Cafédirect visits the Hay Festival

Cafédirect have brought along their mobile coffee shop to the Hay Festival this week.  Fair Trade Wales' Steve Smith has gone along to meet Cafédirect's Nicola Pearson to find out what they're up to.

Photo: Nicola Pearson, Steve Smith and Chris Urack taste coffee with Hay Festival-goers from Llanelli. 

It's Cafédirect's second visit to Hay.  'People are so receptive of the concept of ethical business' Nicola tells me.  The sudden Welsh heatwave adds to the atmosphere the team have created with their furniture made from Peruvian Fairtrade coffee sacks and their bright orange coffee shipping container turned coffee shop.

Fair Trade Wales' Chris Urack has volunteered his day to help serve free coffee tasters to festival-goers.  A dedicated fair trade campaigner, he's bought shares in Cafédirect for his children.  'Cafédirect go that extra mile on top of the already thorough Fairtrade requirements' he says.  Nicola has visited fair trade producer communities in Uganda and Tanzania where schools and health centres have benefited from the social premium.  As well as the usual ways fair trade benefits producer communities, Cafédirect reinvests its profits back into those communities.  They are currently working with smallholder tea farmers in Uganda to help them gain the vital Hassop certification which permits them to export their produce.  'Supporting smallholders in accessing the global market gives them the opportunity to get a better price for their tea' explains Nicola.  She surprises me by saying that Cafédirect are even helping smallholders to launch their own brands of tea and coffee.  I asked how that fits in with their business plan.  'It's not in conflict with our aims,' she explains, 'supporting people to better themselves is part of what we do.  There's enough of a market for all of us.'

Nicola and the other staff at the company are incredibly grateful to all the volunteers from Wales' fair trade movement who have been helping to staff their big orange container.  'I'm astonished that so many people have given up their free time to support what we're doing here,' concludes Nicola, 'people in Wales are so passionate about fair trade.'

The Hay Festival continues through this weekend.  If you come along, be sure to drop by the big orange container for a drink and a chat.