Know Global, Drink Local...News @ Global Café Direct
Global Café Direct offers a caffeine hit at the Sustainable Living Festival 2009 12/02/09
Coffex’s Fair trade and Organic coffee range, Global Café Direct, will show its support for social and environmental sustainability at Melbourne’s 11th Sustainable Living Festival at Federation Square, to be held along the River Promenade from 20th – 22nd February 2009.
Right in the heart of Melbourne, the Sustainable Living Festival 2009 celebrates innovation and creativity within the expanding sustainability sector. A diverse range of exhibitions, performances and discussions will offer audiences information, inspiration and innovative approaches to sustainable living.
The Festival is driven by a collective of people who share the common goal of creating a sustainable future. Coffex shares this goal, and is taking steps towards becoming a sustainable workplace, working with VECCI’s Grow Me The Money program for sustainability-minded businesses to shape greener decisions in Coffex’s business practices. Moreover, Coffex’s Global Café Direct will exclusively supply Fair Trade and Organic coffee over the three days of the Sustainable Living Festival.
Alongside Global Café Direct, the Fair Trade Association of Australia & New Zealand (FTAANZ) will be exhibiting at the Festival, and Global Café Direct coffee blends will also be available for purchase from the FTAANZ stall.
After nearly 50 years roasting experience, Coffex launched its Fair Trade and Organic Coffee blend in 2005 to respond to the growing ecological and ethical awareness in Austalia. Global Café Direct blends are not only smooth and flavoursome, but are one of the most ethical coffees available in the Australian market.
Global Café Direct’s Fairtrade logo guarantees the social sustainability of the product; that the beans are selected according to the principles of fair trade, guaranteeing that coffee producers receive a fair price for their coffee. Global Café Direct is also certified organic by the Australian Certified Organic Label. Visit www.globalcafedirect.com.au OR www.slf.org.au/festival/ for program info and details.
Coffex Sponsors World’s Biggest Food Festival - Third Year Running! 9/02/2009
Victoria’s premier coffee roaster, Coffex Coffee, will show their local support as major sponsors at the 2009 Melbourne Food and Wine Festival for the third year running. The Festival will be celebrated at various locations around Melbourne and in regional centres from 7th – 23rd March 2009.
The Melbourne Food and Wine Festival is the biggest of its kind in the world, and this year’s festival continues the long standing tradition of celebrating Melbourne's renowned food and wine culture, offering up a feast of indulgence and temptations for all foodies from Victoria, around Australia and overseas.
Boutique Coffee Roaster, Coffex, was established in Melbourne in 1959 and, after 50 years experience, Coffex continues to offer an exceptional range of coffee blends for the finest cafés and restaurants in Australia, and overseas. With a range of superb Melbourne dining rooms such as Becco and Bottega serving premium blends from Coffex, it is no wonder the boutique coffee roaster sponsors the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival.
With a program of over 200 events, the festival will fulfil every expectation of superb taste sensations. Coffex will be offering their traditional range of coffee as well as offering Liquid Luxuries and their Fair trade and Organic range, Global Café Direct, at various events throughout the festival.
Some Festival highlights include Wicked Sunday, which will offer a day of decadence in Federation Square. Indulge in their creations and spoil yourself with the liquid luxuries at the espresso bars around Federation Square, which will be provided by Coffex.
The Worlds Longest Lunch will be served along the banks of the Yarra, where 1200 guests will feast upon an Italian inspired array of gourmet food and drink. Finish off the meal with any one of the coffees from the Coffex range, from the espresso bars set up along the riverbanks.
Top chefs will take the Aussie backyard barbeque to greater heights at the Connex Sausage Sizzle, in Melbourne’s backyard; Federation Square. With tongs in hand, these chefs will create Australian and International flavours of barbeque cuisine.
Coffex will also be serving coffee at the Stars of Europe Gala Dinner, where guests will be dining on food from a number of celebrated European chefs. The dinner will be held in a transformed warehouse, a magical wonderland inspired by A Midsummer Night’s Dream.Visit www.coffex.com.au OR www.melbournefoodandwine.com.au for program and booking details.
Proud Sponsors of Melbourne Food & Wine Festival
PLAN Supporter Meets Gorillas in the Mist by showing Support for Fairtrade Coffee (11/12/08)
Travelling to see mountain gorillas in Uganda would be a dream come true for most of us, but thanks to the partnership of Global Café Direct with Plan International and Gecko’s Grassroots Adventures, that dream has become a reality for one lucky winner, Maria of ACT. Global Café Direct recently decided on Maria’s creative entry as the winner of their competition in partnership with Gecko’s and Plan to win the trip of a lifetime for two on Gecko’s 8-day Gorilla Express trip in Uganda, East Africa.
Maria will be channeling her inner Sigourney Weaver as she travels to Africa for an opportunity to meet gorillas face-to-face in the mists of Uganda. Passing incredible landscapes, meeting local Ugandans and visiting a chimpanzee sanctuary on a small island on Lake Victoria, she will travel with Gecko’s adventure team to spend time with the majestic highland mountain gorillas in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. These giant apes are critically endangered, with just over 700 of them left in the world. Maria’s visit on behalf of Gecko’s Grassroots Adventures will provide a source of income that helps to protect them and their unique way of life.
Says spokesperson for Global Café Direct, Victoria Schladetsch: “It was wonderful to see the number of educated entries writing in about the benefits of Fairtrade and Organic Certified coffee. We were overwhelmed by the quality and volume of entries – it’s a wonderful show of the growing popularity of ethical purchasing, especially in the coffee industry.”
Maria will be taking her husband John on the once-in-a-lifetime trip. Says Maria: “I’m so lucky – so few people will ever have the opportunity to travel to these areas and meet firsthand.”
Green Table Scheme launched for caterers and restaurants (5/12/2008)
The Green Table Australia scheme has just been launched by Restaurant and Catering Australia, encouraging improved environmental performance and recognising those restaurants and catering businesses that are acting to reduce energy and water use, greenhouse gas emissions and waste.
Participating restaurants and caterers are required to meet minimum requirements in the areas of water and energy saving, waste management and product selection. These requirements include a range of green purchasing actions such as agreeing to purchase:
A minimum of 20% accredited Green Power
Energy efficient appliances and lighting
Water saving equipment and fixtures, such as low flow taps on all faucets and low flow showerheads
Biodegradable and non-toxic cleaning products
Products made from recycled content wherever possible, including tissues, toilet paper and handtowels.
For more information on the Green Table Australia program or to download an application for Green Table Australia Environmental Certification , visit www.greentable.com.au or contact Melinda Mangelsdorf on melindam@restaurantcater.asn.au
GLOBAL CAFE DIRECT Goes Bananas at Brisbane Greenfest (21/10/2008)
Global Cafe Direct recently attended Brisbane's Greenfest as part of a stellar line-up of musical acts, artists and fellow green activists from across Australia and the globe.
Greenfest was all about attracting a critical mass of positive energy in one place at one time through creativity, innovation and working together to win the race against climate change.
Greenfest provided a stage for this fresh energy to engage all of us, around inspired consumer products for a greener future and respected speakers taking a fresh approach. It’s a formula for resonance between different elements of the community and a way of taking action for a greener world.
The festival also meets current best practices in green event management through:
•Use of green power
•Recycling and waste management
•Green printing
•Fair trade uniforms
•Minimizing production beyond function
•Carbon neutral event
Keep an eye out for Global Cafe Direct at Greenfest 2009!
link: www.greenfest.com.au
New Tunes Support Fair Trade (16/07/2008)
Melbourne indie rock band Ancient Free Gardeners announce their support for fair trade with the release of their single 'Innards Out'. The song, a sneak preview from the bands upcoming full length debut, presents a curious, critical gaze at the ever growing trend of consumer capitolism. In their personal and professional lives the band have witnessed the ill consequences of globalisation, and the mass producing, advertising supported society it promotes. Their support for fair trade, and the release of Innards Out, is an apt expression of this experience.
Innards Out was recorded independently, and is released under a Creative Commons licence; it's free to all, to use however they like, with no restrictions (except commercial use), in line with some of the underpinning principles of fair trade.
Learn more about their music and their latest release here.
Australian academics say its time to give Fair Trade a go (08/05/2008)
The Australian National University is asking the government to give Fair Trade a fair go by investing part of the country’s aid budget in the Fair Trade market to harness its contribution to regional capacity building and development.
“Supporting Fair Trade partnerships in the Asia Pacific region – where the bulk of the world’s poor live – would enable our neighbours to break free from aid-based support and instead engage more meaningfully in the global trade system,” said Dr Hutchens.
Fair Trade is a trading relationship that aims to ensure better conditions and rights for producers in developing countries. Dr Hutchens has spent four years researching the Fair Trade movement, the results of which will be published in her book Entrepreneurship, Power and Defiance: The Globalisation of the Fair Trade Movement later this year.
“Last year the market in Australia and New Zealand was worth $12 million and the value of Fair Trade sales have risen by 440 per cent since 2004. In New Zealand the government has been very enthusiastic about Fair Trade, providing ongoing financial support for a leading Fair Trade business, Trade Aid, as well as a national Fair Trade education campaign for consumers. Some government departments are also procuring Fair Trade products.
“The Rudd government is focused on building partnerships with the Pacific. Supporting Fair Trade in our region would demonstrate its commitment to this new style of engagement by ensuring our neighbours benefit directly from the developmental potential of international trade,” she said.
link: http://news.anu.edu.au/?p=386
Global Cafe Direct major sponsor of Fair Trade Fortnight Melbourne (02/05/2008)
Now in its third year in Melbourne, The Fair Trade Association of Australia and New Zealand have watched the growing success of their major promotional event, the Fair Trade Fortnight, which was run over two weeks from May 3-18. Global Cafe Direct was a proud sponsor of the events, and even choreographed the running of the Fair Trade Latte Art Challenge, held at Melbourne Central Station. The winner of the event, Mr Con Haralambopoulos, has since also won the World Latte Art Championships - a fantastic year for him all round.
The Fashion Fights Fair parade, held at the BMW Edge at Federation Square, was a showcase of ethical and sustainable fashion, and featured labels and companies that are employing environmentally friendly materials and processes in their manufacturing. The concept of fair trade fashion is in its early stages. With only a small number of labels adopting socially conscious practices, the movement is just starting to gather momentum.
Event co-ordinator Leeyong Soo was thrilled with the success of the parade, as the Fortnights' events continued to raise the profile of ethical and ecologically friendly fashion.
The coordinator of the Fair Trade Fortnight for Melbourne, Ms Victoria Schladetsch, was also excited about the success of the events in Melbourne. "Not only have these events highlighted our cause, but its helped to promote the great range of products available on the market to Melbournes' ethical consumers."
http://berwick.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/general/fair-trade-is-in-fashion/794818.aspx