Making the Switch with NUSSL
NUSSL
If your Union is a member of the NUS, the chances are that your shops and bars buy their wares from NUS Services Limited (NUSSL).
NUSSL is owned and run by students, and the ideas come from the students’ membership. Particularly strong in recent years has been the emphasis on Social Responsibility and, of course, Fairtrade.
Fairtrade
Many third world producers under non-Fairtrade conditions are forced to work on large scale coffee or tea plantations for little or no pay and under poor conditions. Fairtrade farmers have control over what they produce and are guaranteed a fair and stable price for their work.
In recent years the rise of Fairtrade has been phenomenal. Sales of products with the FAIRTRADE Mark are now running at a rate of more than £200m a year, which last year rose by 40%. Sales continue to rise steeply. Now 301 producer groups from Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia are benefiting from selling to the UK Fairtrade market, up 50% from 197 last year.
This year NUSSL set up a new grouping especially to supply Fairtrade Tea and Coffee. Using the supplier ‘The Wicked Coffee Company’, Unions have been supplied with tasty, Fairtrade Coffee, but also the brilliant branding that comes with Wicked - seeing increased sales. Wicked currently supplies 30 unions.
All you need do is request the endorsed Fairtrade supply from NUSSL.
But why stop at hot beverages? Through NUSSL more than 400 Fairtrade lines are available including chocolate, fruit juice and wine. To get a list of the products available, ask your Commercial Services Manager to visit the Trading Directory on www.nussl.co.uk and search for "fair-trade". Also, thanks to NUSSL and input from its members, students unions were amongst the first retail shops in the UK to offer Fairtrade clothing through Epona.
So, make the switch. It’s good for farmers and good for institutions, and helps prove that profits and principles should, can, and do go hand in hand.
More information:
Contact
Tim Gee (Director with Responsibility for Member Liaison)
0131 650 2649
Jamie Agombar (Ethics and Environment Adviser)
01625413239
Isn't Fairtrade expensive?
No. A couple of years ago this may have been the case. But now, the difference in the price of Fairtrade and non-Fairtrade hot beverages is minimal. In fact, Fairtrade is often cheaper than non-Fairtrade owing to economies of scale. A price comparison with equivalent quality products using current NUSSL prices proves this.
Will these changes take away freedom of choice?
No. This argument would be valid if we were proposing to make chocolate bars 100% Fairtrade. We aren't. What we're proposing only applies to hot beverages, an area in which the individual student has no freedom of choice in the current system. For example, when you buy a coffee, you can choose between latte and cappuccino but not between Brand X and Brand Y. The choice of brand has already been made by the union.
Is there enough Fairtrade tea and coffee to service the required increase in demand?
Yes
Will this campaign make all NUS universities and colleges official Fairtrade institutions?
Put simply, no. The Fairtrade Foundation will award official Fairtrade University status when five minimum goals are met. Our campaign will result in a massive increase in the sale of Fairtrade and covers some, but not all, of these goals. Universities and students' unions will still have to do other things, such as set up Fairtrade steering groups, before the status can be awarded. The Fairtrade Foundation maintains a list of Fairtrade universities. For more information on how to become a Fairtrade institution, please contact universities@fairtrade.org.uk
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