Consumers in the UK are now purchasing around £300 million worth of Fairtrade goods each year, claimed campaigners.
The Fairtrade Foundation announced that sales in 2006 had reached an estimated £290 million, a huge 46 per cent increase on the previous year, and 2007 sales have already reached an annual rate of at least £300 million.
However the Foundation, which licenses products to carry the Fairtrade mark in Britain, said changes need to be sped up in order to help millions of the world’s poorest farmers.
Fairtrade products help by guaranteeing a set minimum price for producers, as well as a social premium.
The government and local businesses are being urged to help take the lead in the way producers are being treated. The Fairtrade Foundation has also sent a message out communities, individuals, universities, and schools to help out by purchasing more Fairtrade products.
Harriet Lamb, executive director at The Fairtrade Foundation said, “Fairtrade has achieved a paradigm shift that has popularised the link with the farmers who grow the food on our tables that puts people, the producers and consumers, at the centre of trade, and is redefining what is acceptable behaviour for us all, from consumers to businesses to governments.”
“Fairtrade is a powerful idea showing that you can and should manage markets for social and development goals. The challenge now is to capitalise on the current momentum and take Fairtrade to the next level,” Mr Lamb added.
There are currently 2,500 product lines that carry the Fairtrade mark in supermarkets across the UK, ranging from baby food and yoghurt, to flowers, footballs, and bananas.
The major UK supermarkets have announced the sale of more Fairtrade products, with both Sainsbury’s and Waitrose revealing that all of its bananas will now carry the Fairtrade logo . Waitrose has also promised to double its sales of Fairtrade products this year.
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