University of Otago student Julia Lumsden talks about fair
trade coffee at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery on Thursday
night, at the second birthday celebration of Dunedin
becoming a fair trade city. Photo by Peter McIntosh.
It is never a birthday without cake, but in the case of
Dunedin's second birthday as a fair trade city, having a fair
trade chocolate cake was especially appropriate.
About 50 people gathered at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery to
celebrate the city making a pledge to promote and use fair
trade certified products at both a council and community
level.
Those gathered heard from Fair Trade Association Australia
and New Zealand marketing and communications officer Angus
Coull, of Auckland, who said Dunedin was the southernmost
fair trade city in the world.
It was one of more than 1000 cities, including London and San
Francisco, and one of only two in New Zealand, the other
being Wellington, to empower people to "trade their way out
of poverty".
"We are in awe of you guys down here ... you are doing an
amazing job and we really appreciate the work that you are
doing," he said.
University of Otago student Julia Lumsden also informed the
group about a survey she conducted on fair trade coffee use
in Dunedin.
One of the key findings was that businesses which used fair
trade coffee said it was part of their business philosophy,
rather than a strategy.
"It's not something businesses are using to look good; they
really believe in it," she said.
It was also found that fair trade coffee was "relatively
unaffected" by the recession, with cafe owners saying sales
had either remained steady, or increased.
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