Monthly Archives: January 2010

Panic in Pakistan

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On 4 January 2010 the Hunza District of Pakistan was hit by a devastating landslide. Two villages, including Atta Abad, were forced into the Hunza River. Parts of the main road between Pakistan and China have been destroyed and remaining debris is now blocking the course of the river, which could lead to severe flooding. At least 15 people have been killed and many others are feared dead. A total of 34 houses have been destroyed and over 1,600 people are now living in camps in a neighbouring town.

Fullwell Mill, a Shared Interest customer based in Sunderland, contacted the Shared Interest Foundation last week to see if we could help facilitate funds, through our Livelihood Security Fund, to one of their customers based in the region.

Mountain Fruits, a Fairtrade dried fruit and nut company based in Northern Pakistan, teaches farmers how to solar dry fresh fruits and process nuts to an international standard. Mountain Fruits also provide technical training which shows farmers how to increase production on the scarce land resources that are available.

Mountain Fruits work with local farmers and their communities to produce apricots, apricot kernels, walnuts and almonds. All of the products are Fairtrade certified, meaning that in addition to receiving a guaranteed Fairtrade minimum price, the farmers also enjoy a social premium over and above the product price. This social premium is invested back to the local community. Recent examples include the provision of materials and books to schools, a new playground, improved irrigation schemes, water tanks, a new generator and sewing machines for the local people. Unfortunately most of these improvements have been lost in the landslide, devastating the local community.

If you would like to donate to the Livelihood Security Fund and help rebuild communities like this, please send a cheque payable to Shared Interest Foundation to, Shared Interest, No. 2 Cathedral Square, Groat Market, Newcastle, NE1 4XF or donate online by clicking here.


Please watch the interview about Mountain Fruits which was filmed before the disaster.

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Customer Spotlight – Cepicafe Peru

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Cepicafe, one of Shared Interest’s most established Peruvian Coffee and Cocoa customers has recently been visited by the famous choclatier – Pierre Marcolini.

Marcolini came in search of Peru´s white gold: the Porcelana variety of cacao, so named for its white-coloured cocoa pod from which the beans are extracted. This delicate strain of cocoa, it is prized for its unique and unmistakable aroma and taste.

As Cepicafe has a strategy of quality, not price – a dedication to producing high quality cacao instead of high volumes of low quality cacao; this visit is a positive step in confirming the success of such a strategy and the dedication the farmers have shown in cultivating such rare strain of cacao in the hope of improving their quality of life.

For his visit, Marcolini was accompanied by French TV channel, Canal 3, who are producing a documentary on the production of chocolate from bean to the edible jewels created by Marcolini. This will be aired in France in the near future.

On a wider scale, Marcolini’s visit will most certainly benefit the entire Peruvian cacao sector as it becomes known worldwide as a quality cacao producer. According to Santiago Paz, Cepicafe’s representative, “this opens the door for other cacao importers who are looking, not for the lowest priced cacao available, but to form economically and socially viable business relations with cacao producers based in equality, transparency and respect”.

Will this chocolate be sold as Fairtrade? We don’t know, however, as one of the aims of the Fairtrade standards is to “facilitate long-term trading partnerships and enable greater producer control over the trading process” (FLO), this visit and interest from Marcolini can certainly be considered a success for all involved.

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Philippines, Haiti and Pakistan….what do they have in common?

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Many of us over the festive period were spending time with loved ones, snuggling up on the sofa with the new DVD we got for Christmas and indulging in way too much food and wine. While others all around the globe were struck, without warning by landslides, typhoons and earthquakes.

Haiti, the Philippines and Pakistan have all been hit by a range of natural disasters over the last few months. Countries which struggle on a good day to find enough money to feed and clothe their families and provide an education for their children are now without homes, electricity and clean water. They are desperately waiting on our help.

Many of the fair trade farmers and craft makers that Shared Interest has worked with for many years are struggling to rebuild their lives following natural disasters of some sort. Fair trade may be about trade not aid but we still have a responsibility to offer a helping hand to farmers and craft makers should they find themselves hit by forces beyond their control.

This is why Shared Interest Foundation has set up a Livelihood Security Fund, to help in situations exactly like these. We are not here to duplicate the amazing work that others like the Red Cross who provide things like medical support, food and shelters. We are here to secure livelihoods, to empower people to rebuild their lives and provide a secure and sustainable income into their family home.

One of the organisations the Shared Interest Foundation has supported recently is the Community Craft Association (CCAP) in the Philippines, who lost all of their products that were boxed and waiting to be shipped to their buyer, their building, two vehicles and much, much more. Many of their workers were neck deep in water and lost their homes.

I have just received an update from Gina, their Executive Director, following their rehabilitation efforts after Typhoon Odnoy hit late last year. Gina also lost her husband two weeks after the disaster.

Shared Interest Foundation donated £5,000 to CCAP, to help rebuild their business following the disaster and this is what CCAP have spent the money on (in Gina’s own words):

“Our first priority after the Typhoon Ondoy disaster was to reproduce all the damaged goods, so we can deliver the goods to our buyers within the year. We had to work double time and under pressure for all CCAP staff and partner producers and the hard work paid off very well. We were able to ship out the goods as we have committed to our buyers.

We used Shared Interest Foundation’s donation for the replenishment of the ordered goods in the “Tulong Sulong” Helping CCAP move forward efforts.

Thank you very much for your generous effort, thoughtfulness and deep compassion to help us in the best way that you can.”

The Foundation has recently launched appeals to help other organisations like CCAP, such as those in Haiti and Pakistan, but this will only be possible with your help.

If you would like to donate to the Livelihood Security Fund and help rebuild communities like this, please send a cheque payable to Shared Interest Foundation to, Shared Interest, No. 2 Cathedral Square, Groat Market, Newcastle, NE1 4XF or donate online by clicking here.

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Surviving Campaign Coffee

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“I’m not one for putting letters after my name but if I was I’d have to put SCC after it, Survivor of Campaign Coffee.”

These were the opening words of John Bell at the London Diocese Fairtrade Conference last Saturday. The event is an annual conference, which this year had the title ‘Transforming Lives’, and aimed to inspire, encourage and help London churches in their support of fair trade. Having attended this same conference last year, when my work involvement in fair trade was new having just begun working at Shared Interest, I returned this year to run a Shared Interest stall having identified this as a great audience to tell about Shared Interest and learn more from with regards to their knowledge of fair trade. There were even some existing Shared Interest members at the conference, thank you for saying hello, and many people interested in finding out more about us, some only hearing the name ‘Shared Interest’ for the first time.

John Bell, of the Iona Community, ran much of the conference and included many songs throughout with faith based songs from all over the world chosen because of their support for fair trade and their messages of peace, justice, caring and togetherness. John also gave entertaining anecdotes of his experiences of economic justice, accompanied by meaningful questions such as ‘Can producers afford our affection for cheapness?’ and ‘Does our ability to pay for something entitle us to purchase it?’ There were also presentations by the Fairtrade Foundation, Divine and Cafe direct, which showed a fantastic video of their growers from all around the world.

I was supported at the stall by one of our new Ambassadors, Magaly, who had just returned to the UK from travelling overseas. Magaly brought a wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm to the stall and was a great support and help at what was her first ‘experience’ of being a Shared Interest Ambassador who had been unable to attend the training sessions we ran at the end of last year, ‘on the job’ learning certainly seemed to boost her enthusiasm further.

This was a great day and it was nice to see many familiar but many new faces among those who attended and I hope the event inspired, encouraged and helped.

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Shared Interest supports Bio-Exotica the fairtrade pineapple business

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Fairtrade Pineapples being packedShared Interest is to loan to Bio-Exotica, a Ghanaian pineapple producer, for the purchase of some much-needed equipment; which will enhance both their sustainability and their social impact.

Bio Exotica, established in 2003, are the sole employer in the Asegya area, providing work for more than 100 field workers and other staff. They also play an active social role in the local community and have founded 1 modern primary school and renovated another.

The organisation aims to provide assured employment for workers and the transfer of knowledge to local famers. Additionally, they aim to improve the living conditions of their community by contributing to employment, education and the development of local infrastructure.

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It just doesn’t seem fair

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At the end of 2009 I was lucky enough to visit Central America to visit a variety of fair trade producers and Shared Interest customers.

I’ve worked at Shared Interest for just over a year now and it’s always a delight to hear good news from producers, but the purpose of my trip abroad was to learn about the impact of our finance first hand. It was so motivating to speak to the producers and see how enthusiastic they were about Shared Interest. The producers highlighted some of the important features of our lending; we lend to those who can’t access finance from local banks, we don’t take security and we charge a fair rate of interest. Over and above this, our partners overseas spoke about the care and support they have experienced when working with us. All of this means that we are a unique organisation and our finance is in very high demand. I have become more motivated in my role, to find individuals, groups and corporate businesses in the UK that are able to provide financial support to, and share risk with fair trade producers.

The other thing I was keen to learn from producers was how fair trade had impacted their lives. There were many positive comments; for one co-operative, the minimum price had been very important, where they had previously felt at risk from pricing speculation and at another, we were shown a community medical centre that had been developed with the fair trade premium.

Despite this, some producers were only too eager to voice their concerns about the cost of FLO-cert (the Fairtrade Labelling Organisation’s certification process) and what they get for their money. One of the coffee farmers we met showed us around his processing plant just before the harvest and explained to us that he generally sells about 4% of his coffee into the fairtrade market and the remaining 96% into local and commercial markets. Even though a very small portion of his coffee sales are fairtrade, the full FLO certification has to be paid for, which we were told was around $2000. He turned to my colleague and I and said, “That just doesn’t seem very fair, does it?”

Perhaps one way of solving this dilemma is to continue raising the profile of fairtrade so that farmers can increase the amount of produce to be sold into the fairtrade market. But how long will that take? And what should be done about it in the meantime?

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Shared Interest member receives MBE

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Shared Interest member Joe Human of Kewsick, has been awarded an MBE for his services to Oxfam and Fairtrade.

For many years Joe has been committed to raising the profile of Fairtrade in his region, both in his role as Co-ordinator of the Cumbria Fairtrade Network and advisor to the Hadrian’s Wall Fairtrade Steering Group.

From all at Shared Interest, congratulations Joe!

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Growing the Shared Interest Team

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I don’t know many people who truly look forward to coming back to work after the Christmas holidays but for 4 of the Shared Interest staff the New Year also signals a new challenge for the coming year.

We have 4 new members of staff joining the existing team here in Newcastle. Joining our Supporter Relations Team is Adam Gaines and Stacey Toth who will be fulfilling the newly created roles of Digital Marketing Manager and Communications Officer. Both Stacey and Adam will be supporting our Communications Manager in ensuring that all of Shared Interest’s marketing and media communications are successful in raising the profiles of the Society and Foundation with the aim of increasing out shared capital.

Our third new member of staff is Louise McLaren, former Traidcraft employee, who is our new Project Leader working for the Foundation. This is the first time that the Foundation has had 2 full time permanent members of staff and is an indication of how the Foundation continues to grow and continues to help more and more disadvantaged groups to find the training they need to run and improve their businesses.

Finally, Tim Morgan, formerly of Traidcraft and Ethical Superstore, has joined as the Society’s new Finance Director. Tim will be heading up our small Finance Team as well as sitting on the Board of Directors. All 4 of our new staff are currently underway with their induction programmes finding out about the history of Shared Interest and getting to know the existing team while finding out exactly what their new roles will entail. I know staff will be making them feel at home as much as possible as we have all, at one time or another, been the ‘new starter’. With this being our 20th Year, the new members have joined at an exciting time in the organisation and fair trade and I’m sure they will all rise to the challenge.

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