The Co-operative Food has launched an innovative online platform that will enable shoppers to interact with Fairtrade producers across the world.
The aim of the campaign is to build a community that allows for meaningful engagement between consumers and producers.
The new interactive website, www.growingstories.coop, will bring UK consumers in contact with Fairtrade farmers and workers to hear of Fairtrade's impact on them and their communities.
Seventeen producer organisations from nine different countries will be taking part in the online conversation.
Visitors to the website can create their own messages and post to the Co-op sharewall with photos.
For every shared post to the website, Co-op will add £1 to a fund to invest in future community projects with producers.
Speaking on the new project, Brad Hill, Fairtrade strategic development manager at the Co-op, said, “This new community campaign is the latest innovation in our on-going support for Fairtrade. Having got to know so many producers over our 20-year partnership with Fairtrade, and as a business firmly rooted in communities across the UK, we are bringing the two together."
He continued, “Our members and customers have returned over £30 million in Fairtrade premiums and now they can hear directly just what that means at an individual and community level."
Michael Gidney, CEO of Fairtrade Foundation, said that increasingly complex global supply chains often mean that people feel a long way from the reality of life for those who grow what they buy, and farmers never meet those who buy what they produce.
“Globally, we're seeing a growing interest among consumers in the ethics of supply chains, and desire to reconnect. This initiative makes trade personal again, and we hope it will generate many fruitful exchanges between people across the world,” he explained.
“We are delighted to be part of this new Fairtrade community project," said coffee producer BasilioChales, from Todosanterita coffee co-operative in Guatemala.
"This is a great opportunity to talk to the people who enjoy and appreciate our product, and to tell Co-op customers about the impact Fairtrade has had on our community.”
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