Not only is 27 Seconds wine New Zealand made and certified organic, but 100% of profit goes to supporting survivors of the slave trade. The name comes from the shocking statistic that every 27 seconds somewhere in the world, a vulnerable person is trafficked or sold into slavery.
In December 2021 we celebrated with 27 Seconds as they reached their Christmas sales goal of a whopping 250k! This enables them to make their largest donation ever of $58,000 to their partner charity, Hagar, which means a total of $117,000 has been donated to Hagar since Alanna and Pete started 27 Seconds in late 2017.
With each bottle of 27 Seconds sold 100% of the profit is given to Hagar. Hagar provides intensive recovery care to survivors of slavery, trafficking & severe abuse in Cambodia and Vietnam and humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan through the following:
Recovery and Trauma Care
Freedom doesn’t just come from escaping physically. Emotional scars are deep, and learned behaviors are hard to break. Survivors receive intensive counselling which brings healing and resilience
Access to Education
Children who’ve been trafficked often haven’t received an education. Without an education, the future doesn’t hold many opportunities. Hagar supports young people through school and tuition.
Economic Empowerment
Survivors often have no other work experience, other than what they have escaped from. In order to thrive, having a job is critical. Hagar provides work experience and supports survivors through university.
Systematic Change
Slavery and trafficking needs to be addressed from many angles. Hagar works towards systemic change, whether that be training border police to recognize victims of trafficking, holding village workshops raising awareness in rural areas, or working to introduce government laws which protect victims and prosecute perpetrators.
How it all began
“It was a Christmas Eve in Kolkata, India, when slavery become real to us. We were visiting friends who run Freeset, a business offering alternative employment to women in prostitution. Deciding to visit one of the women we had met, we took a shortcut through an alleyway. Standing to one side were a group of teenage girls who looked distinctly different. Asking why, we were told they had been trafficked from Nepal and sold into prostitution. In that moment, the penny dropped. We had passed modern day slaves.
The injustice of it hit us hard. No one should be sold for someone else’s profit. Most people think we left slavery in the previous century, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. There are more people in slavery today than ever before. Twenty one million is the conservative estimate – the Global Slavery Index suggests 40.3 million. Either way – 21 or 40.3 million – is far too many!
It was an issue we thought demanded our attention. But knowing how to respond was the difficult part. Pete is the vineyard manager for his family vineyard, Terrace Edge. Wine and slavery aren’t a natural fit.
That was until we had a ‘what if” moment. Lots of people drink wine. What if we created a wine, where 100% of the profits go towards helping end slavery?
We decided to call the wine ‘27seconds’ after a Unicef statistic. They estimate 1.2 million children are sold into slavery every year. When you break that statistic down it works out to be one every 27 seconds.
Our goal is simple. Make good wine and sell lots of it, then give our profits to organizations working in this area. We can’t and won’t solve modern day slavery, but with you, we can play a part in helping.”