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Coffee with a Conscience.

The North of Thailand grows some of the best opium poppies in the world. The Golden Triangle, as it is known, does not produce "gold" for the growers or for the end users – the heroin addicts around the world.

Bright Hope has partnered with Thai co-operatives to help these growers convert to coffee growing. They actually make more money from growing coffee. It was the "middle men" who made the money from opium.
Bright Hope invests in helping growers improve their coffee, introducing the concepts of organic growing, shade trees and growing our credibility with these tough hill country people by buying their crop and improving their marketing techniques.

We pay the growers above the ruling Fair Trade price.
It's hard because we have to compete with the big multi-nationals who try and buy early in the season when the growers are cashed starved. They sometimes pay only one third of what we pay. However we pay the better price because we know the extra goes into improving the crop and caring for families removing, in part, the need to sell young daughters.

Caring for their families is critical.
These are the tribal people who often sell their daughters into prostitution. They want to believe they are joining a night club to entertain with their dancing.
We know differently.
Girls as young as eight to ten years are "bought" by scouts and are forced into a sordid life of prostitution. They send most of their earnings home to help their family. We find all of this difficult to grasp – we just do not understand the local culture.
Buying their coffee helps to change this.

There are up to a million prostitutes in Thailand. It is big business. It’s bigger in GDP terms than agriculture is in New Zealand. Bright Hope partners with agencies trying to combat what is one of the most brutalising and debasing activities anywhere in the world. We help rescue girls already trapped in "the trade" training them for a better life and we work to educate and train young girls in North Thailand so they never get involved.

We need your help. By buying La Mai coffee you are making a difference. All of the profit goes back into Thailand to rescue trapped girls and prevent the next generation getting involved.