Sideways News

Fairtrade vodka - made from quinoa

Think of premium vodka and you conjure up images of Russian oligarchs playing an impassioned game of chess and downing shots of the see-through stuff. Premium vodka is glamorous: but is it Fairtrade?

Jean- Francois Daniel of Fair, the first Fairtrade certified vodka, hopes to convince us. The worldly entrepreneur moved from Paris to London just a week ago and since then he’s been on a one-man mission to promote the Fair brand and ethic.

Rubbing shoulders with responsibility
JF gave up the glitz of his previous job as the New York brand manager of Cognac (he’s networked with hip hop royalty Snoop Dogg and hung out at 50 Cent’s crib) to pursue a more fulfilling path.

“Everyone thought I was mad to give up the glamorous lifestyle, but I just wasn’t happy.”

“I decided to travel, to get back to nature. I travelled to Russia, China and South America. In South America you see how people work and it isn’t right. Consumer society is disconnected. We don’t know what is happening and we don’t care.” So, he called his former Cognac workmate and friend and decided to do something to “contribute and change the system”.

Change the way you drink
The pair embarked on a venture with Fairtrade, inspired by the “farmers in Bolivia who work 12 hours a day harvesting quinoa and get nothing”. Consumerist culture no longer boded well: “People don’t connect through politics, people connect through consuming, people connect through fair trade.”

The pair had a 'Eureka' moment: “We knew spirits so decided to do a fair trade quinoa based spirit.” At first, he didn’t even know there was Fairtrade wine - but whether the venture was even possible was a risk that he decided to take.

He said: “We forget that there is a human person who produces things. In the production chain everyone is squeezed. How can you buy a radio for $3.99?” Fair is different: “We have a long term view that requires collaboration. We do it because we believe fair trade is a solution.”

Contacts are everything
From his work in the Cognac business, he has a little black book many in the industry would sell their granny for. For example, the distiller used to make the Fair vodka is the same one used by Cognac: “They are the best distillers and know how to handcraft a product. They know how to blend and they really think about how to make it happen.”

Fair have big plans such as Fair Trade cocktails with names like Fairspresso; a combination of Fairtrade coffee, sugar and, of course, vodka, to be made available in bars.

Snoop Dogg won’t be getting a freebie, though, as Fair has no intention of using celebrity endorsement: “Obama is bringing things forward - bling bling and 'me, me, me' is not tomorrow, people now want transparency with their products. They want to say ‘I succeed but I care’.”

Awards and accolades
Fair vodka won a gong for BEST UNFLAVORED VODKA 2009 NEW YORK, NY (June 2009) in a blind tasting that included 250 brands from all over the world. The niche product will be limited for the 1,200 farmers involved, as enormous orders wouldn’t be viable to keep the product Fairtrade.

JF himself hasn’t taken a salary for 18 months in order to get it launched: “Fairtrade entrepreneurs do business with a very different intention - it is based on sharing and community.”

And how about the name Fair? “People didn’t think that a Fairtrade spirit would be possible last year so getting the ‘fairtradespirit’ domain name was easy.” As well as producing Fairtrade goods, there are plans to make the bottle from 100% recycled material; JF keeps track of the Fair carbon footprint and ensures that everything comes from a sustainable source.

Fair vodka will be available from top-end retailers, some bars and the website from 1st September 2009.

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