Fairtrade Fortnight; Sales Top £140m

UK Fairtrade sales top £140m for 2004 – a 51% rise since 2003
Numbers of Fairtrade certified products rise from 150 in 2003 to 834 today

The relentless roller coaster of fluctuating commodity prices can have the same catastrophic effect on the lives of farmers and workers in the developing world as a natural disaster like a tsunami, the Fairtrade Foundation claims at the beginning of Fairtrade Fortnight (1-13 March). Disastrous troughs in world prices for agricultural goods, alongside the long-term downward price trend, are devastating the lives of families and rural communities as farmers struggle to make a living from their land. The impact may be more gradual, but the spiralling effects of falling prices and loss of income can lead to under-employment, economic and physical hardship, homelessness, forced migration, and life-threatening poverty and disease.

Against this backdrop, Fairtrade is a positive model of trade which is fairer and more sustainable for farmers and has the potential to transform communities. CHECK OUT FAIRTRADE, the theme of Fairtrade Fortnight, is a call to consumers across the UK to find out about the FAIRTRADE Mark - the only independent certification scheme which guarantees a fair deal for farmers in developing countries. In a massive public response to the campaign, around 7500 local and national events are expected to take place during the two-week promotion, which also encourages the public to take Fairtrade certified products to the checkout.

“The catastrophic falls in the prices of major commodities – of coffee, tea, bananas, cotton, rice and sugar – are tearing apart lives across the developing world,” says Harriet Lamb, Executive Director of the Fairtrade Foundation. “People are forced to give up their farms, to become labourers or city slum dwellers, to take their children out of school. These economic disasters are all the more shocking because they are not unstoppable natural disasters; this is not the force of nature unleashed in all its fury. These are man-made disasters, entirely preventable and worse still, they carry on even though everyone knows what the effects will be.”

Harriet will deliver this message at a reception at HM Treasury this evening (Monday February 28) launching Fairtrade Fortnight.

“While a few are standing on the shore and watching these man-made economic tsunamis destroy lives – even justifying inaction in the name of economic competitiveness or liberalisation of the market - many more are getting behind Fairtrade.

“The British public showed overwhelming generosity towards the people affected by the tsunami,” she adds, “In the same way, when they learn about Fairtrade and the positive benefits for farmers in the developing world the response is equally dramatic, with millions now choosing to buy products with the FAIRTRADE Mark and make sure the farmers gain guaranteed benefits.”

Figures published today (Monday) show that sales of products with the FAIRTRADE Mark topped £140m in 2004 (see notes), a remarkable increase of 51 percent on the 2003 figure of £92m. More is being spent on the core products such as coffee, tea, bananas and chocolate, while the newer products which include flowers, wines, oils and footballs have also been very successful.

The more people buy, the more companies are introducing products with the FAIRTRADE Mark and the more producers benefit from the system. The number of retail and catering products which carry the FAIRTRADE Mark is now 834, up from around 150 in 2003.

The CHECK OUT FAIRTRADE campaign aims to deepen understanding about the positive impact of Fairtrade, and to highlight the guarantees behind the FAIRTRADE Mark: These are:

• Farmers receive a fair and stable price for their products
• Farmers and plantation workers have the opportunity to improve their lives
• Greater respect for the environment
• Small-scale farmers gain a stronger position in world markets
• A closer link between consumers and producers

“It’s so quick and easy for shoppers to choose products with the FAIRTRADE Mark, and yet the difference this makes to producers can be dramatic,” says Harriet Lamb. “The Fairtrade system demands huge efforts from farmers in Africa, Asia and Latin America as they organise into democratically run groups and implement changes in agricultural practice. This ensures that the gradual improvements which Fairtrade makes possible are sustainable, giving communities a real chance to build a brighter future – and ‘Make Poverty History’.”

Tadesse Meskela, General Manager of Oromia Coffee Farmers’ Co-operative Union in Ethiopia, is visiting the UK for Fairtrade Fortnight and spoke at last night’s reception. Oromia’s mission is to support small producers in becoming economically self-sufficient and ensuring their families have enough to eat in a country prone to famine. As Tadesse explains: “With Fairtrade coffee, farmers in Ethiopia are getting their deserved reward. Fairtrade is not just about selling and buying. It is creating a global family.” With Africa holding the political spotlight in 2005, Tadesse will be touring the UK during Fairtrade Fortnight to highlight the importance of Fairtrade in tackling poverty. Other speakers included Rt Hon Paul Boateng MP, Chief Secretary to HM Treasury and Regina Joseph, a banana farmer from the Windward Islands Farmers’ Association, Dominica in the Caribbean.

Both Tadesse and Regina congratulated the British public on their enthusiasm for Fairtrade. They also explained how the collapse in coffee and banana prices has affected farmers. For most of the last six years coffee prices have remained below the cost of production, causing immense hardship for millions of farmers. In 2001, prices plummeted to just 45 US cents per lb and farmers in Ethiopia were forced to sell the corrugated iron roofs from their homes. Between 1992 and 2003, annual export volumes of bananas from Dominica to the UK fell from 58,000 tonnes to 10,000 tonnes, while revenues crashed from US$32m to US$5.3m. As a result, the number of banana farmers on the island fell from 11,000 in the 1980s to just 700 in 2003. Unemployment and youth unrest led to drug abuse and gangs. Thanks to Fairtrade there is now hope for some of the farmers who have lived through such desperate times.

A 2004 MORI poll showed that the number of people who recognised the FAIRTRADE Mark had doubled to 39% since 2002. For those who buy Fairtrade products, 86% said the independent guarantee of the FAIRTRADE Mark is important to them. Fairtrade sales are more than doubling every two years and all major supermarket chains now sell Fairtrade products, along with smaller stores.

Most major retailers are planning special promotional activities during Fairtrade Fortnight to highlight Fairtrade products on their shelves and at the checkout. Elsewhere on the high street, café chains and restaurants will also be drawing attention to the Fairtrade tea, coffee, juices and snacks now appearing on their menus.

Events taking place all over the country during Fairtrade Fortnight this year range from taste tests of Fairtrade foods in supermarkets, workplaces and churches to Fairtrade fairs, conferences, fun runs, parades and barn-dances.

Notes to Editor
1. Coffee continues to be the biggest seller when it comes to UK Fairtrade sales, with the estimated retail value of sales growing from £13.7m in 1998 to £34.3m in 2003 and £49.3m in 2004. Bananas are next on £30.6m (up from £24.3m in 2003 and from £7.8m in 2000) followed by chocolate (£13.6m in 2004, up from £9.2m in 2003) and tea (£12.9m in 2004, up from £9.6 in 2003).

2. At the HM Treasury reception, Mr Boateng is being invited to talk about the wider impact of Fairtrade and how it enables producers in developing countries to compete in world markets.

3. The Fairtrade Foundation is part of the MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY campaign which brings together a wide cross section of more than 200 organisations, charities, campaigns, trade unions, faith groups and celebrities - set up to press the government for global change on trade justice and aid, and to cancel the unpayable debts of developing countries. This year offers an unprecedented opportunity for the UK to press for change - in July, the UK will host the G8 summit of richest nations in Gleneagles, and from July to December it will take over the revolving presidency of the EU.

4. The FAIRTRADE Mark is the only independent consumer label which appears on products as a guarantee that disadvantaged producers are getting a better deal. Today, more than 5 million people - farmers, workers and their families - across 49 developing countries benefit from the international Fairtrade system. The Fairtrade Foundation is the independent certification body that awards the FAIRTRADE Mark to products which meet international Fairtrade standards.

5. Fairtrade Fortnight is promoted by networks around the country including development agencies CAFOD, Christian Aid, Oxfam, SCIAF, Tearfund, Traidcraft Exchange and the World Development Movement, as well as a wide range of other organisations: Shared Interest, Banana Link, People & Planet, the Mothers’ Union, the National Federation of Women’s Institutes, the Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign, the UNISON and PCS trade unions, and many churches. Major pushes are expected in almost 100 Fairtrade Towns and Cities where committees have pledged to roll out an ongoing programme of activities to raise awareness about Fairtrade. Manchester and Salford are heading towards becoming the joint 100th Fairtrade Town during Fairtrade Fortnight.

6. The fastest growing area for Fairtrade is in the ‘out-of-home’ sector where sales of hot beverages are increasing at over 70 percent per annum. AMT Coffee launched its switch to 100 percent Fairtrade coffee in its 46 coffee kiosks around the UK in November 2004, whilst Marks & Spencer switched to 100 percent Fairtrade coffee in its 198 in-store Café Revives in September 2004. Fairtrade coffee is also available in Costa Coffee, Pret A Manger and Starbucks. Last year, Oxfam and coffee roaster Matthew Algie opened their first Progreso Fairtrade coffee shops in partnership with coffee grower co-operatives. Oxfam intends to open 20 coffee bars in three years.

7. The Co-operative Bank switched its vending machines to Fairtrade in 1997, with 92% of staff supporting the change. In 2002 its sister organisation Co-operative Insurance Services (CIS) also changed to Fairtrade. The two organizations, now brought together as Co-operative Financial Services (CFS), have seen a combined net increase in hot beverage sales of 50% (or 1.3 million additional vends) between 2001 and 2004. CIS alone saw an increase in take up of 65% for the period.

8. Figures for Fairtrade sales are estimated retail values based upon wholesale sales figures reported to the Fairtrade Foundation as part of its auditing process.

For further information please contact the Fairtrade Foundation. Tel: 020 7440 7695 or switchboard 020 7405 5942, mobile 0790 4455666 / 07734 566079. Email: media.one@fairtrade.org.uk or media@fairtrade.org.uk.
Website:www.fairtrade.org.uk