SUSTAINABILITY
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Fairtrade agave which supports a cooperative in Jalisco , Mexico . The cooperative pays two and a half times the average local wage to its farmers and it ’ s committed to issues like indigenous rights and gender equality .
“ I think Fairtrade is an important issue ,” he adds . “ It ’ s a logical thing to do and it should be seen to be a normal progression for a business , rather than an exceptional activity .” Changing consumer habits have sent waves throughout the UK drinks ’ sector , but none have delivered quite the same impact as the British government ’ s Soft Drinks Industry Levy which came into effect in April . The levy charges manufacturers for their sugar use in the hope that they ’ ll reformulate their products . With the organic sector unable to use artificial sweeteners , Fugard contends that the policy may have been a hasty one .
“ As an organic business , we have few ingredients in our toolbox that we can use to reformulate our drinks ,” Fugard observes . “ I think the sugar tax has been a very blunt tool . It ’ s an effective way of the government raising revenue , but I would argue that a minimum pricing model would have been better as it wouldn ’ t have encouraged drinks
SEPTEMBER 2019