A Brighter Tomorrow for Kenyan Farmers
Tuesday 14 April, 2009
Mars Drinks has launched a new revitalisation and modernisation project to improve conditions for over 1,700 farms based at the Kandara Farmers Cooperative in Kenya.
Basingstoke, UK, April 14th,
2009:
Mars Drinks has launched a new revitalisation and
modernisation project to improve conditions for over 1,700 farms based at the Kandara
Farmers Cooperative in Kenya.
Ongoing funding is being donated as part of the Mars Drinks
Brighter Tomorrow at Origin
program.
Projects work to
improve coffee quality, thereby increasing the price gained for the end
products, while also facilitating environmental and health benefits for the
farmers.
The Mars Drinks
project aims to rehabilitate the Wet Mills infrastructure at the Cooperative in
phases to improve the quality of the coffee cherries produced, which will then
be developed into coffee beans. A focus will be on coffee shading, encouraging
farmers to plant more indigenous trees that are threatened by extinction. The
shade will act as a haven for birds and other fauna, while also helping to
improve coffee quality.
In addition, 37
farmers in Kandara will be trained on the best practices of growing coffee.
These ‘promoter’ farmers will be able to coach nearly 2,000 farmers taking part
in the Brighter Tomorrow at Origin project. Mars Drinks is also funding the
construction of 28 permanent metal drying tables, which should last longer with
minimal maintenance.
“A large percentage
of coffee in Kenya is produced by small cooperatives rather than large coffee
estates”, explains Daniel Vennard,
sustainability director at Mars Drinks
. “These
smallholders and cooperatives often don’t have the resources required to
develop productive facilities and sustainable farming techniques. Brighter
Tomorrow at Origin aims to help improve conditions and enhance the quality of
their product, thereby commanding a higher price for their yield.”
Brighter Tomorrow at
Origin is part of the Mars Drinks ‘
Thirsty
for Change
’ programme. This aims to take an all encompassing
approach to sustainable business - sourcing ingredients from sustainable farms,
developing recycling initiatives, as well as delivering innovative energy
efficient products to workplaces around the world.
Successfully established three years
ago, Brighter Tomorrow at Origin expresses the Mars ‘five
principles’
of
working: Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency and Freedom, in terms
of coffee sourcing.
To find out
more, visit the website: http://www.marsdrinks.co.uk/sustainability.htm.
For further information, contact: Toni O’Sullivan, tosullivan@thebluedoor.com,
01252 899969
Editors Notes:
Mars Drinks
is a segment of Mars,
Incorporated
, a private, family-owned company founded in 1911
and employing 70,000 associates in 67 countries worldwide. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, USA,
Mars, Incorporated is one of the world’s largest food companies, generating
global revenues of $30 billion annually and operating in six segments that
produce some of the world’s leading brands.
In addition to the Drinks brands above, popular Mars, Incorporated
brands include: in the Chocolate segment, M&M’S®,
SNICKERS®, DOVE
®
, GALAXY ®, MARS
®
, MILKY WAY®, and TWIX®;
in the Petcare segment,
PEDIGREE ®, WHISKAS ®, SHEBA ®, CESAR ® and ROYAL CANIN ®; in the Wrigley
segment, ORBIT ®, EXTRA ®, STARBURST ®, DOUBLEMINT ®, and SKITTLES ®; in the
Food segment, UNCLE BEN’S ®, DOLMIO®, ELBY®, MASTERFOODS ® and SEEDS OF
CHANGE®; and in the Symbioscience segment, COCOAPROTM, WISDOM PANELTM
MX, and SERAMIS®.
For more information please visit www.mars.com.
Brighter Tomorrow at Origin
is the name for the FLAVIA programme of work with Farmers
in Kenya. It has a similar objective to Fairtrade, however it operates slightly
differently. Rather than paying a standard price (as with Fairtrade) Mars
Drinks works with the farmers from each Cooperative to help them improve the
quality of their product, in turn allowing them to command a higher price for
their whole yield. Mars Drinks sources its coffee directly from the
Cooperatives.
- ENDS –