Fairtrade food Caroline Stacey In 2009, Fairtrade Fortnight runs from 23 February until 8 March. BBC Food looks at how Fairtrade became the most familiar ethical label in supermarkets and asks who reaps the benefits.

In this article

Fairtrade produce Fairtrade bucks the trend

Value for values What is Fairtrade?

Other ethical labels Countering criticism

Who wants to pay more for their food and drink when times are hard? Nevertheless British shoppers are proving they are not fair-weather Fairtrade supporters. Despite the recession, sales of food bearing the distinctive logo show no signs of flagging.

From small, idealistic beginnings 26 years ago, Fairtrade food has gone from marginal to mainstream. In 2003 there were 150 Fairtrade products. As it became a familiar sight on teas, coffees, bananas and chocolate, the number of foods bearing the best-known ethical label reached 3,000 - from lemons to nut cutlets, South African sparkling wine to Malawian cola. Fairtrade flowers are a blooming business and cotton clothes and footballs sport the logo.

The amount British shoppers spend on Fairtrade products has been rising sharply. In 2008, sales of products carrying the Fairtrade mark reached an estimated retail value of more than £700 million, bucking the global economic downturn with a 43 per cent increase over 2007.

Divine chocolate, the Fairtrade company co-owned by Ghanaian cocoa farmers, celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2009. More than 25 per cent of the bananas that British consumers buy are Fairtrade, a figure that's set to double by 2012. Tate & Lyle is committed to converting all of its sugar to Fairtrade. Honey, rice, citrus and tropical fruits, wines, quinoa, spices and nuts have been joined by mueslis, cakes and biscuits, smoothies, jam, muffins and many more treats made with Fairtrade ingredients.

Of the more than 70 varieties of Fairtrade coffee beans (as well as all the ground, decaffeinated and instant coffees), many are of the very best quality and aimed at connoisseurs.

Shoppers are economising on shopping but have not been cutting back on fairtrade produce, according to the latest report from the Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD), an independent body researching the grocery trade. Since 2006 the number of British shoppers buying ethical food - including Fairtrade and locally sourced - has increased.

Supermarkets' figures bear this out. The Co-op (which, with 230 lines, boasts the widest range of Fairtrade products, including wines from South Africa, Chile and Argentina), saw sales of Fairtrade products up 44 per cent in 2008. During Fairtrade Fortnight, Co-op stores take 20 per cent off their own-label and branded Fairtrade products. Sainsbury's sells more Fairtrade goods than any other supermarket, and in 2008 its Fairtrade sales went up by 50 per cent.

One reason Fairtrade sales have held up is because there is such a wide range available. Another is price. Buying Fairtrade food once meant shelling out a little more to help producers earn a decent living; now much Fairtrade produce is sold as supermarkets' (better value) own-label produce, so higher prices are no longer the case.

For example, all Sainsbury’s own-label tea and coffee is Fairtrade and costs less than a well-known, non-Fairtrade brand. All Marks & Spencer's tea and coffee, as well as the coffee in its Café Revive coffee bars, is Fairtrade. Price-conscious Lidl stocks several Fairtrade products including coffee and sugar.

When supermarkets convert their own-label products to Fairtrade, prices don’t necessarily increase. And even if Fairtrade costs fractionally more, shoppers seem to be prepared to spend it. Commenting on its Shopper Trends 2009 report, Joanne Denney-Finch, Chief Executive of IGD says, "shoppers are not leaving their ethical concerns at home when they go food shopping. The aspiration for high quality, more-sustainable food remains, but people are scrutinising closely to get the best value for their values".

The Fairtrade Foundation guarantees farmers a long-term fixed price for their crop, whatever the ups and downs of the world market

The Fairtrade mark is an internationally recognised labelling system which in Britain is administered by the Fairtrade Foundation, part of a trade justice movement that would like to see fundamental changes in trading relations between richer and poorer nations. In developing countries, farmers' livelihoods are at the mercy of fluctuating crop prices. The Fairtrade Foundation guarantees farmers a long-term fixed price for their crop, whatever the ups and downs of the world market. The scheme also pays a social premium to be invested in community projects such as healthcare programmes, schools and adult literacy.

If the world market price goes above the Fairtrade minimum, farmers with a fair trade agreement must be paid the higher price, plus the agreed Fairtrade premium. Most Fairtrade-certified farmers and producers sell their crops both on the fair trade market and the conventional market.

When you buy Fairtrade goods the farmers will already have been paid for their crop so sales ensure that they will continue to find a market for what they grow. They are also in a better position to invest in improving farms. More than 7.5 million people - farmers, workers and their families - across 59 developing countries benefit from the international Fairtrade system.

Shoppers can be sure that the few extra pence they pay for Fairtrade goods really does go to the farmers, unlike charitable donations which can end up paying for administrative costs. Ultimately, Fairtrade supporters hope to effect changes in the way trade with poorer countries is done.

There are other 'ethical' labels, such as the US-based conservation charity Rainforest Alliance. By 2010, 100 per cent of PG Tips tea will be from Rainforest Alliance plantations and all Kenco coffee will come from approved sources. Costa coffee already comes from Rainbow Alliance-certified plantations. Innocent smoothies, too, are made with only Rainforest Alliance-certified bananas.

On certified farms, estates and plantations working and social conditions are improved with the extra money paid for more sustainable tea and coffee production. However, unlike Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance does not work with small-scale farmers, nor does it give producers the security of a guaranteed long-term minimum price. The Fairtrade model was developed for smaller farmers but is being adapted to provide benefits directly to workers, not via managers, on larger fruit farms, cooperatives and tea plantations in South Africa, Latin America and India.

Although foods can be both Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance certified, in practice it tends to be either one or the other.

Every year, to coincide with Fairtrade Fortnight, sceptics complain that Fairtrade interferes with the free market, encourages overproduction, makes farmers dependent on hand-outs and discourages mechanisation. Ian Bretman of Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International (FLO), the Fairtrade monitoring body, counters the criticism, arguing that Fairtrade isn't responsible for the overproduction of coffee, for example. Overproduction can happen when investment is made to encourage a country to develop a crop, as the World Bank did in Vietnam more than a decade ago, leading to a global slump in coffee prices in 2001.

Fairtrade produce is often top quality, available at every price level, from supermarket own-label to the most luxurious treats

Bretman insists that, contrary to the free trade argument, fair trade agreements don't trap farmers by subsidising unprofitable production; they help farmers invest in improving quality and diversifying into other crops. Indeed, Fairtrade produce is often top quality, available at every price level, from supermarket own-label to the most luxurious treats.

Fair trade agreements have traditionally been made with small farmers, but depending on the part of the world and the crop, agreements will be according to which system is most appropriate. On plantations only a small proportion of the output might be covered by a fair trade agreement which is why workers may not see as much benefit as they could if consumers bought more Fairtrade produce. The system doesn’t claim to be perfect but it does help raise those involved out of poverty.

Updated February 2009