Tag: fairtrade

Fairtrade launches Communities Scheme to mobilise grassroots campaigners for trade justice

Stuart Mitchell

The Fairtrade Foundation has launched a new-look Fairtrade Communities scheme designed to mobilise and resource grassroots campaigners across the UK to stand up for trade justice. Launched this month, the scheme will simplify the processes involved in becoming a Fairtrade Community. It aims to widen participation across all avenues of Fairtrade campaigning by making applications for Fairtrade Community status more accessible than ever. Since the world’s first Fairtrade Town was announced in 2002, more than 650 Fairtrade Communities have emerged nationwide. These include Fairtrade Towns, Cities, Islands, Villages, Boroughs, Counties…

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Consumer support for Fairtrade remains strong despite global cost of living crisis

Stuart Mitchell

Consumers all over the world are staying loyal to Fairtrade as the most visible and trusted ethical label, according to new research findings released by GlobeScan and Fairtrade. Close to three in five (56 percent) shoppers surveyed in 12 countries said they were willing to pay more for a Fairtrade product, despite the increased cost of living. While consumers are increasingly concerned about rising food prices, small-scale farmers also face skyrocketing fuel, transport and fertiliser costs, putting their livelihoods even further at risk. “It is encouraging that shoppers are staying…

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Fairtrade membership and sales grew in 2021, as price, access to markets and climate change are top of mind for producers

Stuart Mitchell

Financial benefits from Fairtrade sales and numbers of producers in the Fairtrade system reached record levels in 2021, topping €200 million in Fairtrade Premium and two million farmers and workers, respectively, according to a set of monitoring reports released today by Fairtrade International. The fourteenth edition of the reports highlight a full set of data including details of producer organisations and their farmer members and employees, hectares under Fairtrade certified cultivation, volumes sold across all products, and Fairtrade Premium earned. By the end of 2021, 1,930 producer organisations had Fairtrade…

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Waitrose launch UK’s first own-brand Fairtrade coconut oil

Stuart Mitchell

Waitrose have launched their new own label Coconut Oil, which is both organic and Fairtrade, the first of its kind in the UK. This coconut oil has been produced by the Sonmic Organic and Natural Farmers’ Association (SONFA). They are a small producer organisation based in Sri Lanka, who prioritise organic farming with a strong focus on protecting the environment. Fairtrade works with the coconut farmers to ensure they receive a fair price for their crops, and the Fairtrade producer networks offer farmers training on environmentally friendly pest control, biodiversity…

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Fairtrade releases HREDD guides for traders and plantations

Stuart Mitchell

The two new publications offer tailored guidance on human rights and environmental due diligence (HREDD) to large farms with a hired workforce and traders who buy directly from farmer cooperatives and plantations. They follow the release of the first-ever HREDD guide for farmer cooperatives and will soon be complemented by another guide for Fairtrade licensees, so that all actors in global value chains can find orientation and practical advice for collaborating on their HREDD journeys. Who needs an HREDD guide and why? Let’s be honest – navigating HREDD isn’t easy.…

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