Asda and Morrisons have begun selling the world’s first Fairtrade melons in a groundbreaking advance for the premium category.
The move follows several years of extensive work by supplier Univeg Katope and sources on the ground in Brazil.
The product will hit shelves this week, with sales expected to be strong over the festive period.
Univeg, then Malet Azoulay, first began working with Naji Harb of the Pillar Group on developing Fairtrade projects in Brazil in 2004, when a partnership over mangoes was initiated.
Since then, the Spalding-based supermarket supplier has worked with Harb alongside the Brazilian Service of Support for Micro and Small Enterprises of the state of Rio Grande de Norte (SEBRAE-RN) to develop the project.
The Fairtrade melon partnership, thought to be the first globally, has seen growers benefit from increased technical expertise and have an input into the marketing of their products, as well as becoming a legal entity in their own right, giving them a voice.
Geoff Chappell, Fairtrade development manager, told FPJ: “For us, it is about bringing more Fairtrade to market. In the past, there have been issues relating to not having enough product and a lack of availability reducing the amount of continuity available for retail.
“In 2004, two avocado suppliers went Fairtrade and, as we were at a crossroads with the business, we started to look at Fairtrade as a category in itself, which is a different attitude than had previously been widely expressed.
“Because of this ethos, we decided to work on Fairtrade more and more and now supply top fruit, a number of citrus lines including limes, lemons and grapefruit and pineapples.
“Fairtrade appeals to a wide audience and we can all see the benefits of paying the right price to our fellow man for his product.”
Harb said: "The first thing that came to my mind is that you either wanted to help change their situation by persuading the growers to give up growing the fruit, or take up the challenge and work with SEBRAE's team in the state of Rio Grande Norte and assist the growers in delivering a sustainable way to market their fruit for them.
"We can see the smiles on the faces of the growers; they are organised, they are working in accordance to good agricultural practices, the up-to-date technology that they are using to grow their melons is the same technology that is used by the larger growers in Brazil, or indeed, anywhere in the world.
“They have signed a contract for the first time in their lives to supply melons, they have received financial support to grow the melons and most important of all, they are planting melons for the first time in their lives knowing the melons are already sold and at a fair price, so they no longer need to worry about market access - that problem is solved, now they are concentrating on producing the finest, the tastiest and the first Fairtrade-certified melon in the world."
Univeg Katope UK’s Fairtrade technical manager, David Maris, was also instrumental in the development, informing growers of the legal and commercial requirements to supply the UK market and signaling the UK’s Fairtrade aims and ambitions.
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