Nova Coop organized a public meeting in Turin with Edwin Melo Proano, the president of the Ecuadorian cooperative of small-scale producers El Guabo, which has been supplying ‘Solidal’ brand bananas to Coop stores for 10 years. (1) The event was held in the Turin context of two weeks dedicated to fair trade.
‘Solidal’ bananas for Coop, 10 years of fair trade
Bananas grown by El Guabo in Ecuador represent well the added value of ‘Fairtrade’ certified foods. This system, as noted above, guarantees farmers a stable minimum price that is indifferent to market fluctuations and suitable for covering average production costs. The ‘Fairtrade minimum price,’ indeed.
The ‘premium fund‘ is the second element of solidarity, which is to be achieved through direct support of shared projects that benefit the local community. In the case of El Guabo, cooperation has helped both the development of agricultural production and community life with specific interventions on education and health.
The El Guabo cooperative now gathers 130 members and 1,200 direct workers. A community of small producers that supplies bananas-organic and from integrated pest management-directly to consumer cooperatives in Italy, without intermediaries.
Coop’s award to ‘fair trade’ consumers
‘Fairtrade’ consumers get a chance to win a prize from Coop by entering a contest open until Oct. 30, 19. To participate, simply purchase any product from the ‘Solidal’ line, take a photo of the product against the backdrop of a landscape and register on the ilviaggiochesei.it website.
In addition to various daily drawing prizes , a 1-week trip for 2 people to the Dominican Republic is up for grabs. Guests of the ‘Conacado’ Cooperative, which produces Fairtrade-certified cocoa also used in Coop products.
Notes
(1) Nova Coop is one of the 7 large consumer cooperatives in the Coop system, and as such is a member of the ANCC of the National League of Cooperatives and Mutual Societies and the Coop Italia cooperative consortium.
Professional journalist since January 1995, he has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and periodicals (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). She is the author of journalistic surveys on food, she has published the book "Reading labels to know what we eat".
