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A further sign that fair trade products are entering mainstream UK
business came last month as the food giant Nestlé launched its first
Fairtrade certified coffee.
The new instant coffee brand, Nescafe Partners Blend, now on sale in the UK, has been awarded the Fairtrade mark certifying that it meets the Fairtrade Foundation's social, economic and environmental standards.
Nestlé's move follows hard on the heels of Kraft Foods' decision to bring to the UK market instant coffee sourced from farms certified by the Rainforest Alliance (EP7, issue 5, p1).
Many supermarkets, including Tesco and Somerfield, are now stocking fair trade products at prices close to those of conventional brands, and the Co-operative Group recently switched all its own-brand chocolate bars to the Fairtrade label. More than 1000 Fairtrade catering and retail products from 150 companies are now on sale. UK sales of products with the Fairtrade mark reached £140million ($245m) last year and have been growing for five years by about 40 per cent a year. However, although 18 per cent of roast and ground coffee is Fairtrade, only four per cent of UK instant coffee is certified.
Harriet Lamb, Fairtrade Foundation executive director, claimed Nestlé's decision was 'a turning point in the UK' that would 'bring a new wave of coffee drinkers to Fairtrade'.
Alastair Sykes, Nestlé's chief executive in the UK and Ireland, said the new brand had been developed largely as a result of customer pressure and increased demand for Fairtrade products. He said internal Nestlé market research had suggested the product will appeal to more mainstream consumers, who, 'while not currently regular purchasers of Fairtrade coffee, are predisposed to Fairtrade and/or sustainable products'.
War on Want and some other campaign groups have greeted Nestlé's entry with scepticism, but Cafédirect welcomed it, even though the fair trade coffee company could lose business as a result. 'We see it as a good move,' said Phil King, Cafédirect's finance director. 'We hope that it won't take sales from us, but will appeal to a wider range of customers.'
Nestlé, which has a £38bn turnover and is the world's largest direct buyer of coffee, says it may launch other fair trade products if the new brand is a success.
The coffee in the new blend comes from five small farmers' co-operatives in El Salvador and Ethiopia, who, like many smallholders supplying the world coffee market, have experienced hardship because of price volatility and the severe price slump of recent years.
Nestlé will spend £1m to promote the brand and another £1m to support health and education projects for its coffee growers.
Farmers will be paid a guaranteed minimum price, plus a premium that the local community can use for business or social development projects or to diversify into other crops and animal husbandry.
The new instant coffee brand, Nescafe Partners Blend, now on sale in the UK, has been awarded the Fairtrade mark certifying that it meets the Fairtrade Foundation's social, economic and environmental standards.
Nestlé's move follows hard on the heels of Kraft Foods' decision to bring to the UK market instant coffee sourced from farms certified by the Rainforest Alliance (EP7, issue 5, p1).
Many supermarkets, including Tesco and Somerfield, are now stocking fair trade products at prices close to those of conventional brands, and the Co-operative Group recently switched all its own-brand chocolate bars to the Fairtrade label. More than 1000 Fairtrade catering and retail products from 150 companies are now on sale. UK sales of products with the Fairtrade mark reached £140million ($245m) last year and have been growing for five years by about 40 per cent a year. However, although 18 per cent of roast and ground coffee is Fairtrade, only four per cent of UK instant coffee is certified.
Harriet Lamb, Fairtrade Foundation executive director, claimed Nestlé's decision was 'a turning point in the UK' that would 'bring a new wave of coffee drinkers to Fairtrade'.
Alastair Sykes, Nestlé's chief executive in the UK and Ireland, said the new brand had been developed largely as a result of customer pressure and increased demand for Fairtrade products. He said internal Nestlé market research had suggested the product will appeal to more mainstream consumers, who, 'while not currently regular purchasers of Fairtrade coffee, are predisposed to Fairtrade and/or sustainable products'.
War on Want and some other campaign groups have greeted Nestlé's entry with scepticism, but Cafédirect welcomed it, even though the fair trade coffee company could lose business as a result. 'We see it as a good move,' said Phil King, Cafédirect's finance director. 'We hope that it won't take sales from us, but will appeal to a wider range of customers.'
Nestlé, which has a £38bn turnover and is the world's largest direct buyer of coffee, says it may launch other fair trade products if the new brand is a success.
The coffee in the new blend comes from five small farmers' co-operatives in El Salvador and Ethiopia, who, like many smallholders supplying the world coffee market, have experienced hardship because of price volatility and the severe price slump of recent years.
Nestlé will spend £1m to promote the brand and another £1m to support health and education projects for its coffee growers.
Farmers will be paid a guaranteed minimum price, plus a premium that the local community can use for business or social development projects or to diversify into other crops and animal husbandry.
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