Simon Kershaw says: "As most VI readers will already know, Buendia is the brand of the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia (FNC), which sells Colombian coffee worldwide and in the UK, Aimia Foods is its exclusive supplier to the vending industry.  The FNC began long before Fairtrade and the Rainforest Alliance were developed, and really set the standards for such future organisations to follow.

"The FNC, founded in 1927, is the world's largest agricultural non-governmental organisation (NGO) which works tirelessly to improve the quality of life for more than half a million coffee growing families in Colombia. The Federation invests its profits into many schemes to improve the social welfare of coffee communities as well as infrastructure improvements in the country."

The Aimia team visits Colombia regularly to keep up to date not only with technology, but also to visit some of the projects that the FNC has funded. On a recent visit Aimia traveled with John Broderick of Manchester Vending, John Ferguson of Bettavend, Eric Morton of Morvend and Duncan Balmforth of Refreshment Systems to see where Buendia comes from, how it's made and the great work the FNC does.  Just some of the projects completed since 1965:

• 18,845 classrooms, and 5,522 teachers' houses built, supporting the education of nearly 180,000 children
• Nearly 11,000 miles of roads built and 92,000 miles of roads improved which get over 4 million people to work or school each day
• 3,383 bridges built, safely helping people get over the mountainous Colombian terrain by car or foot
• 18,989 houses improved, keeping 103,714 people warm, dry and secure
• 444 hospitals and healthcare centers built which have cared for over 3 million patients

Simon continues: "Aimia's support of Colombia does not stop with the FNC though. We have also had a massive impact on the lives of the children of Colombia.  For example, we visited La Rayuela School, a project by the ‘Children of the Andes' charity which Aimia co-funds from the sales of Buendia. The school has taken 145 children from extremely underprivileged and dysfunctional backgrounds, giving them a school education during the morning and during the afternoon teaching skills such as bread baking or carpentry.  From its sales of Buendia, Aimia has directly supported equipment for the school, daily breakfasts for 20 undernourished children, daily snacks for 59 children, books for schools and contributed to staff salaries.

A 14-year-old girl at La Rayuela says, "I can't describe how much la Rayuela means to me; I've learnt so many things here. And it's great that we're learning how to use our time well, and not get into bad ways."

Simon comments "Aimia also visited the Head Office of the FNC in Bogotá, the port at Cartagena, and various coffee farms supplying the FNC as well as their own agro-education facility which researches bio-diversity to sustainably grow coffee in harmony with the environment in the future. The eight-day trip, co-hosted by Ian and Kristine Breminer of Complete Coffee Limited, really opened our eyes to the impact that the FNC has had on the people of Colombia and how much really does go into getting our morning caffeine fix!

"With continued investment, we are able to further develop our ethical range with the introduction of 100 per cent Rainforest Alliance accredited Buendia planned and we will keep all Vending International readers informed of this new product shortly.

"More importantly, we learned about the Buendia story, which is about more than just excellent coffee. Its production enables the FNC to reinvest for the future of both the farmers and the future of Colombia. As a high quality product, Buendia is also competitively priced; for vendors already buying Buendia from Aimia, and for those considering it as an option, stocking the brand gives operators a fair and ethical choice which truly doesn't cost the earth."

For more information please email customer.services@aimiafoods.com or phone 01942 408600