Community News - Archives

27.11.09: Fair Deal Trading lead the way in sourcing rubber.

Fair Deal Trading lead the way in sourcing rubber.

Fair Deal Trading, responsible for sourcing Community's non-food raw materials, largely rubber, have been commended by the Forestry Stewardship Council in their annual report.

FSC- UK is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO). They have developed a unique system of independent forest certification and product labeling which enables consumers to identify timber and timber products from responsibly managed woodlands around the world.

FSC-UK report, “This year, Fair Deal Trading added boxes of FSC balloons to their range of FSC products, which include sports balls, trainers and flip flops. Not only are the balloons made with certified latex, the packaging is also FSC certified and the balloons are 100% biodegradable”.

For more information about Fair Deal Trading or any of the products mentioned, visit www.fairdealtrading.com for trade enquires contact us. Visit FSC-UK for latest FSC news www.fsc-uk.org

11.11.09: IT'S TIME TO VOTE!

IT'S TIME TO VOTE! Crazy Jack nominated for top award. Voting ends 21 Dec 2009.

Now in their fifth year, the Good Housekeeping Food Awards honour the very best of food and drink - chosen by the public and a renowned panel of celebrity judges. The Good Housekeeping's Food Awards 2009 recognise everything from store-cupboard staples to supermarkets. For the second year running, Community's top Organic Brand 'Crazy Jack' have been nominated for 'Best Organic Product'.

If you love Crazy Jack as much as we do, have your say and vote for your favourite brand. Click here to vote (Voting ends 21 Dec 2009)

09.11.09: New Website doubles fair trade sales!

New Website doubles fair trade sales! Community partners 'Fair Deal Trading' launch new retail website, proving to be a roaring success.

Marketing Director, Paul Moore says, “The new site has dramatically increased sales through improved functionality and visibility of product. We also want the website to improve visibility of product for our retail partners and use it to provide information about products, which ethical consumers want to see.”

James Lloyd, co-founder of Fair Deal Trading says, “The fair trade concept has proven to be particularly recession resistant – for ethical consumers, price is only part of the decision to purchase, - transparency, benefit and fairness to producer groups are much more of a driving factor – and we have been able to ensure we can compete at retail, pass benefits to producer groups and to demonstrate this in practice”.

All products in the Fair Deal Trading range, including sneakers, sports balls, rubber gloves and elastic bands are available to buy from www.fairdealtrading.co.uk. The complete range can be purchased at trade price from Community, to request a pricelist or to open an account, email our sales team.

Download our Press Release (45Kb PDF).

06.11.09: "What is FSC Friday?"

FSC Friday is the International Day to celebrate forests around the globe, and promote responsible forest management worldwide, initiated by The Forest Stewardship Council. Community were pleased to support FSC Friday 2009 by supplying Green Tips Rubber Gloves (FSC Certified) and Ethletic Footballs and Sneakers (also FSC certified.) This year FSC Friday was on 25th September.

Rosie Teasdale, FSC UK's Deputy Director commented,"The FSC latex products were particularly well received by participants and FSC UK is extremely grateful to Community for their donation. People tend to think only of paper and timber products as being sourced from forests and the balloons, footballs and rubber gloves helped to raise awareness of the wider range of goods that forests provide. We will be using the footballs and trainers as prizes in the national competitions (see FSC-UK Competitions for details.)"

Paul Moore, Marketing Director of Green Tips & Ethletic, comments on FSC – “FSC is an integral part of our products and branding for a number of reasons.
Firstly, while other certification marks do cover various issues regarding sustainability and social responsibility, FSC fills a gap and designates a clear commitment to the long term health of the world’s forests and the benefits this brings to both the environment and those who depend on forest produce for their livelihood.
Secondly, we also know that the FSC mark on our non timber products (e.g. Latex) helps people realize that their connection with the forests extends beyond the obvious such as wood and paper and deeper in their everyday lives.
The choices customers make each day can make a difference and choosing FSC certainly does! Our FSC certified “Green Tips” Latex gloves and balloons and FSC certified “Ethletic” casual sneakers and footballs are unique examples of this.”

Find our more about the Forest Stewardship Foundation and FSC Friday by visiting their Website.

05.11.09: NOW OPEN LUNCHTIME!

NOW OPEN LUNCHTIME! From Monday 9th November, Community Foods will be open at lunchtime. Our revised opening hours are 8.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m.

Colin Smyth, Community’s Cash and Carry Sales Supervisor says,

“It was a real surprise, joining Community to find the Cash and Carry closed at lunchtime. This was an old tradition that stretched back over 38 years to allow staff to enjoy a lunch together. I have only been with the business a few weeks and joined to strengthen the front desk team. Soon after joining, the matter of lunch time closing was raised and we agreed it was time to move on. It will be good for Community and our customers who can depend on service all through the day. We are really keen on developing the cash and carry and are working on a raft of improvements to make Community a better place to do business. We are now looking forward to welcoming ALL our customers ALL DAY!”

For further details, contact the Cash & Carry on 020 8208 2966.