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| Fairtrade Wines at the 2012 London Olympics Games |
| 31 July 2012 by Fairtrade Label South Africa |
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| As excitement mounts amongst spectators, athletes and sport fanatics
around the world in anticipation for The 2012 London Olympic Games,
Fairtrade farmers and farm workers are harvesting the rewards of their
hard work.
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Not only will the tournament be held in London - the world’s largest Fairtrade city, an accolade gained in 2008 - Fairtrade certified tea, coffee, chocolate, sugar, bananas, wine and oranges will be served to millions of visitors across all locations.
Said to be the ‘fairest’ games of all’, this year’s Olympic Games are helping to empower farmers, workers and their communities in South Africa and other developing countries. Two of the three wines that will be served at the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be from Stellenrust in Stellenbosch. The farms Fairtrade Chenin Blanc and Rosé varietals will be served to athletes, spectators and officials; resulting in a Fairtrade Development Premium of R450 000 for the farm workers of Stellenrust.
The decision about how this money will be spent for the combined benefit of the workers and the farming community will be decided on democratically by the Stellenrust workers. Generally the Fairtrade Development Premium is spent by investing in education programmes or in infrastructure improvements: such as funding training and skills development courses, setting up bursaries for the youth or building and funding a créche in the community.
Boudewijn Goossens, Executive Director of the Fairtrade Label South said: “I would like to congratulate Stellenrust on the achievement of serving their wine at The 2012 London Olympics; it is a big success for Fairtrade and for the South African wine industry, but most importantly it is a victory for the farm workers of Stellenrust”. He adds “As the Fairtrade movement grows locally in pursuit of a more equal and sustainable Africa, we will use this as an example of the international trust and repute in Fairtrade”.
South Africa is the largest producer of Fairtrade wines in the world with over 5,6 million litres of Fairtrade wine exported in 2011. The main export markets are the USA, UK, the Netherlands and Scandinavian countries, where all major retailers stock South African Fairtrade wines. In South Africa the Fairtrade wine market is growing fast: from 2010 to 2011, local wine sales grew by almost 50% and South Africans drank over 255 000 bottles of Fairtrade wine.
In addition to Fairtrade wine being served at the games, an estimated 10 million Fairtrade bananas from the Windward Islands and South America will be eaten, 7.5 million cups of Fairtrade tea served, 14 million cups of coffee carrying the FAIRTRADE Mark drunk, and 10 million Fairtrade certified sachets of sugar grown by sugar farmers in Belize enjoyed. This equates to an estimated Fairtrade Development Premium of £100 000.
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