Far from being a PR ploy, Tate & Lyle's decision to move its entire retail cane sugars range to Fairtrade has taken two years of intensive planning and working in conjunction with the Fairtrade Foundation, the Belize Sugar Industries and more than 6,000 Belizian smallholder farmers ('The bitter taste of corporate PR', The Grocer, 15 March, p25). At the end of this long process, we can now purchase sufficient Fairtrade sugar from Belize to fulfil our retail sales. As and when further volumes that meet Fairtrade's quite rightly stringent requirements become available from our suppliers, we will look at the opportunities these offer to expand into other areas of our business. It is unfortunate that Joanna Blythman is cynical about a move that will help to empower Belizian farmers and ensure better working conditions, healthcare, education, and infrastructure for their communities. We are proud of what we have achieved so far. This is the largest-ever switch to the ethical labelling scheme by any major UK food or drink brand, which will create a return of at least £2m in Fairtrade premiums for cane farmers in Belize. Our commitment will help ensure a livelihood for farmers, and the Fairtrade premium will be invested to improve their long-term prospects. We are only at the beginning of this journey but we have ambitious plans for our entire retail cane sugar range to bear the Fairtrade mark by the end of 2009. We can only hope this will be the latest of many such positive developments made possible by the Fairtrade Foundation.