A fair trade certified pure vanilla is due to hit the US market, as
a collaboration between flavor firm David Michael and fair trade
certifier TransFair USA taps into the growing consumer interest in
social responsibility.
Global sales in fairtrade products have increased 37 per cent to
€1.1bn (£758m) in the last year, as leading supermarket chains
switch sourcing policies to tap the growing consumer trend for
ethically produced goods.
Marks & Spencer has announced it is converting all its coffee
and tea to Fairtrade, a decision that again underlines the growing
significance of the ethical consumer.
Consumers are demanding more fair trade food products than ever
before, but can the food industry adapt its free market sourcing
policies in time to maintain brand respect?
Marks and Spencers and Sainsburys are sending senior managers on a
new training course that promises to teach mainstream business
leaders about the ethics of product sourcing in a bid to improve
supply chain relations.
Food companies do not yet face the ethical sourcing equation of the
clothing industry, where brands from Nike to Marks & Spencer
cannot afford a single claim of sweat-shop production. But the
moment is fast approaching for food,...
International coffee roaster Douwe Egberts is set to follow
Nestlé's lead by launching an ethical coffee brand in the UK in
order to tap into the country's lucrative ethical consumer trend.
Nestlé, the world's largest direct coffee buyer, will launch its
first certified fair trade brand across the UK this month as
consumers place ever more importance on ethical shopping.
Leading merchant of cocoa, sugar and coffee ED&F Man has
launched Corigins, a US-based supplier offering traceable, quality
sugar and cocoa ingredients, Philippa Nuttall reports.
Sales of food and drink products carrying the Fairtrade mark in the
UK reached £140 million in 2004, more than 50 per cent more than in
the year before, but this year's Fairtrade Fortnight will seek to
push this figure higher...
Cafédirect, the UK's largest supplier of ethical tea and coffee
under the Fairtrade mark, has reported record sales for the year to
end March - a performance which confirms the growing importance of
ethical food and drink products...
Commodities from fair trade sources will play a key role in future
growth for food manufacturers, with a new report finding the vast
majority of British consumers are influenced by ethical issues when
they buy food products. Genetically...
The next two weeks have been designated Fairtrade Fortnight in the
UK, and retailers across the country will be promoting their ranges
of ethical products in a bid to increase consumer awareness.
Fairtrade mangoes from Burkina Faso, Mexico and Equador have been
given a major distribution boost in the UK this week, with the
announcement that the two leading supermarket groups, Tesco and
Sainsbury's, are to add them to...
After Fairtrade bananas, mangoes and chocolate, the UK's Co-op
retail chain has now introduced the world's first Fairtrade
pineapples, offering a fair deal and better working conditions for
growers in Costa Rica.