UK Vending supports through our selective purchasing programmes the Fair Trade suppliers of coffee by offering the option to dispense Fair Trade or sustainable coffee from all our hot-drinks machines. Sustainable tea products are also now available. Why not talk to our friendly staff at the UKV help-desk who will be delighted to tell you about our range of ethical and environmentally friendly products? We are committed to dealing only with suppliers that are working responsibly with the farmers and communities around the world who produce the ingredients used to make our drinks.

We only deal with partners who trade responsibly and we already offer a range of drinks from sustainable certified sources, like Fairtrade and Brighter Tomorrow at Origin, but by 2010 we plan to source 30% of our drinks from certified sustainability schemes.

At UK Vending we sponsor 21 children in southern Africa through our UKV Guardian Angels Scheme. This does not mean we just send a little money from time - it does mean that we take responsibility in every possible way for these children. We feed, house and educate them and we look after their health and social care. We keep them safe - and this is only a small part of how we try to be a responsible business.

In Kenya, Brighter Tomorrow at Origin helps over 2,500 small-scale farmers on the Ndumberi Co-operative to improve the quality of the beans they grow. Additional funds are contributed regularly, which in 2007 were used to construct and fund a health clinic. This included providing equipment, furniture and also paying for the wages of five health staff until the end of 2008 when the clinic will become self-sufficient. A new quality testing facility for farmers on the Kenyan estate is currently under development. Substantially, this is made possible by the sale of the Flavia & KLIX brands - so when you buy sustainable Flavia & KLIX products from us, you are contributing to the development and better futures of the people who grow the tea plants and coffee beans you enjoy. Malawi Garden Tea - ethical, flavoursome tea

In Malawi, one of the World's poorest nations, Brighter Tomorrow at Origin (BTO) supports tea producers from the Kawalazi plantation. In 2008 BTO will continue to fund projects including investing in agronomic training for farmers and initiating tree planting and land rehabilitation - and this is possible only because you support through UK Vending the Flavia & KLIX brands.

More information on the FLAVIA Drinks Machine

Early in 2008, PG Tips made friends with Rainforest Alliance. This means that the tea in our KLIX PG tea bags is grown using sustainable farming methods, and the workers who picked it earn a decent living and have good working conditions.

At least 50% of their tea already comes from the Rainforest Alliance Certified farms. They are working towards being fully certified by 2010

PERCOL® is a brand that has become synonymous with the Fairtrade movement around the world. Since 1987, they've been dedicated to ethical trading and environmental sustainability and have even picked up awards for business ethics and community support. UK Vending has supported the PERCOL initiative since is commencement. Supporting communities

PERCOL® supports coffee communities by working with small independent growers working on their own land. And with ongoing contributions, they help these communities by supporting healthcare, education and micro enterprise projects - in turn we support PERCOL by our commitment to its brand since its commencement in 1987.

Teadirect® is a pioneering Fairtrade tea brand comes from Cafedirect®, the UK's largest Fairtrade hot drinks company. Cafedirect® buy from 37 producer organisations in 12 countries, providing over 250,000 farmers with a fair price for their crop.

Guaranteed minimum price

Operating to a Gold Standard Fairtrade policy, Cafedirect invests 60% of its profits back into support and training initiatives. They also guarantee their tea growers receive a minimum price for their tea - allowing communities to make a better life for themselves

Cocoa is hugely important to some of the poorest communities in the world - around 90% of all cocoa comes from small, family farms. But every year, farmers risk losing more than a third of their crop to pests and diseases. Losses like these can have a devastating impact on the lives of cocoa farming families and their communities, who rely on good harvests to survive. Help farmers to help themselves - we do by supporting every initiative accessible.

As a major user of cocoa, our supplier of hot chocolate drinks is committed to making production more sustainable. They and we want to raise the standard of living for farmers, their families and the surrounding communities by helping them to increase the quality and quantity of the cocoa they can harvest.

By teaching farmers new, more efficient production techniques and investing in the development of more robust crops, we know our supplier is helping the communities who rely on cocoa to thrive and by committing only to their products we at UK Vending are doing what we can to support the communities producing cocoa.

Recently our supplier Mars announced its commitment to the Partnership for African Cocoa Communities of Tomorrow, IMPACT. This is a collaborative programme specifically targeted to assist cocoa growing communities in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire. Those participating will have the opportunity to improve their cocoa farming and agricultural practices in an environmentally sustainable way, to learn about and implement appropriate labour practices, and to enjoy access to better educational facilities, improved health care, and financial services.

UK Vending Ltd supports Mars in its commitment - our concerns regarding child labour and even slave labour in the cocoa producing Ivory Coast are addressed by iMPACT which is working to change attitudes and practises and build the brightest possible tomorrow for the people and the communities producing the wonderful drinks you enjoy from Flavia and KLIX through UK Vending Ltd.