Fairtrade fruit suppliers say their industry is on the cusp of becoming more than just a niche part of the fresh produce industry.
Sales of fruit carrying the Fairtrade mark have had a major boost over the past 12 months, with big commitments by Sainsbury's, Waitrose and M&S to sell more Fairtrade bananas. Sainsbury's and Waitrose are phasing out conventional bananas, while M&S is moving to a 50-50 split between Fairtrade and organic. By the end of the year nearly a third of the bananas sold in the UK will be Fairtrade.
The market is in rapid growth, says John Bowes, chief executive of Agrofair UK. "I expect the market to double every two years. It is buoyant, but in its infancy at 3%-4% market penetration."
Though bananas are the biggest Fairtrade line, other fruit is in stronger growth. Oranges saw a threefold increase in volumes, other citrus rose sixfold and lychees were up 767%.
Citrus has been one of the big success stories of 2006. At 6,400 tonnes, it accounted for more than half of Fairtrade fruit sales last year, excluding bananas. Agrofair says its citrus division sold £1.3m this year, but that is dwarfed by produce supplier Katope Malet Azoulay. "Citrus is such a large category you'd never get it all through Fairtrade. But we're still seeing 50% growth year-on-year," says Fairtrade and organic manager Geoff Chappell.
The number of lines is also increasing rapidly. Chappell says he supplies 14 lines, but will add an extra seven later in the year, starting with limes. That's on top of Fairtrade grapes, lychees, pineapples, apples, pears and avocados.
Fairtrade grapefruit will be the next product to market, according to the Fairtrade Foundation, which licenses the mark in the UK. "We are working with importers to bring more growers into the system," says business development manager Mark Varney.
However, the Fairtrade label faces various obstacles. Consumers are confused about what it means, Bowes says. "Consumers understand the element of wealth transference, but not the social impact of the Fairtrade premium or the sense of empowerment of growers."
Agrofair plans to improve its communication of these benefits to consumers in the hope of driving penetration.
"There is a danger of confusing consumers with too much information, so we have to edit the options so it's meaningful for them."
Another problem is that the Fairtrade label is often seen as the brand rather than the supplier or their brand. Agrofair sold £18m worth of fruit in the UK last year, but Bowes admits there is virtually zero recognition of its Oké brand. It is something the company is considering trying to change. n
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