Andreas Exarheas is an editor at FoodBev Media. This is a personal blog and views expressed are his own.
Lemonaid Beverages is a start-up company from Hamburg, Germany, which supports initiatives that try and improve the lives of people in disadvantaged global economies. The FoodBev team met its founder, Paul Bethke, at the Gulfood exhibition, currently being held at the World Trade Centre in Dubai.
Mr Bethke informed us that his brand produced two products, Lemonaid and ChariTea, both of which include organically grown ingredients from smallholder cooperatives from all around the world. Available in a variety of flavours, such as Blood Orange, Passion Fruit, Ginger & Honey and Orange & Lemon, money from the sale of each fairtrade beverage goes towards the brand’s non-profit organisation – Lemonaid & ChariTea e.V. (L&C).
L&C has amassed 300,000 euros since 2010, which has been used to help charitable causes all over the globe. The brand’s organisation tries to enable people and communities to help themselves and an array of worthy causes have already been greatly rewarded by this inspiring group. For example, Lemonaid & ChariTea e.V. has supported the Warehouse Project in Sri Lanka, which offers financial support to the needy, for many years and the organisation finances the annual nutrition programme of the Nande Rekoha children’s centre in Paraguay, which helps underprivileged young people in the area.
Lemonaid Beverages’ non-profit organisation has also helped finance the development of a solar energy system, to assist rooibos farmers in South Africa, and funds the Diyanilla Technical institute in Sri Lanka, which provides a range of practical courses for young people, including carpentry, masonry, electrical engineering and mechanics.
The organisation supports projects that promote political, economic and cultural participation, as well as sustainable and fair agriculture. Each initiative is carefully selected by Lemonaid & ChariTea e.V. and the group visits every institution and works closely with local inhabitants for each cause. Donations through the sale of Lemonade Beverages’ drinks have been the most significant form of funding for the organisation so far, however, the FoodBev team was informed that donations from third parties are incredibly welcome.
Lemonaid Beverages is a fantastic company which is genuinely trying to reform and improve how businesses work. The brand is really trying to give back to the countries which help produce its beverages and the projects that L&C is currently supporting are inspirational, to say the least. This group deserves all the praise and publicity it’s bound to receive and I personally hope some third party donators step up to assist this brand in its noble cause.
It’s no secret that retailers are looking to maximise their profit margins, and consumers are looking to keep costs down, so it really looks like this group could use all the help it can get considering the necessary price mark-up Lemonaid Beverages products are sporting. Keep an eye out on foodbev.com to see how this story develops in the coming years.
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024