The Fairtrade Foundation has announced that estimated retail sales of Fairtrade products in 2013 reached £1.78 billion, a 14% increase on sales of £1.53 billion in 2012. Sales of Fairtrade sugar continued to rise with a 25% growth in volume, led partly by sales of the Tate & Lyle Fairtrade sugar brand and retailers’ own label Fairtrade sugar. But the rise in Fairtrade sugar sales was fuelled further still by the inclusion of Fairtrade sugar in products such as chocolate bars, ice cream and other products. Chocolate, cocoa and bananas grew by 52%, 5% and 4% in sales value respectively whereas coffee and tea sales have continued to hold steady.
In 2013, purchases of Fairtrade products in the UK were equivalent to:
• 2.29 billion cups of Fairtrade coffee
• 3.27 billion cups of Fairtrade tea
• 1.42 billion bananas
Other notable growth areas are fresh vegetables at 316% up over 2013. This is due to increased conversions of product ranges such as Kenyan green beans to Fairtrade, providing greater in-store visibility and purchase. Wine has also grown by 15% for the second consecutive year thanks to the introduction of superior quality ranges.
The announcement was made on the day that the Fairtrade Foundation launcheds Fairtrade Fortnight (24 February – 9 March) in the UK, together with its major new Make Bananas Fair campaign.
“It’s 20 years since the very first Fairtrade products Green & Black’s Maya Gold, Cafedirect Coffee and Clipper Tea, appeared in the UK, and the appetite for Fairtrade is still growing, despite challenging economic conditions,” said Michael Gidney, chief executive of the Fairtrade Foundation. “The UK is truly a world leader for Fairtrade and we’re proud of that. “
“But there is still a very long way to go in securing the levels of market access that would drive the breadth and depth of impact for farmers and workers we all want to see, so work in 2014 will continue to focus on innovating the way we work and campaigning to make even more trade fair.’
