeFarm pilot project, where 30 farmers in rural Peru spent two days exchanging knowledge and ideas with 15 smallholder tea farmers … Read more

Cafédirect shortlisted for the European Business Awards for the Environment!

Posted by Jacquie, March 21st, 2012, Comments (0)

We are very proud to announce that we have been selected as a UK finalist in the European Business Awards for the Environment! The finalists are shortlisted from all the winners and runners up of the UK’s most prestigious environmental awards. Only a select few can go through to … Read more

Landslides and coffee: our first Producer Conference of 2012

Posted by Cafédirect, March 7th, 2012, Comments (0)

Each year Cafédirect holds producer partner update meetings in three corners of the globe: Latin America, Central America and Africa. They are always a great opportunity for those of us based in London to meet with representatives from of each of the cooperatives and really understand what’s going on with … Read more

Every step you take…

Posted by Cafédirect, February 27th, 2012, Comments (0)

Cafédirect is committed, not only to paying a fair price to smallholder growers, but to taking ‘Fairtrade’ principles even further by reinvesting at least a third of our profits back into the producers’ communities and businesses (we’ve re-invested around 50% to date). We believe that this results in sustainable livelihoods … Read more

Free energy-saving kit from Ecotricity

Posted by Emily, February 24th, 2012, Comments (0)

Did you know that a large part of the carbon footprint of a cup of our tea, coffee or cocoa is generated through the actual making of hot drinks? Whether that’s a kettle at home or a machine in a coffee shop, the energy used to prepare a cup … Read more

Cafedirect at COP17

Posted by Cafédirect, December 9th, 2011, Comments (0)

By Wolfgang Weinmann, Head of Strategic Development at Cafedirect What’s the new buzzword around climate change for the agricultural sector? No, you won’t guess – its ‘Climate-smart agriculture’! That’s what was on everyone’s lips during my days at COP17, the UN Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa. The … Read more

A storm brewing in the world of “fair trade”

Posted by Whitney, December 2nd, 2011, Comments (0)

Division is no stranger to any social/political/environmental movement … and recently there’s been a major division in the fair trade movement. Fair Trade USA, the leading advocate in the United States, is splitting from Fairtrade International, the umbrella group that currently coordinates fair trade activities under a single … Read more

You, me and working trees – the International Year of Forests

Posted by Cafédirect, November 15th, 2011, Comments (0)

2011 is the United Nations’ International Year of Forests, and the World Agroforestry Centre is running a major campaign called BusyTrees to educate the public about the importance of agroforestry. We invited BusyTrees to write this guest post to let us know a little bit more about the project. What … Read more

São Tomé and San Cristobal hot chocolates launch in Waitrose!

Posted by Cafédirect, November 8th, 2011, Comments (0)

It’s officially a great month for all the hot chocolate lovers out there. We are thrilled that not one but BOTH of our hot chocolates are now available in Waitrose stores across the country. For those that shop in Waitrose, the winter months are saved and sophisticated, luxurious drinks are … Read more

Introducing the Cafedirect Foodservice Eco-Toolkit

Posted by Whitney, October 28th, 2011, Comments (0)

Since our first carbon footprint back in 2005, we’ve known that the carbon impact associated with consuming our products makes up the majority of the product’s footprint. Consumption is considered to be any activity related to eating or drinking a product such as kettle boiling. This is especially true with … Read more

Visiting Cesmach at their Annual General Meeting!

Posted by Paul, October 19th, 2011, Comments (0)

I recently had the fantastic opportunity to have a presentation at the CESMACH Annual General Meeting (AGM); this cooperative is one of our partners in Mexico, and is a proud producer of organic and sustainable coffee. Cesmach members live around the buffer zone of “El Triunfo Natural Reserve” and a … Read more

Introducing Emily!

Posted by Emily, October 13th, 2011, Comments (1)

My name is Emily and I’m the newest member of the Cafédirect team. I thought I’d best introduce myself as you’ll be hearing a lot more from me from now on! I am now coming to the end of my first week here – and what a week it’s been. … Read more

Guest post from Cafedirect Producers’ Foundation

Posted by Cafédirect, October 3rd, 2011, Comments (0)

Today we have a guest post from Kenny at the Cafédirect Producers’ Foundation updating us on one of the projects at origin. As some of you may know, we not only pay growers a fair price for their crop (as per fairtrade regulations), but in addition, we also fund a programme of … Read more

Award winning taste!

Posted by Jacquie, July 28th, 2011, Comments (0)

We’re bouncing around with delight in the Cafédirect offices this week having just heard that we’ve won FIVE Great Taste Awards! The awards, given by the Guild of Fine Food, are like the Oscars for food and are awarded after a rigorous judging process. It’s a wonderful endorsement of … Read more

Are we a sustainable business?

Posted by Whitney, May 26th, 2011, Comments (6)

Somebody (besides us, of course) thinks so!! Last night were were crowned …Winners of the Social Impact category of the Guardian Sustainable Business Awards. Our application focused on our Producer Partnership Programme, the investment we make back into the producer groups we trade with, which has existed since 1996 and … Read more

2010 – the year in review

Posted by Siobhan, January 7th, 2011, Comments (0)

2010 was a busy year for us. Here are some of our favourite moments…….. At the start of the year we introduced you to the Cafédirect Tea Ladies, held a Tea Party in the office and enjoyed seeing photos & videos of all of your tea parties around the … Read more

AdapCC and the MDGs

Posted by Whitney, September 22nd, 2010, Comments (1)

Sound like a funky band name? Lots of acronyms, I know, but they add up to come very exciting news for us. AdapCC? I’m a broken record when it comes to talking about this pioneering collaboration with four of our producer partners and GTZ to support small farmers to adapt … Read more

We're top of the ethical tables!

Posted by Siobhan, September 13th, 2010, Comments (2)

We’re really excited to announce that we’ve been ranked the No. 1 ethical tea and coffee brand in the Good Shopping Guide from the Ethical Company Organisation. Compiled from researching public records, campaign and government information, The Good Shopping Guide reports on and ranks the ethical scores of companies … Read more

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