The Fairtrade Foundation has launched a new campaign to get top four retailers Asda and Tesco to switch their banana offering to Fairtrade.
Consumers across the country are being encouraged to write to their local Tesco or Asda to ask them to switch to Fairtrade bananas.
Less than one in ten of Asda and Tesco bananas comes with Fairtrade certification, while Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and the Co-operative supply 100 per cent Fairtrade bananas, the Foundation has claimed.
“Asda and Tesco are negotiating their banana contracts right now so it’s important to act quickly,” the organisation said.
“Send a message now and ask them to give assurance that their pricing strategies aren’t damaging farmers and workers by turning their bananas Fairtrade.
“We need to know that farmers and workers aren't paying the price for our cheap bananas.”
But in a blog last week, Giles Bolton, Tesco responsible sourcing director on bananas, claimed that Tesco banana suppliers are paid on average six per cent higher than the Fairtrade minimum price, as a result of direct supply relationships.
“Some of our competitors focus on highlighting the ethical sourcing of a small number of products to create a ‘halo’ effect for their whole brand,” he said.
“But none of them put anything like the same commitment or expert resource into ensuring that every own-label product they buy has been responsibly sourced.
“Nearly half our bananas now come from farms who sell all their produce to Tesco. And with our direct relationships, we have been able to commit with them to ensuring banana workers on these farms will be paid the living wage by 2017,” wrote Bolton.
“This is a commitment that no 'Fairtrade-only' banana retailer, to our knowledge, has been able to make, though we know the Fairtrade movement, of which we are strong supporters in a number of areas, are working on it.”
A spokesperson for Asda said:'Our customers tell us time and again that they want choice and value, which is why we sell a range of bananas including Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, Smartprice and organic all at great prices. We work closely with all our growers and everything we source is fairly traded.'
The Fairtrade Foundation claims research shows that Fairtrade is the “best independent assurance that those who produced them were protected from the pressure of low prices”.
