Suppliers of products as diverse as ice cream, sugar and shave gel are gearing up for next week's Fairtrade Fortnight with a slew of newly accredited products.

Ben & Jerry's said this week that its entire 18-strong ice-cream range in the UK would be Fairtrade-certified by 2011 with 60% accredited by May 2010. The switch will be backed by a £4m ad push starting this spring and will send a "bold statement" to the ice cream industry, said the Unilever brand.

Tate & Lyle announced 100%-Fairtrade certification this week. It first declared its aim to have the whole range Fairtrade certified in February 2008 and has been switching its lines over the past two years. The final sugars light soft brown, cubes, jam sugar and fondant icing were accredited this week.

Meanwhile, in chocolate, Divine has become the first Fairtrade brand to source cocoa from war-ravaged Sierra Leone. The chocolatier had previously sourced all its cocoa from the Kuapa Kokoo co-op in Ghana, which owns 45% of Divine. However, the co-op agreed to Divine buying a small percentage of cocoa from Sierra Leone to help farmers there. "We hope the co-op in Sierra Leone will be able to sell high-quality cocoa to others," said a spokeswoman.

Finally, male grooming brand Bulldog has rolled out what it claims are the first shave gel (rsp: £3.69) and moisturiser (£6.49) to be made using Fairtrade ingredients, including green tea from Sri Lanka and Ghanaian shea butter.

Co-founder Simon Duffy said other Fairtrade NPD was in the pipeline.

Read more
Saturday Essay: We can all make a difference with Fairtrade (20 February 2010)
Sainsbury’s stakes claim as top Fairtrade retailer (15 February 2010)
Green & Black’s to convert its entire range to Fairtrade (30 January 2010)

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