Sales in Italy of Fairtrade-certified products finally resume growth beyond expectations. And so are the product categories, fair trade.
Fairtrade Italy’s 2021 report – ‘The future is fair, supply chains and rights’ – also measures its impact on the lives of farmers and workers. (1)
Faitrade, sales in Italy +6% in 2021
Overall sales of Fairtrade certified products grew in Italy, up 6 percent in volume. This reconfirms the marked focus on supply chains certified as respecting human rights (guaranteed minimum price, decent working conditions and social development of communities) and the environment. (2)
Growth is positive for all categories, including those-such as bananas and coffee (albeit not very brisk)-which were penalized in the lockdown year by bar and school closures. More stable are products consumed at home, such as cocoa and sugar.
Fairtrade bananas on the podium
Bananas remain the top product among those certified Fairtrade. In 2021, sales grew by +5%, reaching a volume of over 14 thousand tons.
The new CAM (minimum environmental criteria) contribute to growth where a requirement to introduce fair trade products in public catering is included.
Superstar cocoa
Fair trade cocoa marks +9% in 2021. Production with West African origin (Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria) has doubled in the last 30 years. Their market share increased from 55 percent to 74 percent.
Less bright were the effects of fair trade on producers’ socioeconomic conditions. To improve them for the past 5 years, the Fairtrade West Cocoa Program has been implemented, which has already increased the average income of Ivorian cocoa farmers by 85 percent (from $2,670 to $4,937).
New certified fair trade supply chains
Fairtrade Fairtrade certification welcomed new categories of products at high risk of exploitation in 2021:
- flowers, a certified supply chain with more than 50,000 workers,
- the spices,
- cotton,
- gold, with the Italian-distributed supply chain Altro Carato.
‘Fairtrade is Here’
The ‘Fairtrade is Here‘ logo was in turn introduced to stimulate businesses to offer Fairtrade products and use ingredients certified as Fairtrade in their workshops (e.g., bakeries, ice cream parlors, roasters etc.).
Notes
(1) The Future is Fair: supply chains and rights. Fairtrade Italy
(2) Dario Dongo, Giulia Baldelli. Fair trade, ABC. The Christmas we would like every single day. FT (Food Times), 22.12.18
Professional journalist since January 1995, he has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and periodicals (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). She is the author of journalistic surveys on food, she has published the book "Reading labels to know what we eat".
