In May 2025, a group of committed Fairtrade partners signed onto the below statement, pledging to take collective action to build a fairer and more resilient global food system through pre-competitive collaboration, fair prices and longer-term sourcing commitments .
Read the full statement below, and if your organisation would like to learn more, discuss Fairtrade’s Shared ImPact or sign onto the statement, please contact commercial@fairtrade.org.uk today.
We, the retailers and partners signed onto this statement, recognise the need to build resilience in global supply chains, so that our food system and those who are growing and producing our food, can thrive for years to come.
We know that in order to achieve a resilient food system, we must raise incomes and improve financial security for farmers and workers, address human rights violations, and support farmers and workers to farm sustainably and mitigate against the impacts of climate change.
We recognise that no one retailer or trader can overcome these challenges alone – we must work together.
We welcome the Shared Impact Initiative and share its goals. Shared Impact is a first-of its kind pre-competitive sourcing initiative that allows retailers and traders to pool sourcing of coffee, cocoa and bananas to collectively invest in more sustainable and ethical sourcing. Farmers and workers will benefit from selling more of what they produce on Fairtrade terms in addition to longer term (3 – 5 year) commitments. The initiative has been given the green light by the CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) who consider the initiative as unlikely to infringe on UK competition law1.
We see many potential benefits to working pre-collaboratively, and learn from the results of the pilot. We see value in building closer relationships with the farmers and workers in our value chains, and of sharing stories about how these individuals are driving forward social and environmental changes.
We are aware that the regulatory environment is shifting, and soon these voluntary initiatives may become mandatory. We also see the UK Government’s trade strategy as an important opportunity for the UK to showcase its leadership in promoting fair trade practices and resilient food systems, including through enabling pre-competitive collaboration.
Given our collective goal to make the food system more equitable and sustainable, we believe that the Shared Impact initiative is one that should be supported.
Signed,
