Fair Trade is a global movement to alleviate poverty in ways that are economically, socially and environmentally sustainable.
Michael Hepworth
HOLLYWOOD(Spiritsman)12/6/13/The people from FAIR VODKA have only recently redesigned the bottle and the label to give the Vodka a better profile in the competitive vodka market. With the pace of new launches apparently not slowing down at all, the thinking is to promote Fair as an artisan craft, purity of product and a dedication to sustainability.
To be perfectly honest, the label which was designed in Paris by Piaton et Associates looks fairly plain, but according to Jack Bays who is responsible for the production, sales and marketing of the drink, “The goal of the new label and packaging is to maintain the integrity of FAIR’s prize-winning product while moving to a greener profile that reflects the brand’s dedication to sustainability.”
The carbon footprint has been reduced due to the fact that the glass weight has been reduced to 600 grams from 800 and the material for the label has been changed from multi-component to regular paper.
Wonderful words indeed, but what Jack does not mention (and frankly why should he) is the fact that the incredible demand for the quinoa seed (4,000 % increase in last 12 years) has produced a bunch of problems in Bolivia. Main one is that the rush to produce more quinoa has created a danger to the fragile eco-system in the area. Seeds were planted in fields where llamas grazed and natural manure helped the crop. Now fields are not being rotated, and the soils overall health is being compromised. There are also land wars in the area between rival farmers desperate for more land, and an increase in violence has been reported with the use of grenades.
In reality it is a pretty clean decent tasting vodka and a little different from the norm, more bitter than most due to the fact that it is the only spirit in the world that is distilled from quinoa. This particular quinoa used in the drink is grown by a collective of 1200 small farmers in the Bolivian Altiplano. The FairTradeUSA group pays higher margins for this crop which enables the farmers to live better in what sounds like a fairly poor region of the country.
Retailing for $29.99, the vodka is available currently in Arizona, California, District of Columbia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Wyoming with Florida, Georgia and Washington on the way.
Awards already in the book are Gold Medal-San Francisco Spirits Competition 2011, Chicago BTI 2010-Gold Medal and New York Spirits Awards 2009, Best Vodka.
We are a spirits company, dedicated to high quality products that are sourced ethically and sustainably.
Ethos
Our company believes in treating all people fairly. Our vision has taken us all over the world to source the best ingredients for our high quality spirits. We believe that all the people involved, in every stage of the process, should be treated equally.
Craft
First we spend a great deal of time sourcing the finest Fair Trade ingredients for our spirits:
Organic quinoa from the 3000 m high Altiplano plateau of Bolivia and organic sugar cane grown in the Belizean sun.
Then we carefully ship everything to the famous region of Cognac in France, where our Master Brewer / Distiller, Philip Laclie, with generations of French ‘savoir faire’, has perfected his techniques to make our incredible line of spirits.
Fair Trade has rigorous standards for farming practices, which ensures our quinoa and sugar are all of an exceptional quality.
FAIR is the world’s first and unique Fair Trade Certified line of spirits. We respect about 200 rules to make sure that we pay the farmers at a fair price. It enables them to cover their production costs, live from farming, educate their children and build schools.
We’re happy, the famers are happy, and we’re sure you’ll be happy with our FAIR Spirits.
Fair Trade is a global movement to alleviate poverty in ways that are economically, socially and environmentally sustainable.
Michael Hepworth
287 S.Robertson Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90211
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