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Saturday, May 12, 2012

FAIRTRADE AMBASSADOR LOYISO BALA FINDS HIS PLACE IN THE SUN


www.placeinthesun.co.za

www.fairtrade.org.za



Place in the Sun cellar master, Deon Boshoff, shows Fairtrade Label South Africa’s first ambassador, Loyiso Bala, where the grapes are harvested for the Fairtrade-accredited wines made and marketed under the Place in the Sun label.


Deon Boshoff, Place in the Sun’s cellar master, and Loyiso Bala, Fairtrade Label South Africa’s very first ambassador, in the vineyards.


Loyiso Bala, Fairtrade Label South Africa’s first ambassador; Deidre Samson, Place in the Sun’s global marketing manager; Deon Boshoff, Place in the Sun’s cellar master; Louis van Brakel, Place in the Sun’s SA marketing manager; and Boudewijn Goossens, Fairtrade Label South Africa’s executive director.


Loyiso Bala, Fairtrade Label South Africa’s first ambassador, during a tasting of the Place in the Sun wines.




Desmond Bezuidenhout, the Fairtrade farm’s top male farmworker; Loyiso Bala, Fairtrade Label South Africa’s first ambassador; Patricia Basjan, the top female farmworker; and Afrika Meyer, the top tractor driver.



Multi-award-winning R&B and gospel singer Loyiso Bala, Fairtrade Label South Africa’s first ambassador.


Cellar master Deon Boshoff and Loyiso Bala, Fairtrade Label South Africa’s very first ambassador, met at a Devon Valley farm recently.  Boshoff showed the popular, multi-award-winning R&B and gospel singer where the grapes are harvested for the Fairtrade-accredited wines he and his team make under the Place in the Sun label.

Bala also met the farm’s top male and female farm workers as well as the top tractor driver, as voted for by a Workers’ Trust, and presented each with a signed copy of his latest album.

When he tasted the bold-flavoured and big-hearted Place in the Sun wines, he described them as “absolutely delicious”. He also explained that he found the Place in the Sun Sauvignon Blanc 2011 “light and refreshing”. They are all made from grapes sourced from vineyards certified by FLO-CERT under the Fair Label Organisation (FLO) Standards that forms part of Fairtrade.  Growers are paid a premium for their grapes that goes towards social development of the farm workers, who get to decide on how the funds are to be spent.

Currently, premiums are funding early-learning projects; tuition and school uniforms at schools of choice amongst farm workers; stepped up sporting activities; and most recently, a vegetable garden to improve nutrition amongst local communities.