Fairtrade Rice Comes To The UK

The first rice to be certified by the Fairtrade Foundation is being launched in Tesco supermarkets this week. The basmati rice is grown by smallholder farmers in the foothills of the Himalayas in North India. It will be marketed by Community Foods Ltd in their ‘Crazy Jack’ range and from this week can be found in the organic sections of 150 Tesco stores across the country.

Rice is one of the world’s most important agricultural commodities and one of the most significant for farmers in developing countries. The Fairtrade Foundation is especially delighted that the Fairtrade certified rice is now available in the UK.

The white rice, whose packet name is Organic Fairtrade Himalayan Basmati, is available in 500g packs. It is grown by a farmers’ federation in the Khaddar area of the Uttaranchal state of North India which is famous for the production of high quality basmati rice. Individual farmers traditionally sell to agents at the local market rather than developing relationships with export companies. This means they receive low prices which do not cover their costs of production and so they are unable to repay the loans they need for seeds, fertilizer and other agricultural inputs.

The Khaddar Farmers’ Federation was established in 2001in partnership with rice exporter Sunstar Overseas Ltd. Its aim was to develop a strong organisation which would negotiate higher prices with buyers and help growers access new markets and improve their communities.

The Khaddar Farmers’ Federation now includes 572 rice growers and is one of three farmers’ groups in India to be certified to supply rice to the Fairtrade market. The Fairtrade minimum guaranteed price for Basmati rice from India is €243 a tonne plus €30 Fairtrade social premium and €20 organic premium. The social premium is for investing in business, social or environmental projects agreed by a committee of elected representatives.

The federation has been supplying rice carrying the FAIRTRADE Mark to Switzerland and France since 2003 and the additional premium it has received from these sales has enabled the farmers to start making improvements to local schools, roads and other infrastructure.

With the additional premium from sales to the UK Fairtrade market, the federation plans to construct a number of small bridges and roads to villages that are inaccessible during heavy monsoon rains. It also hopes to set up a revolving soft loans fund so that members can take out loans at affordable rate for seeds and other farming costs, as well as family expenses such as education, healthcare, weddings and festival celebrations.

“We are delighted to add Fairtrade rice to the expanding portfolio of Fairtrade products,” says Harriet Lamb, Director of the Fairtrade Foundation, who visited rice growers in India last year. “It is especially exciting for us to extend the benefits of Fairtrade to farmers of a new commodity. Growing rice is backbreaking work and Fairtrade gives the only independent guarantee of a fair reward in return.”

The introduction of Fairtrade rice comes just days after the Fairtrade Foundation welcomed new figures from MORI (Marketing and Opinion Research International) which revealed that one in every two adults in the UK now recognises the FAIRTRADE Mark. The survey, conducted in May 2005, shows that 50% of the adult population can identify the certification mark, up from 25% in 2003 and 39% in 2004.


For further information please contact:
Eileen Maybin on 020 7440 7686, mobile 07770 957451 (eileen.maybin@fairtrade.org.uk) or Margaret Rooke on 020 7440 7695 (media@fairtrade.org.uk).

Notes to Editors
• Community Foods Ltd was launched nearly 30 years ago and was one of the UK’s first health food companies. The Crazy Jack brand includes a wide range of dried fruits, nuts, seeds, beans, oats, sugar, herbs and spices as well as rice (long grain, brown, short grain, easy cook, fragrant, risotto, wild).
• The Khaddar Farmers’ Federation has a total of 1,032.1 hectares under rice cultivation, producing 2,435.4 tonnes of certified organic basmati rice a year. The average farm size is 1.34 hectares (3.3 acres) with rice grown on 0.74 hectares (1.8 acres). Average production per farmer is 1,662kg a year. The Federation has been certified by Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International, of which the Fairtrade Foundation is the UK representative.
• UK shoppers can now choose from more than 900 products from more than 150 companies, including coffee, tea, cocoa, chocolate, snacks and biscuits, sugar, honey, fruit juice and fresh fruit as well as rice.
• Sales of products carrying the FAIRTRADE Mark rose by 51% in 2004 to more than £140m.
• 18% of the UK roast & ground coffee market is now Fairtrade certified as is 3% of overall coffee sales.
• Fairtrade bananas now account for 5% of the total UK banana market.
• The Fairtrade Foundation is a member of the MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY campaign and will be lobbying the G8 summit of richest nations at Gleneagles for better terms of trade for developing countries.

The Fairtrade Foundation, Room 204, 16 Baldwin’s Gardens, London EC1N 7RJ.
Tel: 020 7405 5942 Fax: 020 7405 5943 Web: www.fairtrade.org.uk