After two years of development, and in conjunction with the Soil Association and Fairtrade, Organic Farm Foods (OFF) offered its first product to be certified both fully organic and Fairtrade late last year. Seedless grapes, grown and packed in South Africa arrived just before Christmas and have been on sale in Co-op stores ever since.
The introduction of Organic/Fairtrade grapes was followed by a major promotion run in all Co-op outlets from January 4 this year, which has produced impressive results.
“The Co-op chain is well known for its stance on ethical trading, Fairtrade and organic issues,” says chairman of OFF, Peter Segger, “and this meant they were the ideal choice as retail partners in the initial stages of this project which in turn has resulted in sales that have surpassed all expectations.
“We sold out in the first week, in just under four days, we then got more grapes in from our South African growers and sold out again in six days. I have long supported the idea of products being both organic and Fairtrade, but even I did not believe it would sell this fast.”
Organic Farm Food’s Richard Arnold says: “ The grapes are doing incredibly well. At the beginning we were doing 300,000 pallets in less than two weeks. People talk about minority products, but that success took the concept through the roof. It did fantastically well for a new line and proved that we managed to hit all the right buttons.”
Although concerns have been raised about labeling products as both organic and Fairtrade, many believe the two concepts go hand in hand.
Co-op organic produce buyer Stuart Chadwick says: “The combination of Fairtrade and organic accreditation for the South African grapes aligned with a strong promotional offer and extremely low store waste has been a great way to start the year. Our customer feedback is extremely positive, and we sold in under two weeks the volume we had thought it would take us three to sell.”
Director of the Soil Association, Patrick Holden said: “I am delighted to see such a strong success. It shows how closely these two key issues are linked in the mind of consumers.”
“There is a core of consumers,” says Arnold, “who understand the real cost of food and that they are paying the true cost of production to the grower. Premiums have got a lot lower as organic production has progressed and there is not always the gap people perceive there to be. At the end of the day we do not want a price war. Sustainability has got to be the key.”
The success of South African grapes is only the beginning of the organic Fairtrade project, and oranges, green beans, peppers and potatoes all from the Seken Project in Egypt have been accredited by the Fairtrade Labeling Organisation. “We would like to see products like this on all the major supermarket shelves,” says Segger, “so consumers can support what we are trying to do in both caring for the land and the people who grow crops in it.”
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