The Shadhilly Cooperative is a Fair Trade cooperative that has chosen to specialize in the import and marketing of coffee, one of the symbolic products of the exploitation and injustice of the global economic system.
The Shadhilly Cooperative is a Fair Trade cooperative that has chosen to specialize in the import and marketing of coffee, one of the symbolic products of the exploitation and injustice of the global economic system.
The name of the cooperative is inspired by a legend that tells of such a Ali Bin Omar Al Shadhilly, still the "patron saint"of coffee growers and consumers, who was exiled and forced to live on the mountain because he was accused of offending the honor of the king's daughter and found himself having to feed himself with what nature had to offer him.
He also tried to make a decoction of coffee berries and discovered that not only did it taste great but that it was an effective cure for an itching epidemic spreading to nearby villages. As a reward for helping the community he was readmitted to his homeland where he continued to test the various medicinal and healing uses of the drink.
The idea of investing in a project that sees the import and marketing of coffee as its particular activity, arises from a series of reasons that can be summarized as follows:
Shadhilly is currently importing coffee from 3 countries: Guatemala, Uganda and Haiti,from 5 different cooperatives.