Origin Wine launches new Fairtrade project

South Africa’s Origin Wine has announced a new project with the Brandvlei Cooperative in the Breede River Valley, following on from the Fairhills Fairtrade project.

The new project will be in place for the 2013 vintage and will add to Origin Wine’s premium range of “Fairtrade Unsung Hero” as well as lower alcohol wines such as “Fair & Light”.

The Fairhills Fairtrade project started in South Africa in 2006 and now has partnership projects in Argentina and Chile.

Bernard Fontannaz, who founded Fairhills in 2004, said: “After the overwhelming success of our first Fairtrade project, which started the upliftment and the social development process for an entire community of over 1,000 individuals, we believe that we need to spread our support in order for an even wider community to benefit from our projects.

“With eight years’ experience in the Fairtrade market through our projects in South Africa, Argentina and Chile, we are confident that we can make an real difference to the community around our new suppliers.

“We are very excited to expand our Fairtrade sourcing with this new social venture with Brandvlei and to be able to spread further the social benefits generated by our growing Fairtrade sales as we see Fairtrade as a way to do business rather than a short term sales trend.”

So far the project has helped to renovate three day care centres, building new classrooms and providing training for teachers. Ultimately the project aims to be financially self sustainable and it is hoped the purchase and cultivation of land, and new projects like this one, will help with that goal.

Jon Woodriffe, UK sales director of Origin Wine said: “We have seen our Fairtrade sales move quickly into the mainstream. It is important to develop our supply base to offer an increasing number of styles to our customers. That is in a logical continuation of last year’s accreditation of the Van Rhyn’s farm on the west coast, which allowed us to extend into the organic and Fairtrade category.

“We are very excited by the new venture which will allow us to continue our innovation in the growing Fairtrade market.”