3 March, 2011

Sales of Fairtrade products soared by 40 per cent in 2010 to an estimated retail value of £1.17bn, the Fairtrade Foundation has announced this Fairtrade Fortnight.

The figures show that every day in the UK, people are drinking 9.3 million cups of Fairtrade tea, 6.4 million cups of Fairtrade coffee, 2.3 million Fairtrade chocolate bars and 3.1 million Fairtrade bananas.

Encouragingly, it seems shoppers are continuing to embrace Fairtrade, showing no downturn on ethical values despite the tough economic times. In 2009, Fairtrade had a retail value of £836 million – £334 million less than current levels.

Harriet Lamb, executive director of the Fairtrade Foundation, said: “It’s fantastic to break the £1 billion mark. Fairtrade is going from strength to strength because the public want it, it makes business sense and, most importantly, it’s working for the millions of farmers, workers and their families who see Fairtrade as their lifeline in these tough times.

“They’ll be cheering to know that UK shoppers and businesses still care. The challenges of global poverty and inequality are more serious than ever, especially for the farmers who grow the coffee, tea, bananas, rice or cotton on which we depend here in the UK.”

Ms Lamb said that sales of Fairtrade products could double to around £2 billion by the end of 2012, as the extension of the Fairtrade range into new areas such as cosmetics opens up new opportunities for even more producers.