The Coffee Republic

SkillsOne catches up with Jacqueline Arias, who tells us about her company, Republica Coffee. She's established a unique coffee company in Australia that specialises in Fair Trade - where farmers in the third world countries are paid fair prices for their coffee.

Jacqueline Arias founded Republica Coffee in February 2006.

She established the company when she noticed that the majority of people in Columbia drink instant coffee, even though the area is known for its coffee bean plantations. She started thinking about the journey the coffee bean took from South America to the multinational coffee manufacturing plants in the US and Europe to be transformed into instant coffee.

On another trip to the UK, Arias noticed the sheer number of fair trade products available, not just coffee, but sugar, bananas and cereal and believed that Australians would respond in a similar positive fashion to fair trade items and brands.

Jacqueline also recently opened a Republica Cafe in Broadway, with the goal of making fair trade coffee more accessible. Jacqueline was born in Columbia and Jacqueline was a journalist for many years before a trip to her homeland inspired her to think about a business involving coffee.

Republica Coffee is now sold in Coles and Woolworths/Safeway stores across Australia.