"Our motto is sin caf?o hai ma?," he says, "which has two meanings in Spanish - 'without coffee, mornings are no good', and, 'without coffee, there is no future'. That is the story behind coffee which Progreso wants consumers to understand and care about."James is struck by Firth's sincerity and commitment. "He wants to work in something that makes a real difference," he says. But, quite apart from being a dedicated board member, James knows that Firth is a powerful draw to punters.
On the day we meet, there is a gentle buzz around him as he takes his place in the line for a coffee.That should come as no surprise. Firth has achieved a reputation - unwarranted, he always maintains - as one of the nation's most eligible bits of posh, a dashing-but-stoical ladykiller, after starring in Fever Pitch, Bridget Jones's Diary, parts 1 and 2, and Love Actually.We start by talking about his trip with Oxfam to Ethiopia - a nation whose future is tied up in coffee. Witnessing the gross power imbalance between the penniless farmers and the profiting roasters was the start of what he calls "a very sobering education". "I'd read all the reports, done my homework, digested the facts," says Firth, "but actually meeting people whose dream is simply to earn enough to buy a tin roof or send their kids to school, makes it real. You're faced with emotional implications, the sheer and simple unfairness of it all."Ever since agreeing to support Oxfam's Make Trade Fair campaign two years ago, Firth has immersed himself in the subject, invested a lump sum to set up Progreso and even bought shares for the coffee producers. Earlier this year in Geneva, he personally lobbied the World Trade Organisation director general Supachai Panitchpakdi, about Oxfam's campaign, and at a photo-call handed over their Big Noise global petition with seven million signatures. The Big Noise aims to put pressure on the big four roasters (Kraft, Sara Lee, Proctor & Gamble and Nestl? whose failure to embrace fair-trade standards fans the flames of global poverty by creaming off profits and allowing producers to go to the wall.
Back home, Firth endeavours to buy or drink only fair-trade coffee, and the message is getting through to the rest of the population - certified fair-trade coffee is now the fastest growing segment of the UK coffee market.When Oxfam first approached Firth (at a time when the coffee prices had plummeted to an all-time low) he was reticent to become yet another celeb banging on about yet another cause: he knows it can backfire badly on both charity and star Before now his approach to activism was radical but low-key. As a long-time supporter of Amnesty and Greenpeace he's paid his subscriptions, written letters, and been on protest marches. What changed?"I was beginning to think I was banging my head against a brick wall and, by the time Oxfam approached me, I was wondering if perhaps, since I'm accorded a voice because of the celebrity factor, I should start to use it," he says "But it's a great responsibility. There are so many more qualified voices than mine who don't have a chance of getting heard.
