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Food for thought: putting more ethical products from Africa on our shelves

DEPARTMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT News Release (Trade) issued by COI News Distribution Service on 10 June 2009

New African products will appear on supermarket shelves thanks to a new fund formally launched today by Trade and Development Minister, Gareth Thomas.

The FRICH (Food Retail Industry Challenge fund) will support six projects to bring a range of new tea, coffees and fruit juices from across Africa to the UK, with a total investment of around £3 million. Projects are co funded by FRICH and the companies implementing them.

The six companies chosen to receive funding so far are:

* Blue Skies (fruit juice from Ghana)
* Waitrose LEAF (environmentally-sustainable fruit and vegetables)
* The Co-Operative Group (tea from Kenya)
* Sainsbury's (coffees from Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo)
* Betty's and Taylors of Harrogate (tea from Rwanda)
* Cafedirect (hot drinks from Sao Tome and Tanzania)

Research shows nearly three-quarters of consumers in the UK want to reduce poverty through their shopping choices. However, statistics show that we still spend only 3 percent of our food shopping budget on products from developing countries. The new funding will help bridge this gap and ensure that everyone involved gets a fair deal.

The launch of the first six FRICH projects takes place during the first ever World Trade Week in the UK (8th-14th June), an event to highlight the importance of trade as a tool for recovery from the global economic downturn.

Speaking at the launch of FRICH today, Minister for Trade and Development Gareth Thomas said:

"Seven out of ten Africans depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, and the ability to trade with a large UK retailer will make a big difference to farmers across the continent.

"I am delighted to see that all of the retailers chosen to receive FRICH funding are putting the money to good use, producing an exciting new range of African products which will enable UK consumers to help developing countries with their shopping even more.

"This week is the first ever World Trade Week in the UK, and the work that these companies are doing is a perfect example of how trade can offer a vital route out of poverty to some of the world's poorest people."

ENDS

Notes to editors:

* The attached photo was taken during the official launch of FRICH this morning. Minister Gareth Thomas launched the product with representatives from the six projects who will receive funding.

L-R Guy Murfitt (Blue Skies), Liz Jarman, (Sainsbury's), Wolfgang Weinmann (Cafedirect), Sanjay Kumar (Betty's and Taylors of Harrogate) Minister for Trade and Development Gareth Thomas, Mary Bosley, (Waitrose), Jeremy Boxhall (LEAF), Anish Malde (Wealmoor) and Simon Hotchkin (Finlay's).

* FRICH is a £1.9m challenge fund which aims to get more African products onto UK supermarket shelves.

* The challenge fund is open to bids from groups of UK food manufacturers and retailers who want to develop and test new ways if growing and sustaining the market fro African food exports.

* The successful bids that have received funding have demonstrated how their projects will bring both commercial benefits as well as income and employment to thousands of farmers, labourers and their families in developing countries.

* All the projects must 'match' the funds they receive from DFID.

* The successful projects in this first round are:

* 'Yorkshire Tea' from Rwanda - Creating value addition for smallholder farmers in Rwanda through upgrading quality and ethical practices amongst tea producers. Project led by Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate, the Rainforest Alliance and OCIR The (Rwandan Public Tea Office). Grant: £249k

* African brand of fruit juices from Ghana - Launch of a premium quality, African branded, pineapple, mango and passion fruit juices. Project led by Blue Skies with support from Waitrose. Grant: £250k.

* New range of teas and cocoa from Africa - New market being developed for single origin cocoa and green tea drink, and fair-trade blended tea, from Kenya, Rwanda, Sao Tome, Tanzania and Uganda. Project led by Cafedirect, Imani Development and Zatona Adil. Grant: £150k

* Tea from co-operatives in Kenya - New co-operatives being established between farmers and UK manufacturer, with incentives to diversify crops production to reduce dependency on tea production. Project led by The Co-operative Group, Finlays Beverages Ltd, Africa Now, The Co-operative College UK, The Co-operative College Kenya. Grant: £200k

* New African speciality coffees - Project to develop, launch and promote two new African speciality grade coffees to the UK market. Project led by Sainsbury's supermarket, TWIN, Comic Relief and Finlays Beverages Ltd. Grant: £250k

* Environmentally sustainable fruit and vegetables - Waitrose has committed sell all its fresh produce with Leaf Marque certification. This project will developing guidelines on the 'LEAF Marque' standard (Linking Environment and Farming) on greener farming systems for African growers to help them achieve LEAF certification. Project led by Waitrose, LEAF, Wren Media, Blue Skies, Sunripe and Wealmoor. Grant: £200k

For further details please contact Stacey Vickers in the DFID Press Office on 020 7023 0513/ 07788 182231 or s-vickers@dfid.gov.uk

DFID, the Department for International Development: leading the British government's fight against world poverty. One in five people in the world today, over 1 billion people, live in poverty on less than one dollar a day.

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