Make Fairtrade Your Habit is the consumer message for this year’s Fairtrade Fortnight campaign. Running from March 6 -19, the campaign will rope in a bunch of celebrities and famous names who will reveal their Fairtrade shopping habits. Behind the scenes, many supporters are busy preparing for further advances.
According to the Fairtrade Foundation, the two-week period of Fairtrade campaigning and promotion has already received support from many of the UK’s biggest retailers and catering outlets. The foundation is also keen to talk to importers to see whether they have existing supply chains which could benefit from Fairtrade.
“We often hear people in business saying they see the publicity which surrounds Fairtrade Fortnight every year and it makes them wish they had done something to join in,” says Mark Varney, business development manager at the Fairtrade Foundation.
“The Fairtrade Foundation can help business in many ways, from giving guidance on promotional activity to explaining how best to stock Fairtrade products.”
Latest figures from TNS reveal that in the year ending October, 2005, penetration of Fairtrade products in UK households rose to 40 per cent, representing a 20 per cent increase on the previous year. Fairtrade fruit is also gaining a larger profile, with 29.7 per cent penetration.
In previous years, sales of products carrying the Fairtrade mark have trebled over the fortnight when supported by in-store messaging, point-of-sale material and other promotional efforts.
According to the latest MORI poll, Fairtrade awareness is growing fastest amongst 25 to 34-year-olds. “Habit plays a big part in our choices when we go shopping,” says Varney. “Our aim this year is to show people that Fairtrade gives you more from your shopping.”
One major supplier of Fairtrade fresh produce is Malet Azoulay (UK) Ltd. The company supplies Asda with a wide range of Fairtrade fresh produce including grapes, mangoes, pineapples, oranges, easy peelers, apples, pears and lychees. It is also looking at other fresh produce, according to the company’s Geoff Chappell, who is responsible for Fairtrade development.
“Fairtrade is a growing market and initially it was about tea, coffee and then bananas,” he explains. “The fresh produce drive has really been from South Africa where a number of producers are Fairtrade-certified. They’ve certainly led on avocados and pineapples.”
Malet Azoulay was featured in FPJ last December after the firm handled the first arrivals of Fairtrade lychees from Mozambique in November. “The season ran until December and went very well,” Chappell notes. “We were pleased with the launch and for creating that window. More lychees are being planted this year in preparation for next season.”
The Chinhamacunga Association, a group of small farmers based in Manica, produced the lychees and Katopé lychee farms in South Africa have been working with the association to help it establish the production and export criteria required by Malet Azoulay for the UK market.
Last year, Katopé’s Springfield Farm gained Fairtrade certification for lychees and this farm will provide the continuation of Asda’s Fairtrade offer, following on from the Mozambique season.
Being able to offer Fairtrade fresh produce year-round will enhance the deal, believes Chappell. “There’s a genuine commitment and understanding from UK consumers for Fairtrade products and one of the biggest opportunities for producers is being able to offer a continuity of supply,” he says.
He says Malet Azoulay is able to offer year-round supplies of Fairtrade pineapples and mangoes, while avocados and oranges are recent additions to that list.
Chappell believes the two major challenges for the Fairtrade sector are satisfying consumer demand and meeting the cost of sustainable production.
He further notes that it takes time for producers to achieve accreditation and that it is important not to put off potential customers by charging way over the odds.
“It’s a fine balancing act,” Chappell says. “A 20p differential is probably the maximum consumers will pay.”
Fairtrade fruit pioneer AgroFair UK has been busy over the last year, adding new citrus and pineapple producers to its stable. It has also scored some successes and according to the company has solidified its position as market leader in pineapples by increasing sales to UK supermarkets by 50 per cent.
Recent additions to AgroFair’s growers include citrus farmers from Morocco, South Africa and Argentina, which produce Fairtrade oranges and easy peelers. The fruit is available under AgroFair’s Oké brand.
“We are delighted with these additions to our Fairtrade fruitbowl,” says AgroFair commercial manager Clive Marriott. “Quality has been high and the fruit has been very well received.”
Since January, Fairtrade oranges, clementines and nours from Morocco have been sold in Asda stores nationwide, through Malet Azoulay.
“The successful introduction of Moroccan citrus further enhances Asda’s Fairtrade offer and endorses our commitment to growers and their communities,” says Lee Harper, Asda fruit buyer.
Fruit from Morocco is available from December to July. Together with AgroFair’s other citrus sources, the company claims that this has helped to establish the first year-round supply of Fairtrade oranges from one importer.
In Morocco, citrus is produced over 750 hectares organised into four farms in the south-west of the country. Farmers are EurepGAP-certified and environmental concerns are of great importance. An integrated pest management system has been established to keep pesticide use to a minimum.
Around 90 per cent of Morocco’s arable farming depends on rainfall alone for its water supply and even in areas with rain showers, there is a shortage of water. The Fairtrade citrus growers use an irrigation system which guarantees efficient water usage.
It is hoped that in the future a creche will be built for the workers’ children. The workers are also anxious for a health clinic to be built; currently a doctor visits the farms only once a week.
Meanwhile, pineapples are an important fruit line for AgroFair and most of its Fairtrade pineapples are sourced from the Asoproagroín association of pineapple growers in northern Costa Rica. The number of farmers there has risen from 47 to 138 since the end of 2002 and a new packing station has recently been purchased. Planning permission has also been granted for forced cooling and cold storage facilities to be added later this year.
Asoproagroín, through AgroFair, supplied the world’s first Fairtrade pineapples and the UK is a very important market for the co-operative. AgroFair also sources pineapples from Eloc Farms in Ghana. Here, MD2 supersweet pineapples are produced, as well as the more traditional Smooth Cayenne varieties.
Eloc Farms, which covers 900 acres in total, are Fairtrade and EurepGAP-certified. The business was established by James Cole.
“We are delighted this year to welcome a second high-quality pineapple producer into AgroFair’s growing family of farmers, along with the citrus growers,” Marriott says. “After two years all of these producer groups will become shareholders in AgroFair, in the same way as the rest of our farmers. The producers are represented on AgroFair’s board and at annual shareholders’ meetings and receive a share of all profits not reinvested in the company for expansion.”
Furthermore, AgroFair continues to supply Fairtrade bananas from Volta River Estates Ltd (VREL), a Fairtrade banana plantation based in south west Ghana, to Co-op stores nationwide.
AgroFair introduced the first Fairtrade fresh fruit to the UK in 2000 when it imported bananas. This was followed by mangoes and pineapples in 2002. The company is owned by fruit growers in Africa and Latin America and by development organisations including Twin in the UK, which helped to establish Café Direct and the Day Chocolate Company.
One of the newer Fairtrade suppliers is Organic Farm Foods (OFF) which introduced its Fairtrade fresh produce to UK shores in 2004. The company imports green beans from Egypt, seedless grapes from South Africa and Egypt and oranges from South Africa and Egypt. It is also looking at other Fairtrade supply sources and plans to add other products to its portfolio in the future.
“We had a very successful grape season in South Africa working with our two suppliers,” says OFF’s chairman Peter Segger, adding that fruit was sold to the Co-op and Sainsbury’s.
On the citrus front, Segger claims that OFF’s volumes continue seamlessly from Egypt to South Africa. The company works with one South African citrus producer and has done so for the past four to five years. “Our Citrusdal-based grower has radically transformed his old orchard,” Segger says. “New quantities of trees have been planted. It’s an inspiring operation.”
In Egypt, OFF has been involved with the Sekem project for more than 20 years. According to Segger, it was the first Egyptian company to achieve Fairtrade certification and is planning to increase its fruit sendings to the UK and Continental Europe.
“Sekem is a holistic project and its objective is to improve the quality of food produced in Egypt and restore the quality of the land,” Segger explains. “It has also created a social component to its operations, building kindergartens, schools, high schools and a hospital.”
Some consumers believe that Fairtrade and organic practices go hand in hand but observers are keen to stress that this is not necessarily the case.
“There’s the assumption that Fairtrade goods are environmentally and responsibly produced and that organic goods are produced under socially just conditions but that isn’t always true,” Segger says.
“However, the exciting thing is that more Fairtrade regulations are becoming more environmentally aware and organic producers are becoming more involved with social justice. In my experience organic producers are usually very well-informed, well-educated and environmentally aware.”
FAIRTRADE FLOWER POWER
When it comes to Fairtrade goods, most consumers tend to think of fruit, tea and coffee. However, Sunking Flowers hopes that Fairtrade flowers will also work their way into the consumer psyche.
The company currently imports Fairtrade roses from Ghana and is keen to expand its range.
“We had a stand at the Spring Florist Show in Birmingham and I was amazed by the amount of florists that did not understand fully what Fairtrade was all about,” says Kay Clow, technical manager.
She notes that there isn’t much difference between conventional and Fairtrade flowers in terms of shelf life, although volumes are lower.
However, Clow insists that the money raised growing Fairtrade flowers makes a real difference to communities. “I have been over to Africa and have seen for myself the difference it makes,” she says.
“I think we need someone in the Fairtrade workforce who can drive flowers to the forefront. Most people know about coffee etc, but not about Fairtrade flowers. I think opportunities in the UK could be very good and education about Fairtrade is what’s needed.”
UTOPIA PONDERS FAIRTRADE OFFER
Utopia imports Fairtrade pineapples from Costa Rica and is looking to extend its range further, according to Lucy Crawford, Utopia’s organic and Fairtrade procurement manager.
“We began handling Fairtrade products about two years ago and we would like to add mango but it is all dictated by the supermarkets - they may or may not choose you to supply their Fairtrade produce,” she explains.
Similarly to other firms, Utopia notes a high level of consumer interest in Fairtrade goods. However, Crawford acknowledges that it is more difficult to manage quality, traceability and due diligence with small grower co-operatives.
“We also believe it should be possible to reduce costs in the supply chain without affecting returns to growers,” she says.
