Fairtrade Fortnight

Today is the start of of Fairtrade fortnight, and to mark this each day for the next fortnight we will focus on a Fairtrade product or company

Today we will look at the Fairtrade brand.

The Fairtrade Foundation is the independent non-profit organisation that licenses use of the FAIRTRADE Mark on products in the UK in accordance with internationally agreed Fairtrade standards.  The Foundation was established in 1992 by CAFOD, Christian Aid, Oxfam, Traidcraft, the World Development Movement, and the National Federation of Women’s Institutes.  Member organisations now also include Banana Link,Methodist Relief and Development Fund, Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign, People & Planet, SCIAF, Shared Interest Foundation, Soroptimist International , Tearfund and the United Reformed Church.

The Foundation is the UK member of Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International (FLO), which unites 21 labelling initiatives across Europe, Japan, North America, Mexico and Australia/New Zealand as well as networks of producer organisations from Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. 

Fairtrade Labelling was created in the Netherlands in the late 1980s. The Max Havelaar Foundation launched the first Fairtrade consumer guarantee label in 1988 on coffee sourced from Mexico. Here in the UK, the Fairtrade Foundation was established in 1992, with the first products to carry the FAIRTRADE Mark launched in 1994.
For a product to display the FAIRTRADE Mark it must meet international Fairtrade standards which are set by the international certification body Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International(FLO)


Globally, consumers worldwide spent £1.6bn on Fairtrade certified products in 2007. This is a 47% increase on the previous year directly benefiting over 7 million people - farmers, workers and their families in 58 developing countries.


More details on Fairtrade Fortnight can be found here