Fair Trade Twitter Experiment Update

Published December 27, 2008 @ 12:34PM PT

A few weeks ago, I had posted about the Fair Trade Twitter experiment started by Tim Davies. Since then, Tim has set up a blog for the @askforfairtrade twitter experiment to explore different ways for the campaign to develop. The Fair Trade twitter experiment asks for Fair Traders on twitter to tweet their experiences asking for Fair Trade at different coffee shops. Often times, a coffee shop will advertise that they carry Fair Trade coffee, but when asked to brew some, they won't follow through. With this experiment, Tim, and the rest of us Fair Trade are hoping to find the different coffee shops around that are actually serving Fair Trade coffee.

Tim as asking all for their suggestions on how we think to develop this experiment into a larger campaign. Any suggestions? I was trying to find out an easy way to find different Fair Traders out there that use twitter and I'm sort of stumped. The search feature on twitter really is no help. I know of Flock Up that connects people that have the same interests on twitter. I think more people need to use it though. I set up a Fair Trade flock and added Fair Traders that I knew of. If you, or you know of any Fair Trade orgs on twitter, feel free to flock them up.

Someone also told me about Twollo. I tried it out for for a bit, then I realized that I was automatically following ten new people out of nowhere. Wasn't ready to auto-follow people.

Anyone have any other suggestions of an easy way to find fellow Fair Traders on twitter? Also, some suggestions on how to expand the @askforfairtrade experiment. Discuss!

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Comments (5)

Zara,
Have you heard of Choffy? It is a new product that is similar to coffee but with lots more health benefits. It is a drink made from the cacau bean, roasted and ground. You brew the drink exactly like coffee. It is not meant to be exactly the same as coffee, as you can imagine the cacau bean has its own distinctive and rich taste. All their beans are obtained from fair trade sources, and so far in the two months since this company has launched, I have gotten nothing but positive feedback! You can check it out at http://drinkchoffy.com/snider

I would love it if you would post the link on your blog or do a review. Contact me for more info!!!
Rachel

Posted by Rachel Snider on 12/27/2008 @ 05:59PM PT
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I forgot to add that I found your blog through twitter--I got an email that you were following me.

Posted by Rachel Snider on 12/27/2008 @ 06:02PM PT
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Rachel,

Can you confirm what you mean by your claim that the beans come from Fair Trade sources?

I didn't notice any such claim on the site, and I don't see any mention of Fair Trade Certification for the products.

Zarah,

Keep up the great work! I'm looking into Twitter uses for FT myself, and appreciate Tim's and your efforts.

Cheers!

Posted by Michael Zelmer on 12/29/2008 @ 07:41AM PT
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Zarah,
I'll see what kind of documentation I can find you.

Posted by Rachel Snider on 12/29/2008 @ 09:37AM PT
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I went out with my workmates for a Christmas lunch and decided to try out the "ask for fair trade" experiment. We were pleasantly surprised that The Peasant in Clerkenwell, the gastro pub we were at, had both Fairtrade Coffee and sugar.

I still haven't signed up for Twitter, but am going to keep no asking when I order coffee.

Posted by Helen Bode on 01/02/2009 @ 03:29AM PT
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Author

Zarah is the Operations Manager for the Global Exchange Fair Trade Online Store, a project of the international human rights organization, Global Exchange. Alongside her work with marginalized communities from all over the world to get their products into the international market, Zarah serves to educate and inform the public about a more just and sustainable trading system.