UK: Fairtrade Foundation wins Queen’s Award for Enterprise

The Fairtrade Foundation has been awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the Sustainable Development category and was cited in the Queen’s Award notification as „making a tangible difference to the livelihood and quality of life of local communities within some of the world’s poorest regions and is an outstanding demonstration of the benefit which sustainable consumerism has on communities across the globe“. The award is a tribute to the hard work and entrepreneurialism of tens of thousands of producers in developing countries and the UK public who see Fairtrade goods as a way of addressing global trade injustice and poverty.

Harriet Lamb, Executive Director of the Fairtrade Foundation, said that this award was recognition from the very top that there is a fairer way of doing business. Winning the Queen’s Award for Enterprise would spur them on to take sales to an even greater level, opening further opportunities for producer organisations to build a better future. Alex Yeboah-Afari, a board member of the Fairtrade Foundation and the African Fairtrade Network, stated the award was a compliment to the progress of Fairtrade. For the producers, it was an acknowledgement that Fairtrade could open the doors to sustainable development.

According to Sainsbury’s chief executive, Justin King, very few organisations could claim to have made as big a difference to some of the world’s poorest communities as the Fairtrade Foundation. The company is the world’s largest Fairtrade retailer and a supporter of the brand since it was launched 15 years ago. Darcy Willson-Rymer, managing director of Starbucks Coffee Company UK, explained that the Queen’s Award was a great achievement for the Fairtrade Foundation, which was the most recognised and highly-respected ethical standard in the UK. Whilst ethical sourcing had always been one of Starbucks core values, they were very proud of their move to 100 % Fairtrade certified espresso and the positive impact it was having on the lives of coffee farmers in developing countries. 

Fairtrade Foundation