Sales of Fairtrade products in Germany increased by 22% last year to reach a turnover of €1.6 billion.
Among the Fairtrade categories that showed the strongest sales were bananas, coffee, cacao and roses.
"At the start of the supply chain, forced labour and low wages are still an issue. Fairtrade is our strategic partner on the road to fairer international trade,” said Gerd Müller, Germany’s federal minister for economic cooperation and development.
Therefore, sustainable development in developing nations requires both improved market access and changes to the political framework.
Rapid Growth
While it has made progress, Fairtrade isn’t growing fast enough, commented Dieter Overath, CEO of TransFair eV, “Producers are suffering massively from low stock prices. Young people are turning away from agriculture because they cannot live from it. If we want to enjoy cocoa, bananas and coffee in the future, we need more companies willing to adopt policies that promote Fairtrade more."
TransFair,which is part of Fairtrade International forms alliances for sustainable textiles, cacao and bananas in order to support companies that want to observe environmental and social minimum standards.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Jana Zimmermann. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
