East of England Co-op opens its doors to Tendring Technology College to mark Fairtrade Fortnight

As part of Fairtrade Fortnight (Monday 26 February to Sunday 11 March), the East of England Co-op invited local schools into its stores to learn about the importance of supporting Fairtrade.

During the fortnight, students at Tendring Technology College visited Frinton supermarket where they met Assistant Store Manager, Keith Lucas who took them on a tour of the store and told them about the Fairtrade products we supply. They were also given the opportunity to sample some Fairtrade chocolate.

Mr Muldoon, the Principal at Tendring Technology College (TTC), said: “Here at TTC we promote Fairtrade!  Our students are actively involved in the organisation of activities during the Fairtrade Fortnight. We currently have the FairActive badge and we are working towards a FairAchiever award which is the highest Fairtrade Award. Visiting our local East of England Co-op helped the students appreciate just how many products the store has on offer and that the price difference is competitive with other brands. TTC students enjoyed a 'shopping Fairtrade Hunt' and managed to find most items on offer. We would like to thank the East of England Co-op for its kind invitation and for donating ingredients for our cake bake and sale.”

Minnie Moll, Joint Chief Executive at the East of England Co-op, said: “We are extremely proud to have supported Fairtrade for over 20 years. As one of the first major UK retailers to champion Fairtrade, we are really pleased to have the opportunity to talk to local young people about the importance of buying Fairtrade and to give them the opportunity to try some fantastic Fairtrade goodies.”

As well as some Fairtrade bananas to take back to their school, students were given a Fairtrade schools’ resource pack to continue discussions when they return to the classroom.  As part of the Co-op Cuppa scheme, the school were also presented with some Co-op 99 Fairtrade tea bags for their teachers’ staff room.

Since 2015, the East of England Co-op has donated over 500,000 Fairtrade tea bags to support local events and on-going support groups across Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex and Ely through their Co-op Cuppa scheme.

To find out if your group could benefit from tea and to apply for a free Co-op Cuppa kit, visit www.cuppa.coop