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Annual Fairtrade sales up 81 per cent to £493 million

25/02/2008

Fairtrade products enjoyed an 81 per cent sales boost to £493 million in Britain during 2007, figures showed on Monday.

According to the Fairtrade Foundation, the annual data means Fairtrade sales have increased by 40 per cent year-on-year since 2002.

Released to coincide with the beginning of Fairtrade Fortnight, the figures put banana sales alone at £150 million – a yearly increase of 130 per cent.

This means one in four bananas sold in the UK are Fairtrade, while coffee and tea sales were both up 24 per cent.

Over the weekend, Tate & Lyle said it would switch its entire retail cane sugar range to Fairtrade by the end of the decade.

The sugar manufacturer's announcement and confirmation that real volumes of Fairtrade produce have doubled over the past year were hailed as "fantastic" news by Harriet Lamb, executive director of the Fairtrade Foundation.

"After years of chipping away, Fairtrade supporters are finally beginning to make some significant impression on the way companies trade," she claimed.

"Increasing numbers of people in the UK are buying Fairtrade goods as a practical action everyone can take to help tackle poverty in the developing world."

But Ms Lamb cautioned that "the pace of change must quicken".

"The scale and level of poverty worldwide demands that we all urgently play our part to scale up Fairtrade," she continued.

"That means more companies offering more Fairtrade products and the public putting those Fairtrade goods in their shopping baskets.

"The Fairtrade Foundation itself is determined to open up more opportunities for more growers worldwide."