Fairtrade
We were the first major UK supermarket to offer Fairtrade food back in 1994, and we are still expanding our Fairtrade range. This makes a positive long-term difference to farmers, growers and local communities in developing countries across the world.
According to the Fairtrade Foundation, we are the world’s biggest retailer of Fairtrade products, with sales last year reaching £218 million. That equates to one in every four pounds spent on Fairtrade in the UK being spent at Sainsbury’s.
Fairtrade products
We currently offer over 800 Fairtrade products, and now sell more Fairtrade bananas than all the other major supermarkets combined, according to Kantar Worldpanel. Our own brand tea is Fairtrade (except speciality teas) and all our own brand roast and ground coffee became Fairtrade in September 2009. We are still growing our range of Fairtrade clothing, and all our men’s and women’s standard T-shirts – our best selling clothing line – are made of Fairtrade cotton.
We offer 100% Fairtrade:
- Bananas
- Sugar
- Tea
- Roast and ground coffee
- Men’s and women’s plain crew neck T-shirts
- Kenyan roses
- Café tea and coffee
Volume of Fairtrade bananas sold in the UK
Rest of the UK
Sainsbury's
“Now farmers have one strong voice to talk to our buyers and leaders. We have one united platform which makes it easier to get health care and agricultural extension services, business training and to obtain micro finance loans. With this kind of organisation the quality and quantity of our products has greatly improved.”
The Fair Development Fund
Since 2007, the Sainsbury's Fair Development Fund has been helping farmers and growers in the developing world benefit from Fairtrade, by setting up international partnerships between producer groups, NGOs and retailers. It supports small producers to increase their competitiveness and improve their sustainability and to raise their revenues by bringing new products to market. The Fair Development Fund is managed by Comic Relief and was launched with an investment of £1 million. Last year we launched new Christmas nut lines produced by Fair Development Fund farmers, and their dried fruit was used in bars sold to raise money for Sport Relief 2010. We have also helped fund the development of new Fairtrade standards for pulses and vegetables, with Fairtrade green beans launching in store this year.
Case study
Fairtrade
We were the first supermarket in the world to buy Fairtrade certified tea from Sukambizi in southern Malawi. This 6,000-member co-operative received its first Fairtrade premium payment in May 2009 and it put towards subsidising purchases of fertilisers, which are often too expensive for small-scale farmers to buy. Used properly, they can raise crop yields by up to 30%. Some of the money is also being spent on the provision of piped water and training for farmers on good agricultural practice, soil management and sustainability.
The co-operative members plan to use future premium money for projects like building schools, buying ambulances, providing electricity to rural areas and constructing safe play areas for children.
Our key commitments
- Sourcing responsibly and ethically
We will be the largest UK retailer of Fairtrade products (by sales value)
Next steps
- We are looking to expand the number of Fairtrade products across our ranges, in particular in chocolate
Our views on the issues that are important to our stakeholders.
