Sales of Fairtrade products are on the up and the UK is setting the pace with bananas.
The fruit has one of the highest sales volumes of any Fairtrade line and in 2008 saw sales rise by a further 28 per cent on 2007 levels, to 300,000 tonnes.
Overall sales of Fairtrade products in the UK climbed 43 per cent in this period, making it by far the largest market for Fairtrade products globally.
The figures, prepared by the Fairtrade Foundation, show that the UK accounted for 190,000t of the total 300,000t of bananas.
The Fairtrade market for other fresh fruit, however, appears to be stagnating and the foundation’s figures show just a one per cent increase with the UK as the principal market, taking 16,563t of the total 26,424t marketed globally across lines such as mangoes, citrus, pineapple and grapes.
The figures have been unveiled to coincide with World Trade Week, which ends today and is being run by the government’s trade policy unit. Its aim is to help ensure trade continues to contribute to poverty reduction.
Fairtrade Foundation executive director Harriet Lamb told FPJ: “During this first World Trade Week UK, organised by the British government, the Fairtrade Foundation is calling on businesses to extend the scope and range of Fairtrade products they sell and to invest in smallholders in their supply chains to build long-term and sustainable relationships. Everyone in businesses can do their bit to increase Fairtrade markets, and this needs to be matched by a concerted effort by governments and international institutions to shore up agricultural support systems so that small farmers can invest in their land and build their trading capacity.”
The foundation revealed that global sales of Fairtrade products grew by 22 per cent last year, when consumers spent €2.9 billion (£2.49bn) on Fairtrade products.
