The SPAR Academy in Vienna has been cooperating with Fairtrade Austria for 15 years and in 2016 had set itself the goal of becoming the first commercial vocational school in Austria with a Fairtrade award.

Part of this award is the project ‘Fairtrade-Ambassador’ – additional training series for SPAR apprentices in the first year of their apprenticeship. The 98 apprentices who voluntarily opted for supplementary training this year were honored for their special commitment.

“To educate young people about Fairtrade is the most sustainable way to strengthen Fairtrade as well as small production companies in the future. The commitment and the willingness of our SPAR apprentices to learn more is a positive thing for the future, “said Fritz Poppmeier, Director of SPAR Austria, about the enthusiasm of the SPAR apprentices.

“The apprentices are given additional training on topics such as solidarity and sustainability, and their awareness of global connections is intensified in connection with commercial responsibility. Social responsibility is thus a central and also a corporate value of SPAR,” continued Mr Poppmeier on the occasion of the presentation of the Fairtrade award to the SPAR Academy in Vienna.

“Every day hundreds of thousands of people are buying at SPAR. It is therefore all the more important that the employees in the stores also know about Fairtrade. SPAR is already making a great contribution to apprentice training in order to anchor the idea of ​​Fairtrade even more firmly” says Fairtrade CEO Hartwig Kirner, who is enthusiastic about SPAR Austria’s commitment.