Today (Monday 9th September) marks the start of Fairtrade Fortnight.
Evolving from a grassroots movement to a truly global phenomenon, Fairtrade has provided three decades of practical commitment and solidarity to the men and women across the world who grow the products we rely on every day. It has revolutionised the way we think about trade, our shopping and the goods we consume.
The Fairtrade Foundation work with more than two million farmers and workers around the world from South Africa to Cuba, Ecuador to Ghana to Fiji. When you factor in their families and dependents, that adds up to 10 million people across Africa, Latin America and Asia, all benefiting from the sale of products on Fairtrade terms.
Across the years, producers have used Fairtrade to help create a better future. They have built healthier, stronger and more resilient communities, with improved choice and better life chances through access to healthcare and education. They have responded to the climate crisis by investing in sustainable eco-friendly farming practices. They have raised up their farms and their families in ways unimaginable before.
Fairtrade’s focus from the start has been to tackle the causes of poverty and exploitation, not just the symptoms. Many of the major challenges in long, global supply chains – including child labour, gender-based exploitation and deforestation – are exacerbated by poverty and uneven negotiating power. That’s why Fairtrade has taken such a unique stand on the importance of price: still too often farmers around the world struggle with unsustainably low prices. Since 1989, the world coffee price has been below the Fairtrade Minimum Price and Premium almost 60 percent of the time, for example.
Unless producers earn a fair price that enables them to care for their families, farms and futures, these systemic problems will remain. A fair price changes everything. It can mean families able to afford food and clothing, and communities building schools and health facilities. It provides working capital for farmers to invest in stronger businesses, improving quality, productivity or adding value to their produce.
Meanwhile, climate change is making fair prices even more urgent. Without the ability to invest in their farms, how can producers hope to mitigate the impact of global heating, and the risks to production and
supply? Price matters, more than ever.
How does the Co-op support Fairtrade?
Chocolate:
Fairtrade cocoa simply wasn’t widely available before 2000 and it’s been a story of continual progress, supporting smallholder farmers in Peru, The Dominican Republic, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.
In May 2017, we became the first UK retailer to source all of our cocoa on Fairtrade terms. Every spoonful of cocoa we use, from the chocolate sprinkles on our doughnuts through to the chocolate chips in our Irresistible cookies, is benefitting Fairtrade cocoa farmers. Our commitment contributes around £500,000 per year in Fairtrade Premium to farmers across West Africa and Central America.
Bananas:
Thanks a bunch for 30 years of Fairtrade. We’ve gone beyond Fairtrade sourcing by investing in programmes to support smallholder farmer resilience and livelihoods by improving productivity in Colombia and the Dominican Republic.
Coffee:
Coffee has been an important part of our history of pioneering Fairtrade.
Coffee prices were at a 30-year low in 2003 and farmers were struggling to afford to grow coffee. That’s when we decided to switch our entire own brand range to Fairtrade – a first for any retailer. We’ve since supported thousands of smallholder coffee farmers by funding programmes in Kenya, Ethiopia and Rwanda.
Tea:
Fancy a brew to celebrate 30 years of Fairtrade? All our own brand tea is Fairtrade and has been since 2008. Our 99 Tea was the UK’s first retailer Fairtrade own brand tea and we are committed to sourcing 100% Fairtrade tea to this day. We’ve also supported tens of thousands of tea smallholder farmers, workers and their communities in Kenya, India and Malawi.
