Tesco, which sells in excess of 500,000 of the bananas each week, says that sales of its Fairtrade line are so good that citizens of Dominica, from where the fruit is sourced, will benefit by hundreds of thousands of pounds.

David Williams, banana buyer for the store, commented: 'It is still early days but the popularity of Fairtrade bananas is way beyond all our expectations and forecasts and the outlook is for further growth in sales. Bananas play a central role in the economy of the entire region, and Tesco is determined to do all it can to help this vital industry flourish.' The fruit is supplied to Tesco by Windwards Bananas, and managing director Bernard Cornibert added: 'Fairtrade bananas are going from strength to strength which is great news for the farmers of Dominica. We are particularly pleased with the response from Tesco and the demonstration of their commitment to the banana growers of Dominica.' Meanwhile, Sainsbury's will be stocking organic bananas from the Windward Islands from May. Grown on a former sugar plantation in Grenada, the store - which has sold Fairtrade Windward Islands bananas since July 2000 - says the fruit will be the first organic product to be grown on the island and will be exclusive to Sainsbury's.

The store's banana buyer Marcus Hoggarth said: 'Sales of Fairtrade bananas have soared since we started selling them in 2000. We are still seeing a 40 per cent increase year-on-year and we expect good sales for Organic Windward bananas too.' He added: 'There's a very loyal organic customer base and an emerging Fairtrade following, so we're working on establishing both bases. There's a been a lot of growth in Fairtrade, whereas organics have become a more mature category now.' Since arriving in the store three years ago, more than 10 million packs of Fairtrade bananas have been sold by Sainsbury's, which sells over 800,000 of the crop each week.

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