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Peter Goodey (left) and James Roberts pictured in Africa with a pump to be installed as part of the One Water project.

The trade has become wary of some suppliers which have set themselves up under an ‘ethical, banner – there were, in the early days of the concept, some who thought a Fairtrade badge was a quick-buck way of trading.  Today, the ones who have lasted the course are the suppliers who have continued to look deeply into the concept of ethical supply, have continued to seek out new products and ways of trading, and who in some cases, have come up with totally unexpected product ideas.

And this is what has happened with James Roberts and Peter Goodey at Peros – they are now established as the country’s leading suppliers of Fairtrade products to the catering industry, and yet the ideas kleep coming – most recently, to widespread surprise, the first ethically-produced chewing gum!

“We are incredibly proud of all this,” say the two joint managing directors. “After nearly ten years of trading and continuous, year-on-year growth, we feel we have earned our position as the UK's leading distributor of Fairtrade, ethical and organic products to the foodservice sector.

“Our core values are about creating and maintaining relationships at every level, right through from producer to consumer. We know where our products have originated - over the years we have met many of our growers and visited their communities, and we have maintained strong relationships with these people.”

Peros is very much a part of the reason that Cafedirect has grown to prominence in the foodservice sector. Before they started their own company, the partners were serving Cafedirect at government departments – their support inspired Cafedirect to move into the catering sector, and it is distribution through Peros which has led to foodservice now accounting for around a quarter of Cafédirect's total business.

In doing so, the partners have had to face one major hurdle of ethical trading – the accusation by coffee snobs that much Fairtrade coffee is very good.

“I think it is possible that some espresso connoisseurs might say that possibly the Fairtrade coffees are of less quality than they are used to,” responds James Roberts equably.

“It’s very interesting that when you’re selling to big customers, the Cafedirect name will get you through the door… but it won’t get you the sale. This is no walk-on part for the distributor, because the coffee has to be shown.

“Once you get inside the door, you meet a whole new level of critic – the buyer who says he has been told to source ethically, and our pictures of the farmers look lovely… but what does it taste like?

“At this point, Cafedirect really has to justify itself as a coffee, so we do a lot of tastings.”

This has become successful in both filter and espresso sectors,l he says.

“In defence of Cafedirect, I think they’ve got some great filter coffees. In particular, the Mexican Palenque is a great coffee. This is a coffee I can often pull out of the hat and say ‘try this – it knocks the socks off everything else’.

“We now also have a good Cafedirect house espresso which is 75 per cent Arabica, and not entirely dis-similar to the one used by Costa.”

One major question is always price.

“Yes… is it going to cost more than anything else? Tosh – we sell at the same price!

“We now see a good number of independent coffee shops going totally Cafedirect. Undoubtedly the biggest sector is universities, but there is enthusiasm across large and small customers, and it does help that a lot of brand-support is readily available… I think the small independent probably gets more marketing support from Cafedirect than they would from the non-Fairtrade competitors.

“We get involved, handing out cappuccinos on the high street at our own expense, and there’s no end of promotional signs and bookmarks and labels. If that’s not enough, one call to the Fairtrade Foundation and you’ve got piles of literature. I don’t see that kind of support coming from many non-Fairtrade competitors!”

It was Peros who pioneered the concept of Fairtrade bottled water through the trade. This is a novel brand of mineral water, from which profits go directly to water projects in Africa.

The brand is One Water, a product whose public face is the actress Claire Goose (from Casualty, among other things), promoting a scheme which was devised by one of her brothers. Peros picked up on the idea extremely quickly, says Peter Goodey of Peros.

“We had come under pressure from certain clients who want to take an ethical stance on everything, including water. Now, we like to get in first on an idea, so we did research the possibilities – and when we stumbled across One Water, we said ‘this is it!’.”

The concept is of a bottled mineral water, for which all profits go into a scheme to provide wells for areas in Africa without drinking water. The remarkably innovative concept is of ‘roundabout play pumps’, in which children, while playing, can be usefully drawing water up from below ground – the technicalities of it are that a play-pump can conceivably draw 1,400 litres an hour if rotated at 16 rpm.

“Water for water is a good concept,” says Peter Goodey. “We are talking about places where children can’t go to school because they are walking for five hours to collect water.”

The company has accepted a certain margin hit on the product because it believes in the cause.

“The product cost itself is slightly higher, but of course we will have to price it competitively against other waters to get attention – so without a doubt, we are going to have to absorb something.

“But there is potential for customer loyalty to build. I would expect to see One Water posters appearing in coffee houses and office canteens, and one of the things which will help this is the simplicity of the branding – no expensive brand work or labels, but a simplicity which suggests that the money really is going elsewhere, not being spent on the packaging.”

Peros got more involved with the appeal by running a Onderful Grand Charity Ball, with ticket sales going towards a drive to raise £50,000 for more roundabout-powered water pumps. A surprising number of well-known names are took part in the event  - Princess Beatrice, David Tennant, Al Murray, David and Carrie Grant, and the chef Michael Caines, to whom Peros is a coffee supplier.

Did they get the £50,000 target?  Very nearly - it is reckoned that the final total was over £48,000!

Peros’ most unexpected recent product has been Chicza, the ethically-produced chewing gum.  This has an extremely unusual facet concerning rainforest protection… and a potentially major benefit to Britain’s  pavements, as well. 

There are apparently vast amounts of rainforest still surviving in central America, and these areas are fiercely protected because the forest trees provide a sustainable way of life for the ‘chicleros’, the workers who make Chicza. The 100ft trees have to be carefully maintained to allow for a continuing supply of their latex, which is boiled and then dehydrated into a paste.

The ‘chicle’ gum is melted together with natural waxes and organic sweeteners, then pressed and shaped into chewing gum strips.

The result, it is claimed, is far more natural than big-brand chewing gum. The ‘real’ organic gum base is probably about seven times that of a big brand gum, which Chicza says is largely made of petrol-based polymers.

Curiously, Chicza gum strips are ‘traceable’ – each has a mark which tells the Forest Stewardship Council who made it.

Probably the most desirable aspect of Chicza, apart from its taste, is the end result – it is biodegradable. A ‘used’ chewing gum will return to dust within a few weeks, and is thought to be a useful addition to compost.  It is, say the distributors, a useful answer to the environmental nuisance which comes from conventional chewing gum.

Three flavours are available, wild mint, heirloom lime and spearmint. A range based on tropical fruits, herbs and spices is to follow.

Peros has also championed the first Fairtrade fizzy colas and orange cordials.

The innovative playpump

Chicza, the ethical chewing gum

Macchu Picchu, one of Cafedirect's

best filter coffees

Fruit Hit, the Fairtrade orange juice