Agrofair kicked off the 10-year anniversary of Fairtrade fruit imports to Europe, this week, with the announcement of record sales.
Europe’s foremost Fairtrade fruit importer, Agrofair reported early figures indicate turnover is likely to top €60 million (£41m) for 2006, up from €21m (£14m) in 2000.
The international Fairtrade Labelling Organisation (FLO) also revealed global sales of all Fairtrade-certified products reached €1.1bn last year, while UK Fairtrade sales topped £195m - a 40 per cent rise from 2004.
Director of Agrofair UK, Duncan White, told FPJ such performance figures and the achievement of 10 years of Fairtrade were a testament to the popularity of the concept.
“The consumer pull is obviously there and it is the job of Agrofair, and the other companies that have sprung up like us, to develop the means to make Fairtrade fruit supply happen,” he said.
Fairtrade is about bringing to the fore the recognition of the part played by people in fruit production, said Jeroen Kroezen, general manager of Agrofair Europe BV, which is 50 per cent grower-owned. “It is not just buying a product, but buying something from somebody. Agrofair gives growers a face, trying to break the anonymity which is so characteristic of commodities.”
Fairtrade partnerships have helped to create a stable trading environment for producers, he added, describing his experience of setting up a co-operative of banana growers in Ecuador.
Kroezen said: “[The banana growers] depended completely on the middleman and didn’t know where their bananas were going. There was no stability from week to week. This was the first time growers took the fruit in their hands and organised themselves.”
The first fresh produce item in the Fairtrade basket, bananas have penetrated the market most successfully, with FLO announcing a 29 per cent rise in global sales to 103,877 tonnes in 2005.
The anniversary celebrations began at a breakfast gathering on Tuesday, in London’s Borough Market, attended by celebrity Fairtrade supporters TV presenter Linda Barker, comedian Harry Hill and his brother, Rodney Hall.
Guests also heard first-hand stories from two pineapple growers with Asoproagroín, a co-operative in Costa Rica, who described how they have benefited from association with Fairtrade.
Ballardo Vargas said the co-operative has spent its Fairtrade premium on providing desks and computers to schoolchildren, and road repairs that will enable better transportation of its fruit between the farms and processing facilities.
Fellow producer Roberto Ugalde added that working with Agrofair has changed life for him and his family in many ways.
He said: “Before, many of the producers in our co-operative had debts. Since starting in Fairtrade we have been able to improve the food we can buy, improve houses, send our children to school and invest in our farms and really make changes for our production.”
No comments yet