by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
Sainsbury's has announces on February 16, 2011, that sales of Fairtrade products have continued to rise over the past year despite pressure on household spending. Sales over the past year have totaled £276m, an increase of 27%, showing that customers continue to seek Fairtrade products.
Sainsbury's is the world's largest retailer of Fairtrade products, having converted all of its bananas to Fairtrade in 2007. Since then, it has converted a number of additional ranges to Fairtrade in an effort to ensure that growers in the developing world are paid a fair price for their goods, including all its own brand of tea, without the slightest loss in quality.
Now the supermarket is turning it attention to chocolate, with all of its full size hollow Easter eggs Fairtrade certified this year. It will also convert all of its standard tier and Taste the Difference chocolate to Fairtrade within the year.
Liz Jarman, Sainsbury's head of Fairtrade said: "Fairtrade sales are going from strength to strength as customers continue to look for affordable ethical products when they shop. We converted our bananas to 100% Fairtrade in 2007, and since then, many of the branded manufacturers have followed our lead.
"We are absolutely focused on providing Fairtrade to our customers for free. So where Fairtrade is the only own-brand option in our stores, as is the case with bananas, we make sure that our prices remain on a par with those of our non-Fairtrade competitors. This encourages customers to continue to shop with us and to continue to buy Fairtrade.
"We believe that large businesses like Sainsbury's have a responsibility to help small producers in the developing world to grow and develop sustainable routes to market, particularly during the current world economic downturn."
Sainsbury's has become the UK's largest supplier of Fairtrade products thanks to a series of conversions it has made in switching major food and drink items to Fairtrade over the past few years. In July 2007, the supermarket moved all its bananas to Fairtrade. In November 2007, it announced it would switch its entire range of tea, roast and ground coffee and hot chocolate. Own-brand sugar has been Fairtrade since March 2008. It is just a shame that the own-brand sugar seems to be difficult to find in stores. I, for one, have not seen any in my local Sainsbury's.
Liz added: "We sell 700 million bananas a year or 1,000 a minute, which means a total Fairtrade premium of £4m per year going straight into the pockets of the small farmers who grow them. As we add to the number of Fairtrade products we stock, we continue to make an increased impact on suppliers from poorer countries."
Sainsbury's efforts have already generated far-reaching results for Fairtrade communities across the world. Shoppers have contributed to the education of thousands of school children, helped to build health and social care for workers and their families, and added to community infrastructures including roads, bridges, lighting and wells.
In addition, Sainsbury's will this year celebrate the third anniversary of its Fair Development Fund - a scheme which started with an initial commitment from Sainsbury's of £1 million, to be used to support a number of Fairtrade initiatives over a four-year period. The fund was introduced to provide a major boost to the livelihoods of producers who are not yet participating in the Fairtrade system, helping them access new international markets.
Sourcing with integrity is central to Sainsbury's ability to deliver great products at fair prices. It is committed to offering products that are better for customers and for the environment, in away that is also better for the animals, farmers and producers involved in their production.
Sainsbury's has shown that Fairtrade can be done by a large supermarket chain and that without having to rise the prices – let's face it, even Sainsbury's Basics range bananas are Fairtrade – and that it does not have to damage the bottom line.
© 2011
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