The Journey to Fairtrade Certification
Almost 3 years later we had the chance to bring a collab beer to the market with Coop, and we struck up the convo with Brooklyn again... and suddenly the opportunity to make a beer with brand heroes of ours, with a people-empowering grain manifested itself. We wanted to brew a beer that showcased the grain and epitomised the potential for beer to make a fairer, more equitable and empowered world.
Launched in May 2023, our collaborative Fonio Session IPA made waves in the UK beer market. It was the highest-selling new product launched in the craft category that year, despite being available at only one retailer for just seven months. More than that, it was the #9 new product launched in ALL of beer within its first 52 weeks of availability.
When our collaboration with Brooklyn came to a formal end in May 2024, we knew this wasn't the end of our use of fonio as an empowering grain and saw the potential not just for a commercially successful Fonio-based beer, but the enormous potential to empower an entire supply chain via its production.
So, as we planned to integrate this beer into our offering, it was crucial to ensure that the farmers who grow our fonio are not just paid for their grain but paid fairly. We wanted to go beyond market rates and provide these farmers with a social premium; funds they can invest in their communities, families, and personal development as they see fit.
In short, as we continue to pursue this experiment of being an impact company in beer, we want to ensure that those who we work with can pursue their own ambitions too. We want fonio farmers to share in the success. And for us, that meant building a fair and equitable supply chain and certifying it as Fairtrade - the most widely recognised and trusted ethical certification in the world.
Creating a Fairtrade Supply Chain from Scratch
Unlike established commodities like coffee or fruit, fonio did not have an existing Fairtrade supply chain readily available to use in brewing. There was no warehouse or wholesaler with Fairtrade-certified fonio ready for purchase. We had to create this supply chain from scratch—a massive, ambitious, and perhaps (typically for us) naive undertaking!
This journey has been anything but easy. We’ve navigated geo-political instability, uncontrollable timelines across two continents, communication across three languages, and layers of complexity that would require a few pints to explain over in full... But throughout these challenges, we've remained focused on the outcome: to bring a Fairtrade-certified, impact-driven product to the market, and a beer that drinkers will love.
Fairtrade at 30!
This week marks the launch of our Fairtrade Fonio Session IPA with our partners at Coop, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and British Airways. And its legacy will be an ethically certified fonio supply chain, reaching all the way from a cooperative in northern Guinea to drinkers here in the UK, many of whom will be able to “Fairtrade Up Their Beer” for the very first time.
By using Fairtrade Fonio, this beer becomes a category first. And this achievement comes during a significant year, as Fairtrade celebrates its 30th anniversary - something we’re immensely proud to be adding value to and celebrating among the other incredible Fairtrade certified brands that make up our collective Fairtrade economy.
We are also proud to be integrating our Fairtrade certification into our broader mission, alongside our B Corp accreditation. Being both Fairtrade and B Corp certified puts us in a position to drive as much impact as we possibly can through our business, showing that it is possible to create products that are not only great for consumers but also for the people who produce them.
Introducing ‘Open Grain’ and Fairtrade Fonio for all.
An important value at Brewgooder is always recognising the power of collaboration and the size of the waves that can be made together versus as an individual. We know that while we intend to make a big impact through our own use of Fairtrade Fonio, an even bigger impact could be made if others in our industry were to join in. So we’re issuing an open invite to all brewers in the UK or elsewhere to access our supply chain, offering them help to brew with and manage their ethical supply chain, and to openly encourage Fairtrade certification. We’re calling it “Open Grain” - cheers, Tony’s 🙂 - a programme that we hope can see the adoption of Fonio and its Fairtrade supply chain by even more brewers. A small but hopefully useful contribution to the fairer world we want to see…so please reach out if you want to access it.
Looking Ahead
We hope you enjoy our Fairtrade Fonio Session IPA, and in the fullness of time, further Fonio beers from other brands. Please let us know what you think of the beer, and keep an eye out for more developments as we push forward with making it easier to make the world a fairer place, one beer at a time.
