Media Release | Hear The Beat, Smell The Aroma & Taste The Decadence of Motherland

"Coffee is big business. Speciality coffee appreciation is infiltrating more and more countries and developing a burgeoning global ‘coffee house’ culture. South African coffee culture has been growing since the late 90’s, when lattes and flat whites were predominantly unheard of.

“With the growth in the coffee market around the world, many people have become concerned with the practices employed in coffee farming & production. Fairtrade re assures the coffee drinker that the growers and producers of the coffee you’re drinking are fairly rewarded in return for their produce and hard work,” says Seb Schneider, co-founder of Motherland Coffee.”

“One side to the coffee industry that is generally not seen in coffee shops is the production, procurement and distribution of coffee. In the search for low prices and big profit there is often a large group of losers somewhere in the equation. With coffee, this usually turns out to be the farmers and farm workers in developing countries who grow the coffee beans, which are then shipped off to first world countries to be enjoyed.”

“For many consumers however, they’re just not aware that their daily cup could be ending up in their hands through unscrupulous practices. We’re not saying this is necessarily the case for all non-Fairtrade certified farmers and co-ops, but unless you’ve actually been to the origin of non-certified coffee, you just don’t know. Which is why many consumers who find out about the conditions for procuring and growing coffee are sometimes shocked. However, not everyone wants to dedicate their lives to the plight of third world coffee farmers, but simple awareness and a change in what you buy can go a long way to changing that. This is the aim of Fairtrade coffee, which ensures that the farmers at the coffee origin get a fair deal,” explains Schneider.

“It is particularly pertinent for Africans, where a considerable amount of the unfair practices are taking place, not only in coffee but in a number of natural resource industries. That’s why we feel supporting Fairtrade is like directly supporting African upliftment.”

In South Africa Fairtrade is managed by the local marketing organisation Fairtrade Label South Africa (FLSA), whose main objective is to develop the local market for Fairtrade products and to increase awareness amongst the South African public.

“Coffee was not only the first Fairtrade product launched in Europe in 1988, but also the first one launched in South Africa in 2009. Since then, a growing number of big and small roaster have joined the movement and we can say that coffee is the fastest growing Fairtrade product locally,” comments Arianna Baldo, Business Manager for FLSA. She adds, “0ver 60,000 Kg of Fairtrade coffee was consumed in South Africa in 2012 – a clear increase from the 45,000 Kg of 2011. We are enthusiastic about this growth, especially because it translated into more Fairtrade Development Premium that small-scale coffee farmers in East Africa can invest in developing their businesses and communities.”

Fairtrade has in fact become such a large aspect of the coffee industry that South Africa even has its own Fairtrade Coffee Week, which in 2013 will be celebrated in July.

“Motherland Coffee Company is built upon the idea that Africa can help Africa, simply by supporting local industries, believing in our potential and working upon the principle of fairness.” concludes Schneider."

From The Desk of: Thabi Sibeko | Lion’s Wing | 011 027 0780

You don’t need me to tell you the fabness that is Motherland Coffee shop right? I mean helloooo everybody hangs out there! They have just opened a new store at Dunkeld West Centre and opening up another store in Cape Town SOON!

We TOTES for Motherland!