Sales of
Fairtrade goods have risen for the first time since 2013 as the increasing popularity of bananas and coffee sold under the ethical label offset falling sales of cocoa and sugar.
Revenues from produce overseen by the Fairtrade Foundation body, which guarantees a minimum price to farmers and additional payments for use on social projects such as schools or clean water provision, rose 2% to £1.64bn in the UK last year.
“We are in growth despite tough economic times and while the grocery market continues to be in disarray,” said Michael Gidney, chief executive of Fairtrade. “There is a sense of businesses committing to Fairtrade backed by unstinting support from the public.”
The sales will trigger payments of about £30m in premiums, on top of the price paid for goods, for use in social projects in developing countries including Malawi and the Dominican Republic.
The volume of bananas, by far the biggest Fairtrade product in the UK, rose 6% amid strong sales at the likes of
Sainsbury’s and
Waitrose, which only stock the Fairtrade version of the fruit, while Tesco, the UK’s biggest retailer, began stocking Fairtrade bananas for the first time.
