Fairly traded wine the best thing since sliced bread

Fairly traded wine the best thing since sliced bread

If you like to make your purchase decisions based on the sustainability and integrity of the producer, listen up. Have you ever heard of the term ‘fairly traded wine’? If you’re a lover of wine, you’ll love this.

When you purchase a fairly traded wine, you can be certain that the labourers’ rights are protected and that they live and work in comfortable conditions. Why should this be of concern? Unfortunately, there’s still a lot of wine being produced in South Africa where the working conditions of the labourers are not up to standard.

Stellar Winery, near Vredendal in the Western Cape, is certified as Fair for Life. The winery sources organic grapes from farms, which fall under the Stellar Multi-Estate. The collective entity is certified for fair trade and social responsibility by Ecocert Fair for Life.

The Stellar Empowerment Trust (SET) manages financial aid and meets workers’ needs. The SET is a joint body – of which all the farm workers on the Stellar Multi-Estate are beneficiaries – and owns 26% of shares in Stellar Winery. SET is owned by the workers of Stellar Winery as well as the workers from all the production units.

SET is 100% owned and run by the workers through their trustees, who are guided by the Trust Deed and their mentors.

Another part of Stellar Winery is the Stellar Foundation which was set up as an independent non-profit organisation to manage social and economic development projects on the farms that produce organic grapes and in the towns near the winery. The projects range from gardening projects to primary healthcare and covers everything in between – uplifting the community through initiating change and growth.

At the end of the day, you can’t go wrong with a bottle of wine from Stellar Winery.

You can also follow Stellar Foundation on Facebook (@stellarfound), Twitter (@stellarfound) and Instagram(@stellar_foundation) to stay up-to-date with the latest news.