The Co-operative and Fairtrade Wine
In 2001 The Co-operative broke new ground by launching the UK's first fairly-traded supermarket wine, and we haven't looked back since. At the time there were no internationally agreed criteria for wine to carry the FAIRTRADE Mark, so we worked with Traidcraft the UK's leading fairtrade organisation, to set up a trading relationship with the Los Robles co-operative in Chile.
After the establishment of a criteria for Fairtrade Wine in 2004 The Co-operative began to work with the Du Toitskloof co-operative in South Africa, helping them to gain Fairtrade accreditation which they achieved in 2005. Shortly after, The
Co-operative was then able to launch its own range of Fairtrade wine from Du Toitskloof throughout its UK stores.
Today our range of wines carrying the FAIRTRADE Mark comes from all over the world, including Chile, Argentina and South Africa. Each of our Fairtrade wines tells a story; about struggling communities revived and renewed, about schools built, clean water supplied, and hope restored.
So when you're sipping our velvety Argentine red, enjoying a refreshing glass of our Chilean white, or celebrating with our Fairtrade Sparkling Brut, you can be sure that someone on the other side of the world is benefiting from a better deal that will improve their lives. Isn't that worth raising a glass to?
For more information on Fairtrade projects in Argentina, Chile and South Africa take a look at our Fairtrade wine notes.