Italy: Fifteen days to promote Fair Trade products

From October 16 to 31, 2010, various events will take place in Italy to promote Fair Trade products, Greenplanet reports. This edition of „Io faccio la spesa giusta“ - „I do fair shopping“, an initiative promoted by Fairtrade Italy in collaboration with others, promises to be full of novelties. The celebration will last fifteen days, instead of a week as in previous years, and will include meetings, dinners, wine tastings, discounts and promotions in major Italian distribution chains (Auchan, B'io, Bennet, World Shops, Carrefour, Coop, Crai, Despar, In's, Lidl, NaturaSì, Nordiconad, Sicilconad), under the banner of fair trade.

In addition to supermarkets, initiatives by canteens and restaurants (Pastarito and Rita, restaurants that use organic ingredients of the Biogustando circuit, and local independents) will takpe place. Currently, 30 % of all Fair Trade bananas sold in Italy are distributed in school canteens in the country. Promotions and tasting will join the traditional meetings at Feltrinelli bookstores, where manufacturers, enterprises and chefs dedicated to sustainable food will meet. During the campaign, the national football players take the field in Padua for Fair Trade: The Match of the Heart, the proceeds of which will go to Fair Trade projects in Pakistan, will be held in Padova on October 23.
 
In 2009, around the world, consumers spent 3.4 billion euros in Fair Trade certified products, an increase of 15 % more than anticipated. World brands such as Cadbury Dairy Milk, Kit Kat Nestle, Green & Black's and Ben & Jerry's have chosen to work with Fairtrade. In Italy, sales of Fairtrade products increased by 10 % in 2009. Especially cane sugar (+ 27 %), fruit juice (+ 57 %) and rice (+  17 %) were sold successfully. Flowers also experienced significant growth: 2 million of them were sold last year (+ 40 %).
 

Greenplanet