Fairtrade Fresh Fruit
Look out for Fairtrade fresh fruit
The rise and rise of Fairtrade fresh fruit has been a huge success story for Fairtrade in the 21st century.Over the past four years a Fairtrade fruitbowl has been created - comprising bananas, oranges, apples, pineapples, mangoes, grapes and lemons. The fresh produce sections of supermarkets and smaller stores across the UK have been welcomed into the Fairtrade fold.
Fairtrade bananas were introduced to the UK in the year 2000, mangoes in 2001, pineapples in 2002, and apples, oranges, lemons and grapes in 2003. Work continues with marginalised producers in the developing world to allow additional kinds of fruit to bear the FAIRTRADE Mark.
Some of these fruits are available seasonally, but Fairtrade bananas and pineapples can be bought all year round and a year-round supply of Fairtrade mangoes will soon be in place.
The first three Fairtrade fruits to be brought into the UK - bananas, mangoes and pineapples - were imported by AgroFair, a Fairtrade fruit company owned by the growers themselves. The farmers are represented on the board and at annual shareholders meetings, and receive all profits not reinvested in the company for expansion.
Other banana suppliers followed AgroFair's lead, making bananas the second most successful Fairtrade item after coffee. In 2000, 5.5million kg of Fairtrade bananas were sold, in 2001 9.7million kg were sold, in 2002 nearly 11.5 million kg were sold and, in the first nine months of 2003 alone, nearly 13.5 million kg were sold.
Last year the Thandi initiative, supported by the Capespan Foundation in South Africa, led to the first apples, oranges, lemons and grapes arriving here. This was heralded by former president Nelson Mandela who described the initiative, which gives ownership to black people and helps alleviate poverty, as "visionary" and "inspirational".
Harriet Lamb, Executive Director of the Fairtrade Foundation adds, "The South African grape farmers have had their first meetings to decide how to use the Fairtrade premium. They are planning to bring water to their village communities and to set up businesses to build health centres out of bricks - a double benefit in providing health care and work in areas of high unemployment. We are delighted that sales have proved that British shoppers are keen to buy Fairtrade grapes and support them in this work."
Harriet is delighted that the 21st century in its first four years has already seen a Fairtrade fruitbowl put into place.
"The growth of Fairtrade fresh fruit over the past four years has been an exciting development for all of us in the Fairtrade movement," she says. "The Fairtrade fruitbowl of bananas, mangoes, pineapples, oranges, apples, grapes and lemons is a healthy, vitamin-packed way to give farmers in the developing world a fair deal. Look out for the FAIRTRADE Mark on the fresh produce section of your local supermarket - and if it's not there, ask why not."
AgroFair UK's Duncan White said, "2003 was the year when the Fairtrade fruitbowl really took hold in the UK. Fairtrade fruit is now available in major supermarket chains across the country. Buying fruit has always been a healthy option - now it's also a way of supporting farmers and their families on the other side of the world. Ends
For more information please contact Margaret Rooke, AgroFair UK, on 020 7700 2414 (0790 44 55 666) or Charlotte Jarman. AgroFair UK, on 020 7422 0755 (e-mail charlottejarman@twin.org.uk). Eileen Maybin, press officer at the Fairtrade Foundation can be reached on 020 7 405 5942.
AgroFair UK is the sales and marketing arm in this country of the Europe-wide firm AgroFair. AgroFair is owned by farmers from Burkina Faso, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Ghana, Mexico and Peru.
