Fair trade products achieve record sales

Consumers in Germany spent 2.1 billion Euros on fair trade products last year. That's nine per cent more than the previous year, Fairtrade Germany announced today at its annual press conference in Berlin.

"The sales record is a strong sign in difficult times," said CEO Dieter Overath. Fair trade, he said, is crisis-resistant and at the same time makes people in producer countries more resilient to crises. Through their sales of fair trade products to the German market, producer organizations received 40 million Euros in fair trade premiums. This is a premium that is paid in addition to the producer prices.

Largest increase in sales of roses

Sales of fair trade roses grew by 25 percent in 2021. Meanwhile, 36 percent of roses in Germany bear the Fairtrade seal, the organization reports. Just below the 20 percent mark is the increase in sales of tea: according to Fairtrade, sales of fair trade tea rose by 19 percent. Sales of fair trade coffee, on the other hand, remained stable, with Fairtrade citing the impact of the Corona pandemic on the catering industry as the reason for the lack of growth. The market share is five percent.

Cocoa sales increased by seven percent, reaching a market share of 16 percent. In the case of fair trade bananas, price pressure in the banana industry would have been reflected in slight sales declines of three percent (market share: 14 percent). Six percent more Fairtrade cotton was used in the production of textiles in 2021 than in the previous year.

In light of the Ukraine war and the ongoing consequences of the pandemic, fair trade should not be allowed to fall behind, he said. "Trade justice is a necessary prerequisite for a peaceful world," appealed Matthias Lehnert, chairman of the supervisory board of Fairtrade Germany, to business, politics, consumers and consumers.

Fairtrade Germany is supported by 36 member organizations from areas such as development cooperation, youth education and politics. Around 800 municipalities, just as many schools and around 40 universities are committed to fair trade and sustainable consumption as Fairtrade Towns, Schools or Universities. (kam)