In the UK, the Fairtrade Foundation has appointed Cheryl Sloan as its new marketing director in a bid to deliver a new strategy that could double its reach and impact for producers in developing nations.

According to the group, the new post has been created to help the Foundation extend existing relationships and to mainstream Fairtrade purchasing habits in the UK to help lift sales to the £2bn (€2.23bn) mark by 2012.

Ms Sloan joins from Freeview, where she operated as strategy director guiding product development and brand strategy, and has previously worked at Mattel, Kimberly Clark and the National Lottery.

'It's a privilege to be leading Fairtrade's marketing efforts and to work across the spectrum of industry in the UK with people who are listening to modern consumers, helping realise a true people's movement for change,' she said. 'I look forward to adding a new narrative to the Fairtrade story and creating new and exciting connections between consumers and producers. I want ordinary people to think of Fairtrade as a basic requirement of products that come from the developing world.'

Estimated sales of Fairtrade products in the UK grew 43 per cent to £700m (€780.6m) in 2008 despite the current economic climate.

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