The origins of Equal Exchange stretch back to 1979 when three voluntary workers returned to Edinburgh after working on aid projects in various parts of Africa. Along with a sister organisation in London, Campaign Co-op, they started buying instant coffee from Bukoba on Lake Victoria in Tanzania. As a result Campaign Coffee was born.

The volunteers had seen how small scale farmers were getting into debt due, in part, to the appallingly low prices they received for their products. Aid was not the only answer - direct, fairer trading could help redress the balance!

Many years later, after bigger campaigns, more education and better products finally reaching independent retailers and supermarkets, the three volunteers' dreams are beginning to be realised.