Growth in UK Fairtrade sales

New figures released by the Fairtrade Labelling Organisation (FLO) International reveal that global sales of Fairtrade certified products reached €1.1 billion in 2005. This represents an increase of 37% over 2004. Meanwhile in the UK, the Fairtrade Foundation recently announced that sales topped £195m for 2005 – a 40% rise in one year - and are now running at a rate of £200m a year.

The speed at which the sales are growing shows an increasing demand from consumers for a positive model of trade which is fairer and more sustainable for farmers and is helping them to bring development to their communities.

“Fairtrade’s significant worldwide growth in 2005 also shows that more and more producers, traders and suppliers trust the Fairtrade Certification Mark and look to join the system. Increasingly companies are knocking on the door of the labeling organizations because they want to have the Cer¬tification Mark on their products. In the past year alone, the number of companies offering Fairtrade Certified products in¬creased by 29%. The certification system behind the cheering person in the Certification Mark is absolutely independent from any interest, and this is what people trust”, says Luuk Zonneveld, managing director of FLO International.

The increase in the Fairtrade range and Fairtrade sales means that more producer organisations are able to sell to the UK Fairtrade market. The number of producer groups who supply the UK has risen to 301, up from 197 last year, with a particularly welcome increase in the numbers of groups from Africa. Globally, the number of certified producer organizations has grown by 127% since 2001 to 508 groups in 58 countries and the number of registered traders has increased by 132% in the same period.

“The Fairtrade system encourages farmers in Africa, Asia and Latin America to organise into democratically run groups and implement changes in agricultural practice. This ensures that the gradual improvements which Fairtrade makes possible are sustainable, giving communities a real chance to build a brighter future”, Luuk Zonneveld added.

FLO is investing ever more resources back into producer organizations, and in 2005 set up the Producer Business Unit to increase the support to Fairtrade-certified producer organizations. The Unit now numbers 10 people in Bonn, Germany, with a growing number of locally-based “Liaison Officers” to work directly with certified organisations and those seeking to enter the system. Thanks to a partnership with the Dutch business advisory organizations SNV, there are now 25 liaison officers on the ground and this is expected to increase to 30 by the end of 2006.. It is expected that 370 producer organizations, representing 600,000 families, will benefit from the cooperation between SNV and FLO.