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.”
