Fairtrade Frenzy

UK Loves Fair-Trade

Environment – According to the Fairtrade Foundation, the sale of products with the ethical fair-trade label grew by 12% in the UK during 2011, and are expected to continue growing as more makers of delectable sweets are switching to ethically traded products.

With Cadbury, maker of the delish crème egg, and Kit Kat, both using fair trade products, it’s not surprising that sugar, which is the largest fairly traded product in the UK, and cocoa have seen the biggest growth in sales in the past year. Reportedly 217 million pounds of ethical cocoa was sold last year. Also expected to jump on the bandwagon is the confectioner Malteasers.

“We will have three of the top five brands in the UK [using fair trade], so there are the other two brands to go after and there are also several sizeable brands in the top 10, so we have a long way to go in the chocolate category,” Ashish Deo, commercial director of the Fairtrade Foundation told Reuters.

It’s not all good news though, the sale of fair-trade cotton fell “by around 20%” last year because of short crops and imposed export bans by countries like India, which forced companies to go with products that may not be worker friendly.

The UK is the largest market for fair trade products, but overall the products only make up 0.01% of all worldwide food and drink sales.

Fairly traded food is that which contributes to a sustainable environment offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers. Many companies have begun to switch to fair trade foods, particularly supermarkets like The Co-op, M&S, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, and Tesco.

Read more at Reuters and The Guardian.