How We Came to Tea
Nicole Lamond made the decision to start a fair trade business in 1998 after returning from a trip to India and East Africa. Along with the typical, memorable backpacking experiences – stolen bags, bed bugs, vomiting all night from food poisoning – there was one memory that stood out.
In Kenya, Nicole had the opportunity to visit some families that worked on a tea plantation. They were aid recipients as a part of a World Vision project which helped give them access to education, clean water and other resources; yet both of the parents worked full time and seemed intelligent and hard working types. How would someone advise them to improve their lot in life if they were both working full time?
They lived in a very humble home (I would’ve said shack, but that felt disrespectful as I could see they had gone to a lot of effort to decorate it and make it look home’ish) and they couldn’t even afford the basic essentials for their children such as healthcare and education….this led me to the question - so what are the flaws in the system that created these impoverished circumstances and why do people tolerate it?
If a tea product was worth making, buying and consuming, then why wasn’t there enough in it for everyone? Are consumers in rich countries not paying enough for the finished product, or is someone syphoning off too much profit somewhere along the supply chain?
Thus began a journey of questioning the status quo; of how business is done, how the people in power make their decisions, and can a business be run so that all people involved can be paid a living wage?
When Nicole returned to Melbourne, Australia and read an article about fair trade, she decided that that was what she was going to do with her life - start a fair trade business.
A mainstream vision
In 2000, in Melbourne Australia there was a small group of people importing fair trade products called People for Fair Trade (PFFT) who were selling to churches and the like. Nicole’s vision was to take fair trade into the mainstream and make it the norm, so anyone could buy fair trade products from their local supermarket.
The Fairtrade Label comes to Australia
In 2002, Nicole met Sasha Courville and Natasha Lewis, among others who collectively worked towards setting up the Fair Trade Association of Australia and New Zealand and to bring the International Fairtrade Certification Label to Australia. Nicole became a founding board member of the Association.
There have been many twists and turns in the journey; some inspiring, some ‘oh-my-god is this the end, gut-churning moments, and a whole lot of plain old work….read on here
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=35964
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=35977
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=35991
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36003
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36016
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36032
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36041
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36059
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36071
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36089
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36109
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36114
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36118
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36125
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36132
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36145
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36160
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36167
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36177
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36188
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36199
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36204
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36207
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36208
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36209
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36212
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36216
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36222
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36345
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36346
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36347
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36348
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36349
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36350
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36351
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36352
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36353
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36354
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36355
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36356
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36357
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36358
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36359
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36360
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36361
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36362
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36363
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36364
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36365
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36366
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36367
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36368
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36369
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36370
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36371
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36372
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36373
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36374
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36375
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36376
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36377
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36378
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36379
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36380
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36381
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36382
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36383
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36384
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36385
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36386
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36387
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36388
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36389
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36390
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36391
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36392
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36393
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=36394
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=37134
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=37141
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=37148
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=37154
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=37158
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=37162
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=37163
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=37170
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=37174
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=37177
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=37181
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=37185
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=37196
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=37211
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=37225
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=37237
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=37248
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=37263
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=37281
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=37299
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=37311
https://www.gravity-world.com/viewtopic.php?t=37323