Fair-trade lemonade supports grassroots projects

Simplicity in packaged foods is a phenomenon we’ve looked at before, such as in the Häagen-Dazs Five brand of ice creams. Now adding a fair-trade twist to that clutter-minimizing concept is German LemonAid, which aims to use its bottled drinks to help effect social change. LemonAid is an organic drink made entirely of a few organic, fair-trade ingredients. The company’s fresh, organic juice, for example, comes from a small farming cooperative in Brazil called Coagrosol; its sugar cane, meanwhile, is derived from a cooperative in Paraguay called La Felsina. Not only does LemonAid pay its suppliers higher prices on account of their fair-trade practices, but it also donates a major share of its yearly revenue to further support small, locally based grassroots projects in the developing world. Specifically, for every bottle of LemonAid sold, a share of the proceeds is donated back to the countries from which its ingredients derive. So far, LemonAid has been sold in outlets throughout Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Austria and Switzerland. Retailers in other parts of the world: one to bring to the ethical consumer masses near you…? (Related: Café creates NGO to ensure fair trade with coffee farmers — Buy a bottle of wine and donate clean water — Made in South Africa, fair trade bracelets for Dutch soccer fans.) Spotted by: Lori Webb