Fairtrade food is widely available in supermarkets today and the range is constantly on the increase. You can already buy fairtrade food products in the UK such as fruit, chocolate, confectionery, yoghurt, honey, herbs, spices, nuts, preserves and rice.
Fairtrade food is one of the fastest growing brands in the shops with stores such as the Co-op introducing more and more of their own-brand fairtrade foods as well as other fairtrade products. Sainsbury’s, for example, announced in December 2006 that their bananas would all be going fairtrade, claiming to be the first major retailer to take this step.
If you would like to find out about what fairtrade foods are available, visit the Fairtrade Foundation website where all fairtrade food types are listed in detail including information on where the products can be bought. You can even buy recipe books for using fairtrade ingredients such as Just Desserts: 50 Sweet Surprises Using Fairtrade Ingredients
Whilst fairtrade food is often more expensive than other brands this is not usually prohibitive especially as many of the supermarkets offer own-brand fairtrade foods, which can compete with the big brands even if they are more expensive than the other own-brand products. And you have the peace of mind that the farmers at the bottom of the supply chain are getting a good deal.
