News item

August 21st 2008 was a day of celebration for Muslim Aid as their long awaited Fair Factory coffee shop was officially opened by Richard Barnes deputy Mayor of London and Sir Iqbal Secranie Chair of Muslim Aid. The coffee shop, which is the first of its kind to be setup and run by a Muslim charity, was launched to the media, other charities and representatives of the community.

The Fair Factory will provide a healthier range of foods and drinks as well as organic and Fairtrade products. It will also be selling goods sourced locally as Muslim Aid wants to support British farmers and reduce the shop’s carbon footprint. The shop will also be used as a long term fundraising tool for Muslim Aid with profits being ploughed back into development projects to help alleviate poverty all over the world.

Guests were introduced to the work and ethos of the Fairtrade Foundation through a video which highlighted how coffee beans were produced and sold all over the world. Muslim Aid then showed a short film of its various humanitarian projects which would benefit from the profits of the shop.

The Chairman of the board of trustees of Muslim Aid, Sir Iqbal Sacranie gave a short speech which highlighted how the Fair Factory and it’s endorsement of Fairtrade certified products would raise awareness of the current global food crisis.

"Muslim Aid alone cannot solve the food crisis but we believe that through The Fair Factory we can achieve our mission to serve humanity. Consumers everywhere can help us make a difference by buying Fairtrade products’, he said.

Richard Barnes, deputy Mayor of London spoke of how The Fair Factory was another example of how the city was supporting and promoting fair trade.

“It would be so easy for London to be insular, to be cut off from England and the rest of the world but we must reach out to communities at home and abroad through fair trade. We must set an example and become the largest fair trade city in the world”.

Veronica Pasteur, Campaigns Manager for the Fairtrade Foundation congratulated Muslim Aid on the opening of the Fair Factory. She spoke about how world trade food prices forced farmers to sell their goods for less than the cost of production, forcing them even further into poverty.

“By achieving fair trade status’, she continued, ‘you are bringing together all parts of the community to make a collective commitment to farmers, producers and their families by choosing products with the Fairtrade mark. This cafe is a great demonstration of commitment; Fair trade is about strengthening the position of marginalised farmers to enable them to make enough today to invest for tomorrow”.