Wolverhampton businessman's tea and coffee co-operative wins Great Taste awards
A cooperative set up by a Wolverhampton business boss to source and sell Fairtrade tea and coffee in the UK’s Co-op stores has won four ‘Great Taste’ national awards – taking its total number of accolades to 21.
Revolver Cooperative was co-founded by Dr Paul Birch – a former Labour councillor for Blakenhall – and has its origins in Revolver Records, the independent music label he established in the city in 1978, and famous for being the first to sign The Stone Roses.
The Revolver World Foundation supplies a range of 60 tea, coffee and hot chocolate products to almost 350 Co-op stores and several exclusive cafes across the country, at the same time as providing outreach help for the remote and often impoverished rural farming communities who grow 97 per cent of its tea leaves and coffee beans in Latin America, Africa and Indonesia.
These latest awards have been given for the cooperative’s new range of Malawi breakfast tea, peppermint tea, red berry hibiscus tea and nespresso coffee capsules.
The initiative to work with Malawi was set up by Central England Coop Chief Executive Officer Debbie Robinson and partners Cooperative college, Revolver and its suppliers, utilising a theme of ‘trade not aid’.
Chief operating officer of Revolver Coop Hannah Birch said: “We are delighted to introduce this award-winning range, as part of our Malawi Partnership with Central England Co-op stores. There are plans to make our Fairtrade teas and coffees available in ScotMid Co-op, Lincoln Co-op and Radstock Co-op societies, as well as extending the range to more Midcounties Co-op stores.”
Mr Birch, who is the cooperative’s chief executive officer, added: “Great taste doesn’t come with compromise on ethics. Behind the scenes in the Malawi partnership, we are contributing to planting new tea and coffee trees in the country, encouraging the development of more cooperatives, taking a stand on human rights and encouraging the Malawi government to take positive steps to protect women’s rights and that of vulnerable minorities including LGBTQ+.
“We hope our partnership will not only have a positive effect on trade justice and international development, but will also be a big step towards improving changes in society in Malawi itself.”
Landlocked Malawi is currently the world’s seventh poorest country where the average worker is paid $1 a day.
“We run quite a unique scheme as no-one actually works for us or gets paid for it,” said Mr Birch. “The farming communities who grow the world’s finest arabica coffees at altitude in countries close to the tropics are often poor, as we extract quite a price from the commodities they produce.
“Through Fairtrade, money gets put back into helping them and this is just one way we can make a difference. Profits from our cooperative will trickle back into the foundation. We’ve all got a responsibility and it’s only right that we work with these communities and make every dollar go as far as it can.”
For more information on Revolver World visit revolverworld.com.
