Nova Coop organized a public meeting in Turin with Edwin Melo Proano, president of the Ecuadorian cooperative of small producers El Guabo, who for 10 years has supplied 'Solidal' brand bananas to Coop stores. (1) The event was held in the Turin context of two weeks dedicated to fair and ethical trade.
‘Solidal’ Bananas for Coop, 10 years of fair and ethical trade
The bananas cultivated by El Guabo in Ecuador well represent the added value of ’Fairtrade’ certified foods. This system, as has been seen, guarantees farmers a stable minimum price, indifferent to market fluctuations and sufficient to cover average production costs. The ’Fairtrade minimum price’, precisely.
The ’premium fund’ is the second element of solidarity, which must be realized through the direct support of shared projects benefiting the local community. In the case of El Guabo, the cooperation has helped both the development of agricultural production and the life of the community with specific interventions in education and health.
The cooperative El Guabo now includes 130 members and 1200 direct workers. A community of small producers who supply bananas – organic and integrated pest management – directly to consumer cooperatives in Italy, without intermediaries.
Coop’s award to ’fair and ethical’ consumers
The ’fair and ethical’ consumers receive from Coop the chance to win a prize by participating in a contest open until 30.10.19. To participate, simply purchase any product from the ’Solidal‘ line, take a photo of the product with a landscape background and register on the site ilviaggiochesei.it.
Besides various prizes In a daily draw, a 1-week trip for 2 people to the Dominican Republic is at stake. 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 it adheres to the ANCC of the National League of Cooperatives and Mutuals and to the cooperative consortium Coop Italy.
Professional journalist since January 1995, she has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and magazines (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). Author of food journalistic investigations, she published the book 'Reading labels to know what we eat'.
