Tag Archives: fairtrade

Christmas Gifts: Sweet Treats

Posted on by

Sweet treats are always great stocking fillers at Christmas as well as something naughty to have on the table at Christmas time. We’ve selected our favourite festive sweet treats that’s bound to bring joy to anyone this Winter.

Mr Stanley’s Confectionary.

We were most impressed with their traditional and elegant packaging. Mr Stanley’s confectionary pays homage to an old era of confectioners and we think that anyone with an appreciation for sweeties will love a gift from Mr Stanley’s. Great for stocking fillers or as a good selection for your Christmas table, our favourites from the Christmas collection were;
Mini Candy Canes – £3 I love to use these to decorate the tree or stick on the front of Christmas cards.
Festive Fudge Selection – £3.99 Rich and buttery, Mr Stanley’s covered all of the festive flavours with Christmas pudding fudge, Salted caramel fudge, Mincemeat butter fudge, Christmas spice with orange fudge to choose from.
White Chocolate Matches with Popping Candy – £6.99 We love this luxurious and delicious candy and the extra pop made it all the more fun. And if it’s milk or dark chocolate you prefer than Mr Stanley have got an assortment of chocolate matches to suit you.
These were just a selection of our favourites but be sure to check out their full range online which includes traditional sweets, liquorice and candy, sweet jars and biscuits.

mrstanleys.co.uk


Divine Chocolate

Divine Chocolate are proud of where their chocolate comes from. They are the only Fairtrade chocolate company co-owned by cocoa farmers and this Christmas, they are launching a new range of chocolate gifts to send and share with loved ones. Spoil someone this year with their New Divine Luxury Collection RRP £8 which includes 16 dusted truffles encased in 70% dark chocolate. Or how about their new thins to add to their dark chocolate mint thins and dark chocolate ginger thins, this year they have Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Thins RRP £4. For something completely festive, why not try a bar to share in limited edition flavours Milk Chocolate with spiced cookies or Dark Chocolate with cranberries and hazelnuts both RRP at £2.40. By supporting Divine Chocolate and choosing their range of delicious gifts, the co-ownership with the farmers ensures that they receive a share of the profits and enables them to gain a greater insight of their industry. All of the products mentioned are available to buy in Waitrose and Oxfam but to check out more of their range visit

divinechocolate.com

Cutter and Squidge

Need something sweet for your Christmas afters this year, Cutter and Squidge the Soho based bakery have a lovely range of products including their famous Biskies and Dream Cakes to suit anyone with a sweet tooth. Their focus on natural premium ingredients will make sure anything you try is made with extra love and care and the Festive Collection is no different with it being free from preservatives and additives and handmade from scratch. All products apart from the cakes can be shipped nationwide with the exception of the Vegan Chocolate Fudge Cake which is available to be shipped anywhere in the UK. We recommend you try a Festive Biskie Box which you can choose between Coconut Melted Snowman Biskie, Black Forest Biskie, Gingerbread Man Biskie and Christmas Wreath Biskie. The attention to detail and quality will just blow you away. If you’re looking for something a little more substantial, why not try a bespoke hamper which are packed full of tempting and delicious goodies and range from £75-£250. Check out their huge and impressive range at

cutterandsquidge.com

Piccolo Baby Food Review

Posted on by

piccolobabyfoodreview stage 1and 2

Baby food is big business, and pouches even bigger still. Convenient and healthy, most – if not all- parents will give their little ones baby food pouches. They are great for eating out, keeping in a bag for an emergency, or just for a meal indoors. They are also great for when parents are too tired to cook. Piccolo are an Italian brand bringing Mediterranean goodness to the market.

Piccolo Pure – is their first single fruits range, for which they have handpicked and blended the tastiest fruit varieties including Stanley Plum, Fairtrade Banana, Fairtrade Mango and Williams Pear: each chosen because their delicious and distinctive tastes, making them perfect for little ones as their taste buds begin to explore first flavours. My son loved all of these. He devoured them in minutes.

Their Pure Banana and Pure Mango blends are the only baby food pouches to hold Fairtrade accreditation, as they continue their commitment to give back through ethical and sustainable sourcing and by donating 10% profits to charity.

 

They have also launched variety baskets of Piccolo recipes crammed full of delicious fruit and veg to excite little ones’ taste buds.  And with a pouch to get parents through Monday to Friday, there won’t be any need for that last-minute empty cupboard panic when their baby is hungry. I think this is a brilliant idea. It takes some of the pressure of parenting. Something which is always much needed.

 

Finally, they have new recipes launching this summer, using nutritious, organic ingredients and distinctive flavours including coconut, cinnamon, sage and rosemary.  They are launching a delicious Lamb Ratatouille (with a hint of rosemary), perfect for recreating the end of summer Mediterranean feeling, our first fish based pouch with Salmon Fish Pie (with a pinch of parsley, basil and thyme) and a very English Roast Pork, Parsnip and Apple recipe.

My little one tried the ones in bold and loved them all. Particular favourites were the Lamb Ratatouille with a hint of rosemary and Squash, Mac & Cheese with a hint of sage. 

 

Stage 1

  • Blushing Berries, Pear & Banana
  • Banana, Coconut & Baby Brown Rice with a pinch of cinnamon
  • Pear, Strawberry & Yoghurt with wholegrain Oats

Veg Only

  • Sun-ripened Tomato and Red Pepper with a dash of olive oil
  • Parsnip Carrot & Leek with a hint of thyme

Stage 2

  • Lamb Ratatouille with a hint of rosemary
  • Tomato, Lentil & Angel Pasta with a dash of olive oil
  • Squash, Mac & Cheese with a hint of sage
  • Roast Pork, Parsnip & Apple with a hint of rosemary
  • Salmon Fish Pie with a pinch of parsley, basil and thyme

 

As you can see from the list, the recipes are exciting and different. They make some other baby food pouches look very boring indeed. We are a fan of Piccolo, the brand is a great way to feed your child in a healthy and sustainable way. Frost loves.

 

Good Karma, Now On-The-Go: Karma Cola Launch New Cans

Posted on by

Fact of the day: 1.9 billion colas are drank every day. Yes, BILLION. That is over a million a minute. Now Karma Cola are putting the Karma into cola. 

Ethical, organic craft cola eyes food-to-go and take home market with its #DrinkNoEvil mantra
and striking new 250ml cans and multipacks.
Karma Cola review

Karma Cola have launched new 250ml cans and multipacks. We tried the range and loved it. I loved their Karma Cola while our writer James loved their Lemony Lemonade. Their Gingerella is not only delicious, but the design if so fun and retro. Try them out for yourself.

The folks at Karma Cola are at it again, giving UK consumers more reasons to indulge in tasty, organic soft drinks in an ethically cool way.

Alongside their original, sleek glass bottle counterparts, Karma Cola and Friends – Gingerella ginger ale and Lemony lemonade – will soon be available in squat new 250ml aluminium cans. The snack size format, which is smaller than a standard canned soft drink (330ml), is set to take on the growing ‘food-to-go’ market encouraging retailers to offer an ethically sourced fizzy drink made with real organic and Fairtrade ingredients.

As well as food-to-go outlets, the cans were created to appeal to the on-trade, where mixologists have been looking for natural mixers to accentuate the flavours of premium and craft spirits.

Unlike other soft drinks, Karma Cola & Friends are made with natural organic and Fairtrade ingredients, including organic cane sugar, real cola nut, vanilla, lemon and ginger, no artificial flavours, colours or preservatives.

There’s a lot of good karma in these small cans of premium pop. Named ‘The World’s Fairest Trader’ in 2014 by Fairtrade International, Karma Cola is making a big difference for cola nut farmers in a small village in Sierra Leone, sending part of the proceeds from the sale of every product back to invest in community projects.

By sourcing Fairtrade cane sugar, they help small-scale sugar farmers in India to be paid fairly for their crops, feed their families and create better lives for their communities.
They say at Karma Cola, when you’re thirsting for cold drink, don’t be tempted… drink no evil.

Karma Cola, Gingerella ginger ale and Lemony lemonade cans will be available in Waitrose stores, Harvey Nichols, Selfridges, Ocado.com and Waitrose.com from April, RRP £1.25.
Four packs of Karma Cola, Gingerella and Lemony cans will also be available at RRP £3.95 – perfect for the take home market.

Karma Cola cans

@KarmaColaUK #DrinkNoEvil

Put Fairtrade First: Great Products With A Clear Conscience

Posted on by

We have tried a range of Fairtrade products from Sainsbury’s and brought you a selection. Their fairtrade chocolate is amazing and the English Breakfast tea is a personal favourite of Frost editor, Catherine. Get your hands on some of the selection below.

This Fairtrade Fortnight (24th February – 9th March), enjoy a selection of treats and everyday essentials from Sainsbury’s, the world’s largest retailer of Fairtrade products. With over 800 Fairtrade products now available in store, £1 in every £4 spent on Fairtrade in the UK is spent in Sainsbury’s.

As part of Sainsbury’s commitment to Fairtrade, all of its bananas, sugar, own label tea, ground and roast coffee and Taste the Difference South African wines are Fairtrade certified, more than any other major UK supermarket. Sainsbury’s is committed to ensuring farmers get a fair price for what they grow and can invest in communities in developing countries such as Kenya or Columbia.

 

Everyday essentials

Sainsbury’s Fairtrade loose Bananas 

 

fairtrade bananas

 £0.68/kg  Sainsbury’s was the first major supermarket to sell 100% Fairtrade bananas back in 2007, and nowadays sells an incredible 650 million Fairtrade bananas a year – that’s 1,200 every minute. Sainsbury’s Fairtrade bananas are sourced from farmers in Central and South America, the Caribbean and West Africa where Fairtrade premiums are crucial to many smallholders.

Great bananas to eat with a clear conscious.

 
Taste the Difference English Breakfast Teafairtrade english breakfast tea £2.14/ 80 tea bags Britons drink around 165 million cups of tea a day, so it’s refreshing to know that your everyday cuppa is supporting the communities in which it was grown. This Fairtrade tea is made from selected leaves from India, Rwanda and Tanzania. Sainsbury’s is the world’s largest retailer of Fairtrade products and all its own-label teas are now Fairtrade – including speciality teas. 

 A personal favourite of Frost editor, Catherine

 
by Sainsbury’s Original House Blend Coffee
 

image006
£2.29/227g 		All Sainsbury’s own label roast and ground coffee has been 100% Fairtrade since 2009. Sainsbury’s coffee is sourced from across Africa and South America where Fairtrade premiums are now benefiting thousands of farmers, their families and communities in these countries every year.

 

Great coffee.

 

Tasty treats

Taste the Difference Fairtrade Sauvignon Blanc 2013

fairtrade wine

 £6.99/75cl 

 

 

 

 100% of Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference South African wine is now Fairtrade, and this fantastic zesty wine was awarded a silver trophy at the prestigious IWC awards in 2013. 

This elegantly balanced wine is made with exceptional care to preserve the flavours of crisp lemon and lime, green pepper, gooseberry and tropical fruit notes. It’s made for Sainsbury’s at the famous Boekenhoutskloof Winery, which dates back to 1776, from carefully selected grapes harvested from the best vineyards in Malmesbury, Wellington, Robertson and Franschhoek. The fresh and intensely fruity flavours are particularly good with lightly spiced dishes.

 

A brilliant wine.
 Taste the Difference Belgian Fairtrade Milk Chocolate

fairtrade chocolate

  £1.40/100g Sainsbury’s offers a great range of Fairtrade Taste the Difference chocolate, helping to improve the livelihoods of thousands of cocoa farmers in Cote d’Ivoire and the Dominican Republic.

Made for Sainsbury’s in Belgium, this luxurious milk chocolate is smooth and creamy without being too sweet, and melts in the mouth with a delicious caramel flavour.

 

 

Enjoy Sainsbury’s fairtrade products on their own, or try making these Fairtrade Banoffee Tarts at home

 

Banoffee Tarts Recipe

image011

A crisp pastry base filled with smooth, sweet caramel, and topped with bananas and cream…Naughty but so nice.

Serves 10

Preparation 40 minutes

Cooking 20 minutes, plus 45 minutes chilling time

Ready 1 hour 45 minutes

Ingredients

180g Sainsbury’s British plain flour

120g unsalted English butter by Sainsbury’s, cold from the fridge, cubed

3 tablespoons Sainsbury’s Fairtrade caster sugar

1 medium British free-range Woodland egg yolk by Sainsbury’s, mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water

75g smooth dark chocolate by Sainsbury’s, melted

½ x 397g tin Carnation caramel

2 small Fairtrade bananas by Sainsbury’s, sliced

200ml fresh British double cream by Sainsbury’s

¼ teaspoon Fairtrade ground cinnamon by Sainsbury’s

2 teaspoons Sainsbury’s cocoa powder

 

Method

1.       Sift the flour into a large bowl. Lightly rub in the butter with your fingertips, until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar, then the egg yolk and water mixture, and use a round-bladed knife to bring everything together.

2.       Use your hands to form a dough, handling it as little as possible. (Alternatively, make the dough in a food processor to save time.) Wrap the dough in cling film, then chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.

3.       Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C fan, gas 6. Roll out the pastry to a thickness of 0.5cm, then cut into 6 pieces. Line 6 individual 10.5cm tart tins with the pastry and chill in the fridge again for 20 minutes.

4.       Line the pastry cases with baking parchment and fill with baking beans or uncooked rice. Bake ‘blind’ for 15 minutes, then remove the paper and beans and bake for a further 2 minutes, or until golden.

5.       Pour or brush the melted chocolate around the inside of the tart cases and allow it to harden for 5 minutes in the fridge. Divide the caramel evenly into the pastry cases and top with the banana slices. Whisk the double cream until it forms stiff peaks, then spoon on top of the tarts. Dust with the cinnamon and cocoa powder and serve.

 

Cook’s tip:

This is delicious served with half-fat crème fraîche by Sainsbury’s.

 

Two Christmas Hampers Full of Divine Chocolate To Giveaway

Posted on by

We have yet another great Divine Hamper Competition for you. Details are below and we will be running it until 15th of December, when we will then announce the winner on Twitter and contact the lucky people.

What is more festive then mistletoe, mulled wine and mince pies? Surely the answer is indulging guilt-free in your favourite chocolate treat! And this Christmas Divine has brought out a new range of chocolaty treats for us all to enjoy.

winchocolate

Newcomers to the Divine festive collection include roasted cashews and fresh Brazil nuts covered in creamy milk chocolate and crunchy caramelised almonds enrobed in rich 70% dark chocolate. Luscious blackcurrants, raspberries and strawberries have also been given the Divine treatment and can be found on shop shelves smothered in creamy white chocolate.

As another present to you, Divine has also created two brand new limited edition flavours to join their range of 100g bars this festive season; Dark Chocolate with Cranberries & Hazelnuts and Milk Chocolate with Spiced Cookies.

winahamper

These new creations will be fused with Divine’s established Christmas range, which includes little Christmas tree chocolates in dark, white and milk varieties, milk chocolate Gold Coins, dark chocolate Green & Red coins and their extra special, best-selling chocolate advent calendars which feature fresh illustrations for Christmas 2013. For more information about the Divine Christmas chocolate range visit www.divinechocolate.com.

To win follow @Frostmag on Twitter and Tweet, ‘I want to win the Divine Christmas Hamper’ with @Frostmag’ or like us on Facebook.  Alternatively, sign up to our newsletter. Or subscribe to Frost Magazine TV on YouTube here: http://t.co/9etf8j0kkz. Then send us an email with what you did with your contact details and email address in the body.

£30 Christmas Essentials Hamper Includes:

70% Dark Chocolate Christmas Trees 100g, White Chocolate Christmas Trees 100g, Milk Chocolate Christmas Trees 100g, 70% Dark Chocolate Coins 70g, Dark Chocolate Mint Thins 200g, Dark Chocolate Ginger Thins 200g, Milk Chocolate & Orange Bar 100g, 70% Dark Ginger and Orange Bar 100g

Please note in image, hamper shows Fruit & Nut Bar which is unavailable so as an alternative, Dark ginger and orange bar is offered.

£50 Luxury Christmas Hamper Includes:

Milk Chocolate Christmas Trees 100g, Dark Chocolate Mint Thins 200g, Dark Chocolate Ginger Thins 200g, White Chocolate Strawberry Hearts 100g, 70% Dark Chocolate Coins 70g , Milk Chocolate Coins 70g, Drinking Chocolate 400g, Heavenly Chocolate Recipe Book, 70% Dark Chocolate Brazil Nuts 110g, White Chocolate Covered Berries 100g, x2 Milk Chocolate Caramel Bars 40g

Please note in image, hamper shows Apricots which are unavailable so as an alternative, Chocolate covered berries are offered. Also both the Butterscotch Milk Chocolate Bar and Orange Milk Chocolate Bar are unavailable so 2 Caramel Bars are offered as alternatives.

Two Divine Chocolate Gift Packs To Giveaway

Posted on by

Chocolate, what does it mean to you? Does the very word tantalize your taste buds? Is it what your heart most desires? Well, Divine Chocolate has all this and more to offer you. Made with the finest quality Fairtrade cocoa beans from Ghana, this outrageously delicious chocolate is a real taste sensation and you’ll have a chance to experience it like never before with the start of the nation’s favourite week – Chocolate Week.

 

From Monday 14th October to Sunday 20th October, this Chocolate Week Divine is giving you the chance to sample a selection of new recipes made exclusively by Divine’s finest chocolatiers. Not only are their products utterly scrumptious, but unlike other Fairtrade products Divine Chocolate is 45% owned by the farmers in Ghana who supply its cocoa. Voted Observer Best Ethical Business, Best Social Enterprise and collecting two awards at the Great Taste Awards (Guild of Fine Food), Divine’s products are a unique blend of quality mixed with corporate responsibility.

Divine chocolate giveaway. Competition                                                              

As proud sponsors of this sweet week, Divine promises it will be bigger and better than ever, with chocolate-themed events occurring in countless shops, hotels, and restaurants all throughout the country.

 

To find out more about Divine delicious range, visit www.divinechocolate.com

 

Divine is offering you an opportunity to win a Divine Chocolate gift pack full of their most scrumptious treats!

For a chance to win, simply answer the following question:

 

When does Chocolate Week run?

A.      25th– 1st December

B.      14th – 20th October

C.      8th– 14th July

Send your answer along with your name and email address to frostmagazine@gmail.com

Good luck!

Kenyan Tea | Drink Review

Posted on by

I am quite obsessed with tea. A day without tea is just a bad day. I usually drink English Breakfast tea but I decided to give Kenyan tea a shot. With interesting results: it’s even better than my normal tea.

I reviewed Marks and Spencer Pure Origin Mount Kenya Teabags and they are really flavoursome, fresh and bright. They just make such a good cup of tea. In fact it is hard to make a bad cup of tea with these teabags. This is definitely the tea I will be buying from now on. I can’t say enough just how amazing the tea tastes. They are also Fairtrade which just makes the tea taste even better.

Just as amazing is Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Kenyan Fairtrade Fine Tea. Try Kenyan tea. You won’t look back. (no, I am not being paid to write this. They just rock)

Kenya is a country famed for its long distance runners…just look at this year’s London Marathon winners. But that’s not the only impressive export from this beautiful East African country. Did you know that thanks to Kenya’s perfect climate along the Rift Valley, the country provides nearly 53% of the tea leaves we Brits drink in our daily cuppa?

Kenyan Tea is at the heart of many of Britain’s favourite teas blends making up the 165 million cups of tea we drink each and every day in the UK. As we approach a Summer of British celebration, we’ve no doubt there’ll be more tea (and cake!) consumed than ever before, so here’s a few reasons it should be Kenyan tea you’re drinking:

* Her Majesty the Queen was visiting Kenya on the day she ascended to the throne – 6th February 1952.
* It’s remained a popular spot with the Royals, as it was also where Prince William and Kate Middleton got engaged in 2010.
* Of the 78 Olympic medals Kenya has won since 1964, 69 were for athletics running events.
* With the exception of 2010, a Kenyan runner has won the men’s London Marathon every year since 2004. This year Wilson Kipsang was only four seconds behind the course record.
* Kenyan tea is grown within the regions that nurture the top athletes.
* Kenyan tea is uniquely refreshing and 100% disease and pest free.

We British are famed for our love of a good brew, so we’ve asked around to find out what makes your perfect cuppa. While milky tea is still our favourite it seems we’re getting more adventurous as more are trying lemon or honey in a cuppa, while over a third of you are experimenting with the purer tastes of loose leaf, single estate and rare teas from around the world.

To introduce you to the distinctive taste of Kenyan Teas we’ve sent you two delicious teas so you can experience the high quality and distinctive flavour, and discover what’s truly at the heart of a good cuppa.

About Kenyan Tea

· Tea has been grown in Kenya since 1903 and quickly thrived thanks to the growing conditions, climate and altitude. Tea is grown in both large plantations and smallholdings across 180,000 hectares with production reaching up to 390 million kilos per year. Today Kenya is the largest producer of tea in Africa and one of the world’s largest black tea producers.

· Kenya tea has been proved to have higher levels of antioxidants compared to teas produced in other parts of the world.

Stockists

· Marks and Spencer Pure Origin Mount Kenya Teabags – £1.79 for 50 teabags. This is the first Kenyan tea to be grown and packed at source, the result of a 2 year project with M&S training farmers to pack tea for export and local sale.

· Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Kenyan Fairtrade Fine Tea – £2.39 for 80 teabags. This tea is grown in fair-trade tea gardens in the Kenyan highlands where the climate and altitude produce this fine tea with a full flavour.

Go Fairtrade This Mothering Sunday.

Posted on by

Buy Fairtrade bouquets this Mothering Sunday and ‘Take a Step for Fairtrade’ to help mothers in developing countries

 

Mothers up and down the country will receive up to seven million stems of Fairtrade flowers from their loved ones this Mothering Sunday, the Fairtrade Foundation can reveal.

Mothering Sunday is a celebration honouring all mothers and is a day to give thanks for all the things they have done over the years.    And with Fairtrade bouquets available from Asda, Interflora, J&E Page, John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, Next, Ocado, Postal Bouquets, Sainsbury’s, Somerfield, Tesco, The Co-operative, Waitrose and Whole Foods Market, there’s plenty to choose from.

 

New for Mothering Sunday 2012, treat your mum to a beautiful Mother’s Day Fairtrade Pink Rose Bouquet from Marks & Spencer or their Fairtrade Rose and Fresia Gift Bag. And Interflora is selling a vibrant Fairtrade Mini Sunflower Hand Tied Bouquet which will add a cheerful note of colour to any room.

 

Estimated UK retail sales of Fairtrade flowers in 2011 reached £26 million, or 75 million stems. It’s expected that sales of Fairtrade flowers for Mothering Sunday alone will provide £100,000 in additional Fairtrade Premiums for workers on flower farms to invest in community projects.

 

Flower farms have long been a key employer in Kenya, providing jobs in areas where there are few alternatives and ensuring a valuable source of export revenue for the country. With more than half of Kenya’s population of 37 million living in poverty, the cut flower industry plays an important role in providing employment and alleviating poverty. Around 55,000, many of them women and mothers themselves, are directly employed in the industry, while a further 2 million people, indirectly depend on jobs in the flower industry.

Fairtrade certification provides an independent verification that workers on these large-scale flower farms have decent wages and working conditions in line with the core International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions. This includes the right to join a trade union, the right to negotiate collectively with the employer on terms and conditions of employment, freedom from discrimination, a safe and healthy working environment and no child labour.

As with conventional sales, the farms negotiate a price with the exporters who buy their flowers for the Fairtrade market. This price includes an additional payment called the Fairtrade Premium, set at 10% of the negotiated price. This premium money is reserved specifically for investment in projects which benefit the workers and their wider communities. Decisions about how the premium is used are made by a Joint Body of elected workers and management representatives, in consultation with the workforce.

Dan Morey, Business Development Manager for flowers at the Fairtrade Foundation said:

 

‘If you haven’t had time yet to buy your gift, why not treat your mother to some Fairtrade flowers or Fairtrade chocolate for Mother’s Day?  Throughout the year we want everyone to take as many ‘steps’ for Fairtrade as possible and buying a thoughtful and considered present is the perfect way to take your step for the women who grow your flowers.  We have over a million steps still to take this year to reach our target of 1.5 million.  So, please make your Mothering Sunday gift a memorable one.  And, don’t forget to register your step online at step.fairtrade.org.uk.’

And it’s not just the flower producers who benefit when you buy a Fairtrade bouquet. Tropiflora in Sri Lanka, which employs about 100 workers, now exports mini pot plants and Fairtrade foliage – the green leaves that give the backing to bunches of flowers. Currently just 16 percent of their sales are on Fairtrade terms so they are justly proud of their achievements this year. In particular, they have invested much of their Premium in a revolving loan fund for workers so that the same pot of money can be used in multiple schemes. Projects have included providing small loans for individuals, running English classes, buying books for children, setting up sports teams and funding hospital equipment.

For more information, visit www.fairtrade.org.uk/flowers