Sainsbury’s stores encourage customers to ‘Take a Step’ for Fairtrade

  • Sainsbury’s stores support Fairtrade’s Foundation ‘Take a Step’ campaign by holding a range of themed activities during this year’s Fairtrade Fortnight
  • The ‘Take a Step’ campaign gives individuals across the country the chance to take their own step to support Fairtrade
  • 14 Sainsbury’s stores nationwide are taking part in the campaign during Fairtrade Fortnight
  • Participants can register their step by going to www.fairtrade.org.uk/step

fairtrade tea man

Selected Sainsbury's stores across the country are 'Taking a Step' towards raising awareness of Fairtrade Fortnight this year. Colleagues at 14 Sainsbury's stores will be celebrating this year's Fairtrade Fortnight, which takes place between 27th February and 11th March, by taking part in their own activity to help 'Take a Step' for Fairtrade.

Across the 14 days, stores including Morecambe, Hedge End and Penrith will be taking their own step to support Fairtrade by holding a themed activity. Activities taking place include a Fairtrade stall being set up by Exeter store colleagues in Exeter town centre on Saturday 3rd March as part of the Fairtrade town's celebrations and colleagues from the Luton store will be holding a Fairtrade coffee morning, to support their Local Charity Partner 'MacMillian Cancer Research'.

The 'Take a Step for Fairtrade' activity is a national campaign that launched at the start of Fairtrade Fortnight. Individuals and groups can get involved by taking their own step to support Fairtrade. A step can be as simple as trying a new Fairtrade product, or as big and bold as launching a campaign to get friends, family and work colleagues to start buying more Fairtrade. Steps can be registered by going to www.fairtrade.org.uk/step and all 14 Sainsbury's stores will be registering their step during the Fortnight, once they've completed their activity.

The Fairtrade Foundation hope to achieve 1,500,000 steps by end of 2012: one for every Fairtrade farmer and worker around the world. The campaign will help to support farming communities in the developing world.

Sainsbury's Corporate Responsibility and Ethical Trade Manager Stuart Wright said: "Sainsbury's is the world's largest retailer of Fairtrade products and the 'Take a Step' campaign gives our colleagues the opportunity to help raise awareness of the importance of supporting Fairtrade and the difference our customers can make to communities in the developing world. We're right behind this campaign and we hope our activity will encourage even more customers to support Fairtrade in the future."

This year, Sainsbury's celebrates five years since converting all of its bananas to Fairtrade. As such, Sainsbury's is also marking this year's Fairtrade Fortnight by encouraging schools across the country to take part in a national activity for school-children to make 'Pancakes with Fairtrade Banana Ice-Cream' - a recipe card currently available in Sainsbury's stores until 5th March. Every school who participates will be entered into a free prize draw at the end of the challenge on April 10th, where one school will win a selection of Sainsbury's 'Active Kids Cooking' equipment.

Kate Lewis, Business Development Manager at Fairtrade, added: "Our 'Take a Step' campaign gives people across the UK the chance to give farmers and workers in the developing world a better chance to work their way out of poverty. It's fantastic that colleagues at Sainsbury's are supporting the campaign during Fairtrade Fortnight and we hope local residents are able to take part and 'Take a Step for Fairtrade' too".

The 14 Sainsbury's stores taking part in the 'Take a Step' campaign during Fairtrade Fortnight are

  • Hedge End (Southampton)
  • Penrith (Cumbria)
  • Luton (Bedfordshire)
  • Didcot (Oxfordshire)
  • Bradford-on-Avon (Wiltshire)
  • Exeter (Devon)
  • Hayes (Greater London)
  • Leven (Fyfe)
  • Debden (Essex)
  • Wakefield Marsh
  • Biddulph (Staffordshire)
  • Camden (North-West London)
  • Morecambe (Lancaster)
  • Hythe (Kent) 

Fairtrade at Sainsbury's

  • Sainsbury's is the world's largest retailer of Fairtrade products. More than 800 Fairtrade products are currently sold at Sainsbury's.
  • £1 in every £4 spent on Fairtrade in the UK is at a Sainsbury's store. As the world's largest Fairtrade retailer, we are helping to make Fairtrade part of the nation's everyday shopping habits.
  • £1 million investment in Sainsbury's Fair Development Fund. The Fair Development Fund has helped around 33,000 small producers increase their competitiveness, improve their sustainability and raise their revenues by bringing new products to market.
  • In 2010, Sainsbury's provided banana suppliers with a Fairtrade premium of £3.75 million. Selling over 650 million Fairtrade bananas a year, Sainsbury's sell more Fairtrade bananas than all the other major supermarkets combined.
  • Proud to be the first major retailer to have sold Fairtrade back in 1994. In 1994, Green and Black Maya Gold Chocolate was the first product to be awarded the Fairtrade mark. Sainsbury's was the first major supermarket to sell it.
  • Sainsbury's stores are at the very heart of the communities they serve. It is not only important to provide great service and quality products, it's also vital to make a positive difference to communities and to be a good neighbour.
  • This begins with the positive economic impact Sainsbury's stores have in generating local wealth, by providing employment, using local suppliers and contractors, and regenerating local surroundings.

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