The coming 12 months look likely to be a potentially productive time for UK-based ethical trading organisation the Fairtrade Foundation, with the group planning a number of initiatives to increase public awareness of its brand and its impact on producers. As well as aiming to bolster grassroots support for its ethical message, the organisation will be publishing major studies on Fairtrade-certified banana production and South African fruit to demonstrate to a wide audience the positive impact its system can have on countries and communities.
Speaking at the Fairtrade Foundation’s commercial conference, held in London in September to mark the organisation’s fifteenth anniversary, the group’s deputy executive director, Mike Gidney, said the projects were part of a wider strategy to raise awareness of the FAIRTRADE Mark. The Foundation, he explained, wanted to “strengthen grassroots support in the UK, while also developing an international network of support”.
The group also gave delegates a preview of the theme for its annual Fairtrade Fortnight promotional drive, due to take place between 22 February and 7 March in the UK, which will be called ‘The Big Swap’.
The event, explained Fairtrade director of marketing Cheryl Sloan, will encourage consumers to swap conventional fruit for Fairtrade-certified products. At a European level, Rob Cameron, chief executive officer of sister organisation FLO International, announced the group’s 5-10-15 plan, which is aimed at increasing Fairtrade sales across Europe.
The Germany-based organisation, he explained, was targeting a five-fold increase in producers and a 10-fold increase in retail sales by 2015. “The UK has proven that Fairtrade is not just a niche – it has proven that Fairtrade can be part of the mainstream community,” he said.
The conference also heard from Waitrose managing director Mark Price, who said the UK was “on the cusp of seeing a significant shift in consumer perceptions of what constitutes value”. He argued that fairness and quality would form part of the equation, as well as price. “Fairtrade not only helps people out of poverty, it also makes good commercial sense,” he commented. “People enjoy the product but also believe they are doing the right thing.”
Mr Price also used the occasion to underline Waitrose’s commitment to the Fairtrade cause, by pledging that the retailer would not pass the costs of matching rival Asda’s banana price cuts on to its suppliers in the Windward Islands.
“My real concern is that it can’t be at the expense of the producers,” he told Newsline. “It would not be appropriate for us to go back to our suppliers and ask them to bear the cost of these cuts.”
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