The Co-op Group welcomed its Fairtrade pineapple growers to its head office in Manchester.
The Costa Rican producers are members of the Asproagroin pineapple farmers Association, and visited the Co-op as part of a UK tour organised by AgroFair UK, importer of pineapples into the UK.
Co-op category buyer for fruit Jim Atkinson said: "We were pleased to meet the Fairtrade pineapple growers from Costa Rica. It was good to hear the benefits that they gained from the Fairtrade scheme and they gained an insight to what happens to their pineapples."
The Co-op switched all its fresh pineapple supplies to Fairtrade in 2002, and recently launched pre-packed Fairtrade pineapple chunks sourced from the Asproagroin association.
AgroFair UK is the UK branch of the company AgroFair, a Dutch company jointly owned by growers from developing countries importing Fairtrade bananas, mangoes and pineapples into Europe. Spokesman for the company, Duncan White, said: "We organise these tours so that the producers see what happens to their fruit and they also get a chance to meet with retailers and distributors. The Co-op is the leading supermarket supporter of Fairtrade, so we are delighted that the growers had the opportunity to meet the team who help get their produce on the shelves."
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