15 Fairtrade Facts

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Celebrations: The FAIRTRADE Mark is 15 years old this month.
Off the shelf: The first three Fairtrade products appeared on shop shelves in 1994 - now more than 4,500 products have been licensed to carry the FAIRTRADE Mark, including sugar, grapes, mangoes, avocados, dried fruit, cakes, jams, rice, herbs & spices, wines, beers, ice-cream, flowers, sports balls, clothing, homeware, Palestinian olive oil and cosmetics.
Spending the premium: The Fairtrade premium - an additional sum for community development - is used by farmers’ groups for many community projects, for example, building schools and medical clinics, providing clean drinking water and to pilot organic conversion schemes to help farmers work for the future.
Recognition: A massive 72% of the UK public now recognise the FAIRTRADE Mark (TNS September 2009).
Fairer future: More than 7 million people in Africa, Asia and Latin America benefit from Fairtrade - farmers, farm workers, and their families.
Good business: Growers are at the heart of the Cafédirect business, have shares in the company, sit on the Board and are part of the decision-making process.
Do the maths: If 15 people recruit 15 friends and relatives to the Fairtrade movement this month, and then they each recruited 15 people - and then they each recruited 15 people - that would make a fantastic 50,625 new Fairtrade supporters.
Time for tea: The first tea products on the shelves carrying the FAIRTRADE Mark were Clipper Sri Lanka Golden, Clipper Nilgiri Blue Mountain and Clipper Earl Grey Nilgiri.
Top towns: The first town to achieve Fairtrade status was Garstang in 2000 – it has since been joined by more than 450 other towns. There are also 100 Fairtrade Universities, 3,000 schools, more than 5,000 Fairtrade Churches, 40 Fairtrade Synagogues and one Mosque.
Global appeal: In 1994, the first Fairtrade certified products came from Belize, India and Costa Rica – now Fairtrade products come from 58 developing countries all around the world.
Chocoholic: One of the first Fairtrade certified producers, cocoa farmer Justino Peck, from Toledo Cacao Growers Association, a farmers’ cooperative in southern Belize, still sells his Fairtrade cocoa to Green & Black’s, who use it in their Maya Gold chocolate.
Going bananas: Since launching in 2000, Fairtrade bananas now account for 1 in 4 bananas sold in the UK.
Family matters: Consumers are spending more on Fairtrade with the average purchase of Fairtrade goods increasing by 5.5% this year. Sales of Fairtrade are also increasing and reached an estimated £700m in 2008, a 43% increase on the previous year.
Looking ahead: Fairtrade Fortnight 2010 will be held from 22 February –7 March, and is expected to be the biggest celebration of Fairtrade so far.
Fantastic fabric: Since the introduction of Fairtrade certified cotton in 2005, annual sales have risen from a humble 200,000 to a marvellous 7.79 million in 2008.