HealthPak supports Fairtrade for a Better World

Published on Sep 25, 2020

At a time when consumer consciousness is growing every day, HealthPak has delivered 21 million Fairtrade products to hotels and motels in New Zealand.

It’s a statistic Jimi Kennedy-Grant, HealthPak’s general manager of sales and marketing is incredibly proud of.
“That’s a Fairtrade message we have put in the hands of 21 million guests - that’s a lot,” he says, adding that the products include three different teas, two coffees, sugar and a gluten free hot chocolate.

The Fairtrade ethos is a simple one.  “We empower millions of farmers and workers around the world by tackling poverty and poor working conditions, as well as conserving the environment,” the organisation says.  “It’s hope for a better future by making trade fair.”

Fairtrade supports about 1.7 million farmers, producers and communities in 75 countries with 30,000 Fairtrade products available to shoppers around the world.

HealthPak’s main Fairtrade suppliers are from Africa, India and Asia but work is being done to bring products in from the Pacific Islands too. Since it began in Australia and New Zealand in 2006, Fairtrade now supports 26,000 small-scale Pacific producer households who grow coffee, cocoa, coconuts, vanilla, ginger and sugar.

The Fairtrade team works in Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Timor-Leste, providing guidance and training on certification requirements, facilitating access to Fairtrade markets, delivering quality improvement programs and advocating for environmental sustainability, gender equality and youth inclusion. In the last five years, producer organisations across the wider Pacific have earned an impressive USD $6.7 million in Fairtrade Premium and USD $49 million in Fairtrade sales.

Fairtrade’s main products are tea, coffee, chocolate, cotton and bananas, but it also includes ice cream, soccer balls, gold, cosmetics and some alcohol. 

HealthPak’s Fairtrade products are brought in as bulk ingredients and then repacked to be sold to the accommodation industry to be available in hotels and motels.

Through Fairtrade, HealthPack is helping farmers and workers growing crops and producing raw materials, their children, families and their wider community.

Fairtrade can mean education for their kids, clean drinking water at the factory or investment back into their business.  

Fairtrade is also a strong advocate for organic farming and 52 per cent of all Fairtrade producer organisations are certified organic. Kennedy-Grant says travellers to New Zealand see real value in Fairtrade and it is becoming more important to the domestic market too.

And the products are only marginally more expensive than those that don’t carry the Fairtrade logo. “For hotels and motels wanting to achieve social sustainability, this is an easy way to do it,” Kennedy-Grant says of those that stock Fairtrade products.

So next time you have a satisfying cuppa in a hotel or motel, check its origin and if it’s Fairtrade, you can feel even better.