Happy Christmas & thanks from El Guabo…

24 December 2011 | Posted by julia in All Good News, Banana lovers, General

It’s been an epic year, and we couldn’t have done it without support from you.

So give yourself another pat on the back.

For the second year running you’ve helped 430 Family farms in El Guabo, Ecuador to earn a fair price for their crop. Kiwis have eaten over 12 million Fairtrade bananas generating $170,000 in Fairtrade premium. And over $1.6 million has gone back to the families growing All Good bananas.

The Fairtrade premium is also supporting 17 schools, 900 children, a special needs school and a medical centre.

Thanks for joining the good guys and thanks for fostering a peaceful world that’s free and fair for everyone.

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Small buying decisions, big difference…

18 October 2011 | Posted by julia in All Good News, Banana lovers, General

As part of 95bFM’s Conscious Consumers month, Chris got to chat to the lovely Charlotte from Morning Glory (despite post-rugby loss of voice).

Conscious Consumers month is all about knowing where your food is from, and the big, big difference you can make with small buying decisions (like buying Fairtrade for instance).

You can have a listen to what Chris had to say here.

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And marvel at the goodie pack one lucky listener got to win… <gasps-in-awe>

Aww next time eh? It’ll be you, promise…

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A week of extremes…

26 August 2011 | Posted by julia in All Good News, General

Like many of you we’ve been taking part in the Live Below The Line challenge this week. Living on $2.25 was a pretty daunting prospect. It’s an amount that represents the amount that someone living in extreme poverty in New Zealand would have to live on.

Although we only had to make this stretch for food and drink, the 1.4 billion people living in extreme poverty globally have this equivalent amount to cover everything (health, housing, transport, food, education etc). We also only lived on $2.25 for a week, rather than being an everyday reality.

For us it has just been a (lets face it very comfortable) peep into living below the poverty line, but it has shown us things we’d never (or could have never) even considered about the poverty line before.

Apart from the hunger pains and headaches, we’ve noticed real changes in concentration, mental clarity and even sleep.

To all those who sponsored us, a big thank you. Your donation will be going to the Global Poverty Project one of the five charities working together on this. If you bought a bunch of bananas this week, thank you too. We’re donating 10c for every bunch of bananas sold this week to Live Below the Line.

On the flip side we also attended the TVNZ New Zealand Marketing awards 2011, as we were a finalist for the sustainability marketing award. Supping on water and eating brown rice we were stoked to be announced the winners and took home this hunk of metal.

Choice end to the week really.

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Meet the farmer who grew your banana

03 August 2011 | Posted by julia in All Good News, Banana lovers, General, Growers

Those lucky punters at the Foodshow not only got to sample a whole heap of Fairtrade ‘nana goodies, they also got a sneak peak at a little application us geeks at All Good have been working on with Andrew Wilshire and the guys at Tomorrow.

Now, we get over-excited talking about the BIG difference Fairtrade makes to our growers, but there’s nothing more compelling than hearing directly from the growers themselves. And the best place to hear about it? Why, when you’re instore choosing your fruit course. So we’ve developed instore posters that will be popping up over the next couple of weeks that include this little code below.

You may have seen these little squares appearing in places before and wondered what the heck they were. Well for the uninitiated (*warning geek-speak alert*) these squares can be read by any smartphone with a QR-code reader which converts the squares into hidden content downloaded straight to your phone.

In simple terms?

• Point phone
• Take picture
• Web brower opens up with cool stuff like videos to play with
• You go “ooooooooooh that’s good to know”

Go on have a play now or next time your instore…

Or have a more detailed look at our new growers page here. Choice.

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Going bananas at The Foodshow

03 August 2011 | Posted by julia in All Good News, Banana lovers, General

It was a pretty good turn out for Fairtrade at the Auckland Foodshow this year.

Oxfam had their Oxmart stand showcasing every Fairtrade product imaginable and encouraging people to sign-up to a better deal for farmers. Trade Aid were swamped by people learning (and chomping down) their delicious Fairtrade chocolate.

Meanwhile, the All Good crew got to do what they did best and chatted to people about what a difference spending that extra dollar on All Good ‘nanas makes to our growers.

And bribed people with goodies made with our bananas from Ripe Deli, Kokako, Nice Blocks and Kohu Road.

Kokako tempted people with their banana bread each morning…

Nice Blocks were swamped when they did their sampling on Saturday…

and Kohu Road got people drooling over their ice-cream made with All Good Fairtrade bananas.

We met some super organised people at the event too. Many with shopping trolleys to help carry their purchases, and these guys who brought their own walkie-talkies to the event…

Smart thinking...

Met some little monkeys too.

Nice one Foodshow, nice one.

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Where to buy your All Good Fairtrade bananas

02 August 2011 | Posted by julia in All Good News, Banana lovers, General

Don’t forget that you can use our All Good banana finder to see which stores near you stock All Good Fairtrade bananas. Just type in your address or zoom around the banana finder map under the where to buy tab.

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Meet the farmer who grew your banana (and taste the difference)

15 July 2011 | Posted by julia in All Good News, Banana lovers, General

We launched New Zealand’s first and only Fairtrade bananas at last year’s Foodshow, and at this year’s event (Fri 29th – Sat 31st July) we want to introduce you to the people who grow them to show you why a happy farmer produces a banana with better taste.

We’re giving our growers in El Guabo, Ecuador a chance to speak directly to New Zealanders in order to explain, just how your small buying decisions can add up to a life-changing difference to them. Now it’s a long way from Ecuador, and besides, our farmers are busy a-growing and a-harvesting. So we’ve invested in some technology to help you get a better understanding of who our growers are, and the huge benefit choosing All Good Fairtrade bananas makes to their farms, families, communities and lives.

At this year’s Auckland Food Show, we’ll be demonstrating our smartphone application which will give shoppers the chance to hear directly from the growers, the changes Fairtrade has made to their farms, heck you’ll even be able to see exactly where their farms are.

They’ll be scrummy food to try too. You’ll be able to get some of our ‘nanas (natch), but we’ll also be sampling some of the great tasting produce that’s made them. Over the three days of the show, we’ll be giving you the chance to sample banana-based wares from our partners Ripe Deli, Kokako, Nice Blocks and Kohu Road.

Have a look at our page on The Food Show site to see what deals will be on offer, there’s even a handy map to see where our stand is (#372).

See you there.

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Harriet Lamb round-up

27 June 2011 | Posted by julia in All Good News, Banana lovers, General

Wooo-whheeeee what a week last week was. The awesomely inspiring Harriet Lamb arrived in New Zealand on Monday and powered through a schedule that would make a marathon runner’s feet bleed. All conducted with a smile and infectious enthusiasm, her passion for Fairtrade is incredibly evident. But don’t just take our word for it…

We’ve collected a number of last week’s key events for you to peruse, view, listen and share.

Monday started with an interview on TVNZ’s breakfast show with Petra, which you can watch here.

Harriet & Petra

After more interviews and meetings a-plenty, Sarin from 95bfm chatted with Harriet over lunch. The interview is well worth a listen, which you can do here.

One of Monday’s many events was an afternoon tea at Main Course with Dish magazine. Claire Aldous from Dish magazine whipped up a super-yummy Fairtrade choc & banana cake, whilst Harriet Lamb spoke about her experiences with the Fairtrade banana market in the UK.

Fairtrade Choc & Banana Cake mmmh

One of the best pieces we saw over the week was the article and interview with TV3 for Nightline. It details just where the extra dollar goes. If you haven’t watched it yet, then you can here.

Then it was onto Dunedin & Wellington to meet and chat with Fairtrade supporters there, back in time for Good magazine’s cocktail event and lastly the panel discussion chaired by Bomber Bradbury with Barry Coates from Oxfam and our very own Chris Morrison.

(L-R: Chris Morrison, Barry Coates, Harriet Lamb, Bomber Bradbury)

All in all, a massive week for Fairtrade ‘nanas.

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Fairtrade: Dollar extra goes a long way

21 June 2011 | Posted by simon in All Good News, General, Growers

Fair Trade products make more than $7 billion a year, helping more than 1 million workers around the world. Watch the TV3 Nightline story about how All Good Fairtrade bananas are good for you and good for the growers – ensuring bananas are farmed without the use of pesticides and other chemicals that are hazardous to the health of farmers and supporting them and their families in Ecuador.

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Bite goes on for ‘ethical’ banana

19 June 2011 | Posted by simon in All Good News, General

More banana-eating Kiwis are wanting to help the farmers who grow them and buy the more expensive Fairtrade certified fruit, Kim Knight reports.

In the public’s mind, coffee is synonomous with Fairtrade. It’s only in the past year you’ve had the opportunity to buy bananas, and then only if you go to particular shops.

Popular culture attributes the following to psychologist Sigmund Freud: “Sometimes a banana is just a banana.”

Sorry Sigmund – New Zealand shoppers beg to differ.

This country imports more bananas per capita than any other nation in the world. And, in the last year, one million bunches of those were Fairtrade certified.

The ethically approved version of the lunchbox staple has, so far, grabbed a 4% market share. Campaigners say consumer response to the new product – just a year after its launch in the middle of an economic recession – is staggering.

Read the rest of the Sunday Star Times article on All Good Fairtrade bananas here.

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