Fair Trade USA, the leading third-party certifier of Fairtrade products in the US, has reported in press release new data which indicates that the country’s mainstream consumers are increasing their commitment to the Fairtrade movement faster than ever.
According to data from SPINS – the first company to offer Fairtrade sales data across natural, specialty and mainstream channels – sales of Fairtrade-certified products at grocery stores increased by 24 per cent during 2010.
Today, consumers can find Fairtrade products in every aisle of the supermarket, the organisation said.
Due to this broad availability, driven by more than 700 companies offering Fairtrade-certified products, more mainstream US consumers are becoming Fairtrade converts.
The 2010 data from SPINS indicates that sales of Fairtrade-certified products at mainstream channels grew faster (26 per cent) than those of specialty grocers (22 per cent) and natural grocers (16 per cent).
“We are encouraged by the fact that in spite of the economic recession, consumers everywhere are embracing the idea that every purchase matters,” said Cate Baril, director of business development, grocery and ingredients.
“We continue to see strong, double digit growth in the natural and specialty channels. And we see even stronger growth in supermarkets where sales are up 26 per cent, as more stores are adding a greater variety of Fairtrade-certified products and increasing selection for consumers.”
The data also shows that US consumers have thrown their plastic bags away, filling their reusable totes to the brim with Fair Trade-certified products.
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