Oxfam to open first fair trade coffee shop

LONDON (AFP) - The charity Oxfam will open Britain's first fair trade coffee shop in London, with plans to expand the business across the country.
The Progreso cafe will open its doors on Tuesday in Covent Garden, in the heart of London, and a second will be launched in the fashionable Portobello Road in the capital before the end of the year.
"This is a good day for anyone who cares about great coffee and where it comes from," said Progreso managing director Wyndham James.
Oxfam, which has teamed up with third world coffee co-operatives and fair trade coffee roasting company Matthew Algie for its cafe venture, plans to open a total of 20 outlets over the next three years.
Progreso aims to give co-operatives in Honduras, Indonesia and Ethiopia a 25-percent share in the business.
The ethical coffee shops will also sell a range of fair trade biscuits and cakes.
Oxfam said it hoped to exploit the unprecedented demand here for fair trade products -- which guarantee a fair price to producers -- to narrow the gap between coffee growers in the developing world and coffee lovers on the high street.

11/01/2004 - 11:08 GMT - AFP