MEDIA RELEASE

26th April 2010

Make The Big Swap for Fair Trade Fortnight and make a big difference in the lives of developing world farmers

Fair Trade Fortnight (1st – 16th May 2010)

New Zealanders are being urged to swap their usual hot drinks, snacks and cotton tee-shirts to Fairtrade to help create a better life for small-scale producers and their families in developing countries.

The Big Swap is the focus of this year’s Fair Trade Fortnight, the annual promotional campaign of the Fair Trade Association of Australia and New Zealand (FTAANZ).  The aim is to get as many people as possible talking about unfair trade and to stand-up and take a stance against it by swapping to as many Fair Trade products a possible.

“Every swap we make to Fairtrade will have a major impact on the lives of the men and women who produce everyday products that we take for granted” says Steve Knapp, Executive Director of FTAANZ. “By swapping more and more tea, coffee, chocolate, bananas and cotton products to Fairtrade, Kiwis can help empower farmers to help themselves out of poverty.”

Australia and New Zealand is now the fastest growing market in Fairtrade labelled products in the world. The global Fairtrade market grew by 22% in 2008 whilst in New Zealand it grew by 69%. Steve Knapp comments “Even in the midst of the recent economic downturn consumer demand from ethically minded New Zealanders was such that it brought about a surge in sales of Fairtrade Certified products. Combined retail sales in New Zealand have risen from around a quarter of a million dollars in 2004 to $17.5 million in 2009.  Thanks to last year’s Fair Trade Fortnight campaign we now have Fairtrade bananas in our supermarkets and the overall range available on the shelves continues to grow.”

As well as fair and stable prices paid to growers, the additional Fairtrade Premium allows communities to invest in their futures as well as health, education and social welfare projects.  “If we change our shopping habits and the way we do business, developing world communities can build more classrooms and clinics, employ a nurse or build a road to get their produce to market. Our swaps will help them create a sustainable living for themselves and a better future for their children” said Mr Knapp.

For Fair Trade Fortnight individuals as well as companies and other organisations big and small are being urged to get swapping.  From taking the step to swap a daily caffeine fix, or an entire range of hot drinks in a café, every Kiwi consumer and business can play an important part in The Big Swap.

From tea parties to film screenings, Oxfam’s Biggest Coffee Breaks to talks from a Bangladeshi craft producer, a series of regional Big Swap events will be held across the country during Fair Trade Fortnight. For more information on events and activities, as well as where to buy fair trade and the real difference it makes for producers in the developing world checkout www.fairtrade.org.nz/thebigswap.

Fair Trade Fortnight coincides with World Fair Trade Day on Saturday 8th May 2010 – a global celebration of the change fair trade is making in tackling poverty for developing country producers and their families. www.worldfairtradeday10.org.

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About Fairtrade

·         Fairtrade Certification is a unique and independent system helping developing country farmers and producers get a better deal and the opportunity to create a brighter future for their families and communities.

·         Today, more than five million people – farmers, producers, workers and their families – across 58 developing countries benefit from the Fairtrade system.

·         Fairtrade is the only third party certification system providing farmers and producers in developing countries with a designated fair price (the Fairtrade Price) for their produce, helping protect them from damaging fluctuations in world market prices.

·         Fairtrade is also the only system which provides these farmers and producers with an additional sum of money (the Fairtrade Premium) for investment in social, economic and environmental development - helping them grow their businesses and invest in their communities by building roads, schools and hospitals.

·         A product is Fairtrade Certified™ if it carries the Fairtrade Label – an easy way for consumers to recognise and choose products that have met internationally agreed Fairtrade Standards.

·         Retail sales of Fairtrade Certified™ and Labelled products in Australia and New Zealand grew by over 50% in 2009 to just over $NZ88 million, and in the last six years, since the first Fairtrade products went on sale in both countries, cumulative retail sales figures have surpassed NZ$150 million.

Why is fair trade important?

Poverty is widespread amongst tea, coffee and cocoa growers around the world, who face an uncertain future due to unstable world prices. In recent years, volatile prices worldwide have left many disadvantaged producers struggling to support themselves and their families.

 
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