Due to informality, lack of contracts, lack of unionisation and low awareness of workers’ rights, many banana workers do not earn a living wage. A range of UK retailers, including Sainbsury’s, aim to challenge this.
Global organisation Fairtrade is working to ensure farmers receive just and equitable working conditions. A new campaign, led by two jurisdictions, is reasserting these efforts.
Sales of organic and Fairtrade certified products continued to shine in 2020 as concerns over the climate impact of food production and the COVID-19 crisis put ethical consumerism in the spotlight.
UK start-up Fellow Creatures has developed a plant-based chocolate its founder says is a far cry from the ‘sickly sweet’ vegan offerings currently on-shelf.
Fairtrade International has announced sales of Fairtrade certified cocoa from Côte d’Ivoire in the fourth quarter of 2019 increased farmers’ earnings by approximately $15.1m compared to non-Fairtrade cocoa.
Fair trade standards should become watchdogs instead of the benchmark for sustainability, argues the recently appointed head of sustainable commodities NGO Solidaridad.
Almost 230,00 cocoa farmers to benefit from Fairtrade’s new version of its main standard for small-scale farmers, making them more resilient to market prices and climate change.
Not only is Fairafric the first organic chocolate bar that is manufactured and packed in Ghana, it has begun making its cocoa farmers brand co-owners by buying them shares in the company.
Farmer organizations will be guaranteed a higher price for cocoa sales on Fairtrade terms, as part of foundation’s strategy towards enabling living incomes it said. Changes will come into effect October 2019.
Fairtrade International’s cocoa beans have seen the highest growth in sales during 2016-2017 compared to its other certified goods, including coffee, sugar and tea. However, most West African cocoa farmers still do not earn a living income.
Ethical start-up Aduna's range of herbal teas with baobab and moringa is aiming to take the superfoods to the mass market. "That's where the real impact is going to happen," the CEO tells us.
Almost half of shoppers in the UK are discouraged from buying ethical food because of its price – but the Fairtrade Foundation insists fairtrade products offer “something for everybody”.
Sales of Fairtrade products continue to grow in Europe. But certain companies and retailers are abandoning the mark in favour of internal programmes. Is certification still relevant?
UK supermarket Sainsbury’s, the world’s biggest retailer of Fairtrade goods, has launched its own sustainable sourcing programme for more than 35 key commodities and ingredients. Campaigners, farmers and some manufacturers have cried foul, but are they...
The Fairtrade Foundation has launched a new, hard hitting marketing strategy following research showing that 23% of UK consumers “never think about who produces their food and drink”.
The value of UK Fairtrade sales dropped by €127m last year due to falling demand for cane sugar but the Fairtrade Foundation says it is remaining cautiously optimistic for 2016 as sales of Fairtrade coffee, cocoa, tea and wine all grew.
Shoppers and supermarkets are falling back in love with organic, but this is as much down to innovation and marketing as it is a lifting of the economic storm clouds, say analysts.
The German Fairtrade market is the most dynamic globally, as growth in certified products spiked by more than a quarter in the past year, says TransFair chief Dieter Overath.
Fairtrade International has said the number of farmers and workers benefitting from the system increased by 13% in 2011 as the food and drink industry continues to pledge its support, according to a new report.
Food ingredients and chemicals firm IMCD Benelux has partnered with Tate & Lyle Sugars to supply specialty cane sugar ingredients in Benelux, Germany and Poland.
Fairtrade product sales rose 12% worldwide in 2011 due to ethical sourcing commitments from the food and drink industry and increased consumer awareness.
Mars has announced that Maltesers will be its first brand to carry the Fairtrade mark from June 2012, the commitment follows similar moves from Cadbury and Nestle.
The conversion of Green & Black’s whole range and Ben and Jerry’s ingredients to Fairtrade this year could influence other companies to roll out further products under the label, said the Fairtrade Foundation as it announced its first £1bn in UK retail...
A new minimum price for Fairtrade organic cocoa, which comes into force early next year, will act as an income safety net for growers amid ongoing price volatility in the sector, according to the organization behind the standard.
There is enough volume of Fairtrade cocoa available to supply more large brands switching product lines to Fairtrade, according to the Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO).
Around 1.2 million farmers and workers around the world are estimated to have benefited from Fairtrade certification and labelling schemes in 2009, says FLO, with coffee still the largest category.
Sales of Fairtrade certified products increased 15 per cent in 2009, according to the global Fairtrade body, Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO).
UK consumers have a great desire to learn about conditions for food producers in poor countries, a new survey indicates, which food manufacturers can satisfy by flagging up their ethical sourcing efforts.
Consumers don’t just expect companies to do no harm in communities they source from, but to actually contribute to development, a major international survey commissioned by FLO International indicates – and they appear to be sticking by their principles...
Cadbury’s commitment to source cocoa for its popular Dairy Milk chocolate bars is a strong signal that responsible sourcing is moving out of a niche and into the mainstream, and will introduce more consumers to the principal.
While most consumers agree that ethically-sourced cocoa is no bad
thing, an ever increasing number of different schemes risks
muddying the issue and puzzling chocolate fans.
Sainsbury's announced this week that it will convert banana stocks
to 100 per cent Fairtrade, in a move that will have a significant
impact on growers and other retailers.
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.
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...
After a highly successful Fairtrade Fortnight earlier this year,
Britain's number two food retailer Asda is to increase the number
of ethical products on its shelves - further evidence of the
popularity, and profitability, of...
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...
