Sainsbury’s converts all its bananas to Fairtrade (press release April 2007)
- 1,000 bananas a minute, 150,000 boxes a week, 700 million bananas a year - all Fairtrade
- Sainsbury’s grows share of Fairtrade banana market to over 50%
- 5% increase in banana sales (35 million bananas) since switch to Fairtrade
All bananas sold in Sainsbury’s are now Fairtrade. The news follows the supermarket’s announcement eight months ago that it would be the first UK retailer to switch to 100% Fairtrade bananas by July 2007, and the conversion is now complete.
The move represents a significant breakthrough for Fairtrade, due to the scale of bananas customers buy. Sainsbury’s sells 150,000 boxes a week and 700 million bananas a year.
The move also means Sainsbury’s created a much bigger social premium for Fairtrade farmers, and the banana conversion to 100% Fairtrade alone has created a social premium of circa £4m this year, which will be returned to the growers and their communities. This has been made possible by working closely with growers from Costa Rica, Ecuador, Colombia, Dominican Republic and the Windward Islands to ensure Sainsbury’s can source enough Fairtrade fruit for its 16 million customers.
Sainsbury’s bananas have risen by 5% in popularity since Sainsbury’s announced it would be switching its entire range to Fairtrade, accounting for an extra 35 million extra bananas eaten a year.
Bananas also continue to be the largest selling item sold in any Sainsbury’s store, which is why the conversion to 100% Fairtrade is so vital to the thousands of workers and their communities that depend on the sale of bananas.
This move makes Sainsbury’s share of the Fairtrade banana market larger than that of any other retailer in the UK, what’s more Sainsbury’s sells over half of the Fairtrade bananas sold in the UK today.
Matt North, Sainsbury’s banana buyer, says: “Moving every banana we sell to Fairtrade has been a major project, but most importantly, our customers have not had to pay for this move. Our Fairtrade bananas are now the same price as conventional bananas sold by other supermarkets, whilst the Fairtrade logo means that a fair and sustainable return is always paid to our growers, whatever the retail price.
“Throughout the conversion from conventional to 100% Fairtrade bananas, we’ve worked hard to ensure the same high quality of the UK’s most popular fruit, while supporting our growers throughout this period of change. In just eight months, Sainsbury’s has achieved the most significant step in Fairtrade history and shown how sourcing with integrity is fundamental to the way Sainsbury’s does business.”
