Padraig O'Brien - Andaz 5th - New York

Born and raised in the Sonoran desert town of Tucson, Arizona, Padraig developed an appreciation for thirst quenching drinks. Over the years, this appreciation grew into a strong passion for "all things potable".

Tell us more about you. What is your background?

I’ve been living in New York for 4 years now, but I’ve been a bartender for about 10 years. I started at 18 when I became legal to serve alcohol. At first I wasn’t sure I would keep doing that job for very long.  But I was lucky to meet with a master who introduced me to the craft cocktails made with unique and fresh ingredients. Ever since that I‘ve been passionate about it and I think about cocktails and recipes all day long.

How long have you been working for Andaz?

I’ve been working there for almost 4 years now. Before, I participated in numerous cocktail competitions. In 2010, I was offered an apprenticeship at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans. Right after that, I started working at The Bar Downstairs. I've now created my own consulting team, named Hatchet Proof. 

What do you like about FAIR. ?

I believe FAIR is a really high quality product, extremely pure. I like that the brand is using unconventional ingredients to come up with a great tasting product. It also shows how versatile vodka can be.

What is the key strength of FAIR. Vodka?

I really like FAIR. because of its excellent taste. The fair trade aspect of the product was really important to me as well. I’m trying to go to coffee shops that are fair trade. It is an important process because the people who harvest the quinoa or the coffee really have the hardest work to do.

What is your favorite cocktail?

It really depends on my mood. A classic “Vesper” is always a nice go to. On a warm sunny day I’ll go for a “Bicycle Built For Two” and if it’s a little bit cloudy on a Spring day, I’ll go for the “Loving Armful”.

Want to find out more about Andaz? Visit their Website and Facebook & to have more informations on Hatchet Proof, visit their Website. 

Christian de Montaguère - Caribbean 'Art de Vivre' in Paris

Tell us a bit more about you, your background, your story, etc.

First of all, I was born and raised in Guadeloupe – French West Indies. In 2001, I moved to Paris to work in the Luxury industry at Giorgio Armani for 7 years. During these years, I had the idea of opening the first and unique store dedicated to promote the Caribbean « Art de Vivre ».

What do you like most about your job?

For the very first time in my professional career, I completely love my job. I created everything from scratch. Being in touch with so many people makes me happy and makes my job interesting.

Tell us more about CDM Shop: what is so special about it?

This is a concept store dedicated to promote the Caribbean «Art de Vivre».  We carry a wide range of products such as rums, cosmetics, perfumes, books and delicatessen.

What is your main source of inspiration?

Being from the West Indies is my biggest source of inspiration. More precisely, I wanted to focus on the unity of the different Caribbean communities. Most of them ignore that they are similar because they don’t speak the same language and share the same history.

What are your favorite Rums?

It depends on my mood but also on the people who drink with me. I have to confess that I have a preference for the French style.

What do you like/dislike about the French /Parisian Rum scene?

I like that Rum is still a brand new trend in the French/Parisian scene. Therefore, customers are extremely curious. We have an important educational role to play among Parisians and French people, to help them discover or re-discover Rum.

However I don’t like the fact that too many people still favour very aged spirits at the expense of Rums. As a French person I would prefer to encourage those people to drink local spirits, such as Cognac or Armagnac, instead of Whisky.

What do you like about FAIR.?

I really like its dedication to support independent farmers. FAIR. respects their work as well as the environment, which is something quite unique in the Rum industry. This is a very important aspect that I like to highlight in comparison to other brands.

Want to find out more about CDM shop? Visit its Website & Facebook

All you need to know about Fairtrade Sourcing Programs

In January 2014 Fairtrade Labelling Organizations, also known as Fairtrade International, put a cat among the pigeons, announcing the development of the Fairtrade Sourcing Programs. Let us come back to this piece of news, explain it and balance the pros and cons.

Fairtrade International and the system of Fairtrade label.

Quinoa farmers from the cooperative
 working with FAIR.

Fairtrade International was created in 1997 to be responsible for the development and the cooperation among the different actors of the Fairtrade movement. It has developed fair norms and standards with the will of modifying the international trade to make it fairer for little producers of developing countries.

Before January 2014 the system was quite simple. If a product was labeled “Fair-Trade”, it meant that every single ingredient or component it included came from Fairtrade. Easy to understand, but quite hard to deal with when you are an entrepreneur. Consequently the current figures of Fairtrade are sad: the Fairtrade production of cocoa represents only 1,2% of the market of cocoa, and most of the Fairtrade production is sold as “not fair-trade” because the offer is far bigger than the demand.

To solve the issue Fairtrade International announced in January a second system, complementary to the first one, which is called the Fairtrade Sourcing Programs (FSPs).

The Fairtrade Sourcing Programs.

The goal of FSPs is to increase Fairtrade sales at a global scale in order to get a bigger Fairtrade Premium. The Fairtrade premium is the sum of money that companies pay in addition of the price of the products they buy, sum that goes to the association of producers to allow them to invest in education, healthcare, or farm improvements. More sells mean bigger Fairtrade Premium, and so, bigger development for emerging countries and little producers.

FSPs consist in three programs, one for cotton, one for cocoa, and the last one for sugar. Norms and standards do not change. The striking aspect of the project is that a product does not need to be fully “fair-trade” but only one of its components. For example a chocolate bar, made of 100% fair-trade chocolate, but “normal” sugar can be considered as a Fairtrade product. It will not have the same label as the 100% Fairtrade product, but one that shows that it takes part of Fairtrade Sourcing Programs.

Consequences of the FSPs on the Fairtrade movement

This is a revolution for the Fairtrade movement especially in cocoa sphere. Therefore Ferrero committed to buy 20,000 tonnes of cocoa beans under Fair-trade conditions. This was great news for the Fairtrade movement and little producers of Ivory Coast, who will benefit from a long-term increase of their incomes. Nine companies also committed themselves in the Fairtrade Sourcing Program for cocoa: Mars, Rewe, Riegelein, Coop, Kambly, AEON, Lidl & Kaufland, Switch.

Some people applause, but others question the initiative. It was the case of the United States, Canada, and Great Britain, but also many brands attached to another vision of Fairtrade: Alteréco, Ethiquable, Malongo, Artisans du Monde… They argue that the goal of Fairtrade is, according to them, primarily to modify unfair rules of international trade, and that they were afraid FSPs benefited big companies, already really present in the markets. FSPs might then only perpetuate unfair rules of traditional international trade.

And what’s new for products other than cocoa, sugar and cotton?

The CLAC, a Fair Trade producer network representing Latin American Producers, declared to be opposed to the FSPs whereas it greeted another announcement with enthusiasm: in July 2013 Nespresso launched a long-reaching partnership for coffee with the AAA farmers cooperatives of the region of Caldas, Columbia.

According to Harriet Lamb, Chief Executive of Fairtrade International said: “This encourages the kind of development that not only helps whole communities, it furthers emphasizes the fundamental necessity of ensuring that quality of life of farmers is on a par with the quality of coffee they are producing.”

Bruce McNamer, President & CEO of Technoserve - Jean-Marc Duvoisin, CEO of Nestlé Nespresso - Tensie Whelan, President of the Rainforest Alliance - Harriet Lamb, President of Fair Trade International - Georges Clooney

Both FSPs and Nespresso partnership take part in a new vision of Fairtrade, more reachable for entrepreneurs, but for clients too.

William Solorzano - Hush - London

Hush is famous for being one of the best evening spots in London.
Let's discuss with William Solorzano, Hush's bar manager.

Tell us a bit more about you, your background, your story, etc. 

William Solorzano - Bar Manager

I have been working « behind bars » since I was 17 (he’s now 26). I started working in The Soho Hotel’s bar simply because I wanted to make a bit of money, where I only was in charge of small bottom scale tasks, and then I moved to a private karaoke place which was very fun working in. It could accommodate 200 people and I guess that is where I learnt the skills that are required to become a good bartender, such as fast working and multi tasking. I then joined Hush (the bar he still works in), in Mayfair, somewhere between 3 and 4 years ago, and was appointed bar manager. As of today, one of the things that interests me most in this industry is the stories behind each and every type of spirits. They’re an integral part of the world’s History you know. 

What about Hush ?

It opened in 1999, with the intention of becoming sort of a hidden oasis in the middle of such a busy neighborhood, since it is located in a very small alley, concealed from the crowd’s eyes. It is divided in 5 distinct areas that all have specific purposes : the brasserie, downstairs, which mainly offers european food; the courtyard, where movies are shown during the winter (« Love Actually » being the most popular one among the customers); the Silver Room, that offers a slightly more intimate and elegant dining experience than the brasserie; the Cocktail Lounge, and finally, the Private Dining Room.

What do you like most about this job ? 

I particularly enjoy the fact that it keeps me busy all day long. It’s a non stop thing you know, I never get bored. It also requires quite a bit of creativity, which is always a nice thing. I love the networking part of the job too, weather it concerns customers or other people of the industry, as well as managing and fixing potential problems. I genuinely love this job, each day is completely different from the previous one. I also meet a lot of amazing people, that sometimes become friends for life ! 

Your « mantra » ?

Never stop learning. There’s never a moment when you can allow yourself to consider you know enough. Don’t limit your knowledge, you can always learn more. There’s always room for improvement, right? 

What do you like about FAIR. ? 

Well first, FAIR. Vodka is essentially made out of quinoa that is cultivated in South America, which is where I come from, and the company being fair trade certified means that it tries to help the people over there, which is obviously something that touches me greatly, and that I support fiercely. I also like the fact that they are pioneers of the system of fair trade, I mean they were among the first companies to put such a selling point forward. They don’t just follow the current trend. And of course we love Paul, the face of the company. He’s always there, he’s very supportive, comes here often to see how things are going, provides a solid follow up, and he’s just exceptionally nice. He’s the one that makes the company stand out. 

What is you're favorite cocktail made with FAIR. ?

For me, it would be a personal version of a mule cocktail, that includes lime, ginger beer, FAIR. Vodka, and Jägermeister; but the most popular one among the customers would be « Boris the Wolf », which is a very fruity type of cocktail. 

Want to find out more on Hush?  Visit their Website & Facebook