Sales of Fairtrade products in the UK have increased by 12 per cent, reaching an estimated retail value of £800 million despite the economic downturn, new figures have revealed.
The Fairtrade Foundation said the UK public has remained ÔÇ£staunchly loyalÔÇØ, resulting in the sales increase despite a difficult economic environment.
An estimated 7.5 million people in Africa, Asia and Latin America are currently benefiting from the goods sold in the UK alone. There are more than 4,500 Fairtrade-certified products available in total, which come from 58 developing countries all around the world.A string of major commitments by firms to switch their products to Fairtrade helped to fuel growth throughout the year. Products switched included Cadbury Dairy Milk, all Starbucks espresso-based coffee, NestleÔÇÖs four-finger KitKat and Tate & Lyle retail sugar.
This week, US-based ice cream manufacturer Ben & JerryÔÇÖs announced that it will be going 100 per cent Fairtrade in the UK and throughout Europe by the end of 2011 and globally by the end of 2013.
Harriet Lamb, CEO of the Fairtrade Foundation, commented: ÔÇ£2009 was a tough year for everyone, but a desperate year for many poor communities and small farmers in developing countries. For millions of growers and their families and communities, Fairtrade was able to make the difference that has helped them survive a difficult year and plan for the future.ÔÇØ
She went on to say: ÔÇ£These challenging times have been a wake-up call and forward-thinking companies have also been re-evaluating their priorities, seeing sustainability as the way forward for business, building relations with producers and introducing many Fairtrade products in the past year.ÔÇØ
The UKÔÇÖs international development secretary, Douglas Alexander, added: ÔÇ£Farmers and producers in some of the worldÔÇÖs poorest countries have suffered at the sharp end of the economic crisis and, in many cases, it is thanks to Fairtrade that they have been able to feed their families and keep their children in education.ÔÇØ
In Ghana, some coffee growers for Caf├® DirectÔÇöone of the first Fairtrade brandsÔÇöhave had to move their plots to higher ground each year as temperatures rise closer to sea level. The coffee crop in Nicaragua, Peru, Uganda and Ethiopia was damaged last year by extreme weather conditions. Caf├® Direct has now launched a programme called AdapCC, to help farmers to cope with the impacts of climate change.
The UK government has recently pledged to provide ┬ú12 million over the next four years in funding to both Fairtrade and its international partners in the Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International (FLO), in order to boost the work it undertakes.Despite the recent rise in sales, the ┬ú800 million Fairtrade-branded goods sold remains a tiny segment of the marketÔÇöthe UK groceries market alone has annual sales of ┬ú150 billion.
One of the next steps for the Foundation is to persuade the organisers of the 2012 Olympic Games to make as much of the event as Fairtrade as possible. The organisers have committed to serve only Fairtrade-certified hot drinks, but the Foundation is also pushing for a commitment to its fruit, flowers and cotton for uniforms.
