FAIRTRADE cocoa farmer Alvaro Pop made a presentation at Brockhole’s Local and Fair event held on Sunday (March 1).

Mr Pop is the current chairman of the Toledo Cacao Growers Association which was the first cocoa producer to be Fairtrade certified in 1993. In 1994 they began supplying products for the Maya Gold chocolate bar, which was the first Fairtrade bar to be sold in the U.K.

Theresa Wooll, co-ordinator for the Windermere and Bowness Fairtrade Group, said that everyone had found it really interesting to hear first hand from a farmer how Fairtrade’s minimum price and additional premium helps ensure their families and local communities have money for basics such as school and doctor’s fees.