Sales of Fairtrade products, despite the recession and contraction in most other consumable markets, actually grew by 12% last year. In the UK, total sales are just ?800 million, however, which is small fry when compared to the general grocery market of ?150 billion.
Seeing as there are now more than 4,500 Fairtrade products available on the market, why aren't we buying more of them? From the 22 February to 7 March the Fairtrade Association is launching Fairtrade Fortnight to try and encourage us all to get involved with Fairtrade.
The idea of Fairtrade Fortnight is to get the nation to swap their normal foods, drinks and flowers for their Fairtrade equivalents. The idea is to register these 'swaps' online in an aim to reach one million and one swaps nationwide.
You can easily swap your regular flowers for their Fairtrade versions. The difference in price in not worth mentioning and if you order your flowers online there might not be any difference in price thanks to the lower overheads incurred by online florists compared to their high-street companions and supermarkets.
In 2003, the Fairtrade flower industry didn't exist in the UK. In 2004 the industry was still rather small scale with just ?4.3 million in annual sales. However, by 2008 this figure was ?33.4 million. Now the global Fairtrade industry is worth around ?1.6 billion with coffee and bananas taking the biggest share of the market. This growing industry now also helps over seven million people in 58 developing countries get a fair deal in life and a more even playing field to trade on.
However, according to the Fairtrade Foundation, despite the increases in sales, people in the developing world are still struggling in what has been a tough 18 months. In fact, the developing world has felt the effects of the global recession than developed nations and in 2009 50-90 million people were estimated to have been thrown into the dark depths of extreme poverty.
Be sure to look for the Fairtrade mark when buying your flowers online. A fair price to farmers, good labour conditions for the workers and general community benefits in the immediate vicinity of the farm are guaranteed with this certification.
Swap your regular flowers for Fairtrade flowers and get involved with the Big Swap. If you buy Fairtrade flowers you will be helping people in the developed world have a better quality of life and fairer access to international trade markets.
Maricruz Tennill, the author of this article, always use Interflora, the service that allow you to order flowers online at the best prices.
