News
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Be Fair Award
MDI was lucky enough to win the inaugural Be Fair Award for promoting South-South Fairtrade. MDI was selected the winner from an international field of 23 entries from 16 countries and collected the award from the Belgian Minister for Development Cooperation, Charles Michel at a ceremony in Brussels on the 6th October 2009. We are very grateful to the Trade for Development Centre of BTC for supporting this award and we feel very humble to have been selected as the winner against many very successful international organizations.
Raising Awareness about Fairtrade in Korea
MDI Director, Nguyen Tuyet Minh made a presentation at the International Fair Trade Seminar organized by the Europe-Korea Foundation on September 22nd, 2009 in Seoul, Korea. The purpose of the Seminar was to raise awareness of Fairtrade in Korea, and Ms. Minh made a presentation highlighting the benefits and challenges of developing Fairtrade systems in Vietnam.
Hong Kong Food Fair
For the second year in a row, MDI participated in the Hong Kong Food Fair to promote Vietnamese Fairtrade products to the Hong Kong market and international buyers. There was a lot of interest generated by the Vietnamese products at the Food Fair and we are grateful to Oxfam Hong Kong for their continued support for developing country organizations to enter the Hong Kong Market.
New Office and Fairtrade Shop
MDI has moved to new offices at 100A Xuan Dieu Street in Tay Ho District of Hanoi. The new office space also includes the Betterday Fairtrade and Organic Shop - Hanoi's first Fairtrade shop.
New Fairtrade Products on Sale
MDI has just released an expanded range of Fairtrade products in the Vietnamese market. The new products include raw and salted/roasted cashews, English Breakfast tea teabags, green tea teabags and jasmine tea teabags.
Fairtrade Green Tea and Fairtrade Jasmine Tea go on sale in Vietnam
In December 2007 MDI has produced the first fairtrade products to be released onto the Vietnamese market - Betterday Fairtrade Green Tea and Betterday Fairtrade Jasmine Tea. Betterday is the brand of MDI. These products are produced by smallholder farmers and processed by MDI.
For more details on Betterday products including locations where you can purchase products, please visit the brand website, or contact for information here.
| We would like to express our thanks to Oxfam Hong Kong who have kindly supported the launching of Betterday Fairtrade products into Vietnamese supermarkets, and with the introduction of Betterday Fairtrade products into Hong Kong. |
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World First for MDI
MDI is licensed to process, develop and sell Fairtrade labelled products. This is a world first for a company from a developing country. Up to now, all Fairtrade products have been branded for retail sales in developed countries, by wholesalers and retailers from developed countries. This results in low value adding in the producing countries. MDI is hoping to be a trailblazer for other developing country brands in the Fairtrade system and that this will be the start of a new era of growth and value adding within the Faitrade system.
MDI joins developing country delegation to Denmark
At the invitation of the KaffeKlubben, MDI staff recently joined a delegation from Uganda and Nicaragua to Denmark to explore the Danish coffee marketing systems and to promote quality coffee produced by small farmer groups from developing countries. It was valuable to learn lessons from colleagues in other developing countries, as well as to get an insight to the Danish market. You can read about it on the KaffeKlubben website here.
Fairtrade (Max Havelaar) Certification
MDI is certified as the first Fairtrade certified exporter and processor of cashew kernels in Vietnam, and as a Fairtrade certified exporter and processor of tea. MDI is also the first Vietnamese Fairtrade licensee which can develop labelled Fairtrade products for sale in the domestic market and also for export.
At the Be Fair Awards
Meeting Fairtrade Organizations in Korea
At the Hong Kong Food Fair
MDI staff were part of a Nicaragua-Uganda-Vietnam coffee delegation to Denmark