Taking place from 27 February to 12 March, Fairtrade Fortnight is an annual event is designed to highlight the importance of Fairtrade and shine a light on the communities that grow some of our favourite produce in the UK, such as bananas, chocolate and coffee beans.
This year, the Fairtrade Foundation is highlighting the extra challenges brought about by climate change, as well as the effects of the global pandemic over the two-week period.
“For farmers in global supply chains, climate change isn’t coming down the pipeline, it’s happening right now,” the Fairtrade Foundation partnerships director Kerrina Thorogood told Grocery Gazette last week.
“The Fairtrade foundation helps farmers and workers “improve their living standards, invest in their own business and local community, and protect their shared environment,” Thorogood added.
So what exactly are the major retailers that sell Fairtrade products doing for the event over the next week? We take a look…
Subscribe to Grocery Gazette for free
Sign up here to get the latest grocery and food news each morning
Co-op
The Co-op’s commitment to Fairtrade runs across seven core categories – including Co-op’s Honest Value range – 100% of Co-op’s tea, coffee, bananas, chocolate, bagged sugar and African roses are Fairtrade and Co-op is the biggest seller of Fairtrade wine in the world.
In 2022, the retailer’s range of Fairtrade products increased by 20% vs 2021. This figure includes both branded and own-label lines and Co-op’s Fairly Traded charcoal. It also continued to overtrade on Fairtrade, as the Co-op’s Fairtrade market share among UK convenience stores was 84.1 (compared to 59.2% convenience market share).
“Fairtrade is core to Co-op’s brand fundamentals and we’re proud to be able to deliver value with values in many of our everyday lines,” senior sustainable sourcing and international development manager at Co-op, Emily Pearce said.
She added: “Co-op’s Honest Value range includes several Fairtrade items like tea and coffee, while all our own-label wines are Fairtrade too. Similarly, our bananas will always be Fairtrade and our bagged sugar the same.”
For the two-week event, The Central Co-op launched a new range of wines in celebration of Fairtrade Fortnight and is offering members 20% off the new selection of Fairtrade wines.
M&S
In 2006, M&S became the first retailer to commit to 100% Fairtrade tea and coffee and according to the retailer, it sells more own-label Fairtrade tea and coffee than any other UK retailer. Alongside this, M&S also offer customers a range of Fairtrade wine, jams, bananas and chocolate across our Foodhalls.
“In 2021, we contributed more than £1.7m in Fairtrade Premium and to mark Fairtrade Fortnight, we are championing Fairtrade products in-store and across our cafes, raising awareness on social media and celebrating the remarkable growers across Fairtrade certified cooperatives that supply M&S,” ambient trading director at M&S, Lizzy Massey said.
She added: “We have longstanding relationships with our trusted supplier partners and are committed to paying a fair price.”
Massey continued saying that each time their customers purchase a Fairtrade product, growers earn the Fairtrade Premium and have the “power to invest in projects of their choice, from schools to clean water and gender equality projects, as well as measures to help address climate change,” she said.
“This funding is a valuable tool in helping communities on the frontline of the climate emergency sustain their way of life and protect their source of income.”
Waitrose
As one of the leading retailers for Fairtrade, the fortnight is a high priority for Waitrose. With a range of themed marketing activities across its social media channels, it has released recipes using Fairtrade ingredients and even published articles on Fairtrade in its magazine Waitrose Weekend.
“Fairtrade is essential to the work we do at the partnership,” sustainability and ethics specialist at the John Lewis Partnership, Chloe Rotureau says.
She added: “Buying and supplying Fairtrade products enable us to achieve a few important objectives from our ethics and sustainability strategy, especially with respect to protecting the rights of people in our supply chain, protecting and enhancing nature, and guaranteeing a fair deal for producers.”
Fairtrade products provide better deals for farmers and workers who are fairly remunerated for their crop through the certification scheme, and “enable social and environmental measures to be put in place to address important issues such as deforestation and labour rights”.
“The Fairtrade premium, which is paid on top of the Fairtrade minimum price, supports farming communities to invest in projects that improve their lives in areas like education, health, and infrastructure,” she continues.
Rotureau also says Waitrose suppliers are as committed to delivering a positive impact to the communities they source from. “Only through such a collaboration throughout our supply chains can we protect the future of our food,” she added.
“By providing additional income to farmers through minimum price and premium, farmers can invest more sustainably in their farms without needing to negatively impact the environment (resorting to deforestation to grow more for instance).
“Environmental standards and good practices are also promoted with Fairtrade, which help farmers and their communities grow in a more sustainable way with respect to nature and biodiversity (promoting soil health, use of natural/organic pesticides).”
In general, all certification labels provide “due diligence” and assurance that a product has been traded and manufactured in a sustainable manner.
“The Rainforest Alliance is a good example of one that has a strong focus on protecting the environment whilst promoting sustainable land management practices.”
Sainsbury’s
Sainsbury’s is supporting Fairtrade Fortnight by showcasing a range of products at Fairtrade pop-up event, The Endangered Aisle.
Some of the products featured at the event included Sainsbury’s Fairtrade Kenyan coffee (Taste the Difference), Earl Grey decaff tea bags x50 (Taste the Difference), Fairtrade cane sugar (SO Organic), Morador malbec (Taste the Difference), Fairtrade bananas x6, and Fairtrade cashew nuts and peanuts.
It forms part of its ongoing commitment to Fairtrade countries, which sees farmers and producers earn fair wages and helps tackle the impact of climate change.
