WELLINGTONIANS now have another reason to be proud as their city becomes the first Fair Trade Capital in the southern hemisphere.

STATUS SET: Paul Barber, one of Wellington's fair-trade campaigners.

The status was granted by the Fair Trade Association Australia and New Zealand just three months after Wellington City Council applied, having unanimously adopted an e-Petition signed by more than 1000 people.

“Wellington likes to celebrate and being the first Fair Trade Capital City in the southern hemisphere is a special thing Wellington has chosen to get on with,” says Wellington Trade Aid Trust chairperson Paul Barber.

Making fairly traded products widely available in the Wellington region and providing Fair Trade tea and coffee at council meetings were two of the requirements set by the association.

There are already more than 100 retail outlets, cafés, restaurants and supermarkets in the Wellington area, which offer fairly traded products, says Mr Barber.

“We have met the minimum goals, but now we want to see more workplaces, schools and faith groups using fair trade products.”

The steering group monitoring the city’s progress since the application was made continues its work to ensure the initial commitment is followed up.

Wellington’s cafés are a big part of the Fair Trade community: “We have a real coffee culture here in Wellington and the cafés are keen to be fair-trade,” Mr Barber says.

In Wellington’s run-up to reaching fair trade status, NewsWire spoke to a barista in a Wellington café.

VIDEO by Tory Regan (reporter), Sarah Hardie and Sabrina Dankel