Asda Fairtrade sales rocket

Asda has seen its Fairtrade banana volumes expand by more than 92 per cent in the last 12 months.

The explosion in growth has enabled the retailer to generate around $1 million for growers in the Windward Islands, it claimed.

Nick Burr, business unit director for produce with Asda, took a trip to the island to meet representatives and officials from the Fairtrade organisation and the St Vincent's government.

A spokesman for the retailer said the money was having a big impact on the growers and the local community: “One of the schools has managed to relocate from what can only be described as a single garage to a double one (breezeblock building).

“Another school has received a computer and a PA system (so they can communicate to all the children in assemblies) and the health clinic has received equipment to measure blood pressure, and to hear a baby's heart in the womb.”