UK Fairtrade sales rise 16 per cent

Sales of Fairtrade products increased significantly over the past year, the latest annual report from Fairtrade International shows.

UK Fairtrade sales increased 16 per cent, while in Germany sales were up 33 per cent, sales in the Netherlands increased 26 per cent, in Sweden 26 per cent and Switzerland 15 per cent.

Fairtrade International’s 2012-2013 annual report also shows a 16 per cent growth in the total number of producer organisations compared to 2011.

However, Harriet Lamb, chief executive of Fairtrade International, said there was far more to be done. “In the ultimate irony, half of the world’s hungriest people are smallholder farmers, yet they grow 70 percent of the world’s food. We must step up the reach of Fairtrade if we are to break the mould of unfairness that is so deeply embedded in trade.”