Insomnia Coffee Company has announced that all coffees served from its outlets as of today, are 100% Fairtrade certified. This is the first time that an Irish coffee company has taken the decision to source all its coffee through Fairtrade. The deal is the biggest ever completed by Fairtrade Mark Ireland representing 20% of its total Fairtrade coffee business in 2005.
Speaking at the press conference at Insomnia’s IFSC outlet, Insomnia CEO Bobby Kerr said, “We believe that this is a real win|win for all stakeholders. This deal benefits coffee producers and we hope it will leave a sweet taste in the mouths of our customers, staff and management. Sourcing Fairtrade coffee is part of our commitment to ethical trading and is an important part of our corporate philosophy.”
He added, “Our commitment to this philosophy extends to our customers and therefore we have decided that the retail price of our coffee beverages will remain unchanged. This deal is what business should be about, leaving something for the next guy.”
Almost a year ago, Insomnia commissioned an R&D programme to reproduce the same Insomnia coffee taste from Fairtrade producers. Further in-depth research and customer trials ensured that Insomnia’s signature coffee flavour would not be compromised. Mr. Kerr said, “The key objective for us was to produce the exact same high-quality Insomnia aroma and taste but with the added benefit of giving the customer a Fairtrade certified product. Once this was achieved, the deal was never in doubt.”
The new Insomnia blend is a mix of beans mainly from Ethiopia blended with coffee sourced from Indonesia, Sumatra and Peru and will see 33 tonnes, or over 2½ million cups of Fairtrade coffee imported in the first year. The company plans to communicate their Fairtrade stance through ongoing PR and marketing activities targeting customers with the tongue in cheek slogan; ‘Insomnia coffee have introduced the ‘F’ word……Fairtrade’.
Introducing today’s proceedings, Junior Minister at the Department for Foreign Affairs with special responsibility for Overseas Aid, Conor Lenihan T.D., spoke about his trip to Fairtrade producers in Central America and announced that on September 18th together his Senior Colleague Dermot Ahearn and Án Taoiseach will together be launching Ireland’s first ever White Paper on Irish Aid, stating – “The White Paper will clearly and succinctly outline Ireland’s commitment to the developing world and will make sure Irish Aid remains of the highest quality.” The Minister also spoke about the decision to grant the Irish Fair Trade Network € 7.5 million over 5 years to channel support to farmers the minister said - “This will make a real difference by improving access to markets at a favourable price for thousands of small farmers and improving labour conditions for many thousands of coffee pickers”.
Speaking at the announcement, Ethiopian Ambassador Mr. Zerihun Retta today said, “I am delighted that an Irish-owned company with such a significant presence in the market has chosen an Ethiopian co-operative to supply the majority of their coffee needs. Their commitment to Fairtrade and the concept of Ethical Business and Corporate Responsibility is enormous, but most importantly their efforts will make a real difference to the people of Ethiopia. I would like to compliment Robert Kerr and his team for their leadership, courage and commitment and thank them for supporting our local producers as well as Fairtrade producers around the third world.”
