by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
The Fairtrade Foundation congratulates The Co-operative Group on the recent announcement that it is rolling out an ambitious three-year Ethical Operating Plan and says that it is delighted, on behalf of Fairtrade producers around the globe and UK Fairtrade supporters, that a key element of the plan is devoted to tacking global poverty through Fairtrade.
The plan includes a major programme of unequivocal support for Fairtrade, including that “if it can be Fairtrade, it will be Fairtrade”. By 2013, The Co-operative plan that 90% of the primary commodities sourced from the developing world will be certified to Fairtrade standards. They are also developing a range of projects and initiatives that will benefit producers.
“At the check-out, there is a modern day revolution going on as people flex their consumer muscles to demand and look for Fairtrade products in order to drive social, economic and environmental changes in the way our food, drink and clothes are made and traded,” says Harriet Lamb, Executive Director of the Fairtrade Foundation. “At the forefront of those changes is The Co-operative and its six million members – a living example of just how much ordinary people can achieve when they put their minds to tackling injustice.”
The Co-operative, now the country’s fifth biggest supermarket, has helped drive the development of the FAIRTRADE Mark in the UK since products with the FAIRTRADE Mark first appeared in the early 1990s. The Co-operative has chalked up a list of “Fairtrade firsts” starting with the first ever major category switch when they converted all their own-label block chocolate to Fairtrade in 2002. Since then, they have switched all their own-label coffee, tea and sugar to Fairtrade and were the first to introduce Fairtrade oranges, Fairtrade mangoes and other products including a huge variety of composite bakery and confectionery items.
Harriet continues: “The Fairtrade Foundation shares the values of The Co-operative on a range of issues. For example, their consumer co-operative model is an inspiration in the UK as are the co-operative groups with which the Fairtrade Foundation works in developing countries. We look forward to strengthening our mutual links over the next few years as we work towards making more and more of the primary commodities The Co-operative source from the developing world certified to Fairtrade standards, bringing more and more benefits to farmers and workers.”
Last year, Harriet accompanied Peter Marks, Chief Executive of The Co-operative to tea plantations in Kenya, where, thanks to funding from the UK Government’s Department for International Development, there is a scheme to organise thousands of smallholders to become Fairtrade certified. Mr Marks was visiting South Africa and Kenya as part of a fact-finding trip. The smallholders in Kenya showed Peter round their tea-farms, their vegetable gardens and their homes. A woman called Mercy told Peter how she has to walk one and a half miles to get water from the river. So, she said, top of her list of her needs was clean drinking water.
“Normally we have to sell for low, low prices at the auction,” said another farmer. “We have so many brilliant children. But they cannot study because the income from our tea is not enough for us to educate our children. If we can sell as Fairtrade, then we can sleep easy.”
Mr Marks said: “We have seen a substantial increase in Fairtrade sales and that's surprising I guess because in a recession you think people are more concerned about price. But we have found our customers in The Co-operative are more concerned with ethics. They don't just ignore their values and principles because there is a recession on.”
Despite the economic downturn, sales of Fairtrade produce at The Co-operative remain strong, increasing year-on-year by more than 50%.
The same trend, so it would seem, can also be seen as regards to Fairtrade products elsewhere on the high street and in the supermarkets and the same could, it prices would not be hiked that much, be the case with proper green and ethical products.
© 2011
