Flying with Fair Trade

Published December 29, 2008 @ 04:22PM PT

Sitting at the airport waiting for my Virgin America flight back to San Francisco and trying to figure out what kind of coffee they serve inflight. They have flashy lights, cushy seats, televisions and even wifi internet, but do they have Fair Trade Certified coffee? Why am I so curious about this? Well, someone recently told informed me that Virgin Atlantic now serves Fairtrade coffee and tea on board all their flights.

According to Virgin head honcho Sir Richard Branson:

“Virgin Atlantic recognises how important it is for all companies to understand the impact of the products they use, both on the environment and on the people producing them. So, we’re proud to support Fairtrade, which guarantees farmers a fair price for their product, and are really pleased that our passengers will benefit from a comprehensive range of Fairtrade teas and coffees onboard our flights."

I know that Virgin has a strong Corporate Social Responsibility campaign under the name Project Aware so I wonder if they are planning to switch their tea and coffee over to Fair Trade Certified on their Virgin America flights. I've been sniffing around asking staff members around the airport and even reached out to their twitter account. No one seems to know. The @askforfairtrade experiment and companies' promises of Corporate Social Responsibility has me asking around more to see if they are living up to those promises. Yesterday, I performed the Starbucks Challenge and it was a Fair Trade fail. tsk.

So, anyone out there know what kind of coffee Virgin America serves inflight? Does the UK continue to stay ahead of the Fair Trade game compared to the US? Inquiring minds want to know.

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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.