Fairtrade sales reach £800m despite recession

And that comes against a background of just over 7 in 10 people told YouGov in a poll commissioned by the Fairtrade Foundation saying they cut back on their personal budgets in some way as a result of the recession, such as eating out less. Despite that, 71% (who don't already buy everything they can Fairtrade) of people say they are willing to swap one or more products to Fairtrade over the course of Fairtrade Fortnight, which started yesterday. Harriet Lamb, chief executive of the Fairtrade Foundation, says the global economic downturn made 2009 an incredibly tough year for the world's poor seeking a fair deal for their produce. "It has been felt worst in developing countries, where an estimated 50-90 million more people were thrown into extreme poverty in 2009, according to UN Millennium Development Goal figures. "For millions of growers and their families and communities, Fairtrade was able to make the difference that has helped them survive a difficult year and plan for the future. "It is to the credit of the decent British and Irish public that they do care and, despite the recession, they are still voting with their wallets for fairness and want to change the indignities of an unjust trading system. "These challenging times have been a wake-up call and forward-thinking companies have also been re-evaluating their priorities, seeing sustainability as the way forward for business, building relations with producers and introducing many Fairtrade products in the past year." The Foundation reports that business momentum for Fairtrade continued to grow throughout 2009 fuelling sales growth, with a string of major commitments. Mainstream moves to Fairtrade included Cadbury Dairy Milk, all Starbucks espresso-based coffee, Nestle's four-finger KitKat, Sainsbury's rolling out its commitment to convert all its tea and coffee, Morrison's converting all its roast and ground coffee, Tesco converting Tesco Finest Tea and Tate & Lyle converting its retail sugar. Ben & Jerry's has announced it will be going 100% Fairtrade in the UK and throughout Europe by the end of 2011 and globally by end 2013 – which means that every ingredient they use, from sugar to nuts to cocoa, that can be Fairtrade certified, will be. And last month Green & Black's announced it will switch its entire range of chocolate bars and beverages to 100% Fairtrade by the end of 2011. These moves complement earlier big swaps: All M&S tea, coffee, bagged sugar and conserves are Fairtrade, all own-label beverages at the Co-op are Fairtrade, all bananas sold in Sainsbury's and Waitrose are Fairtrade, all coffee at Pret A Manger, EAT and AMT Coffee is Fairtrade, while pioneering companies such as Cafédirect, Divine Chocolate, Liberation, Traidcraft, Equal Exchange and Bishopston Trading Company apply Fairtrade principles throughout their business. Fairtrade Fortnight 2010 has the theme of 'The Big Swap' to rally people across the UK and Ireland to swap everyday shopping basket items such as tea, coffee, chocolate, cotton tee-shirts, pineapples, bananas, cakes, sugar and a host of other products for Fairtrade ones during the fortnight. Fairtrade Fortnight is the annual nationwide campaign to promote awareness of Fairtrade and encourage people to buy products which carry the Fairtrade Mark in order to help farmers in developing countries. Attending this evening's reception will be around 300 Fairtrade campaigners, retailers, manufacturers, producers, consumers and government ministers. "This extraordinary support for Fairtrade means we are well placed to make an even bigger difference in 2010. We are redoubling our efforts to expand Fairtrade to more producers, enabling them to sell more on Fairtrade terms," says Lamb. For more of Fairtrade Fortnight visit www.fairtrade.org.uk.