Fair Trade, Italians spend 518 million on Fairtrade products

Last year Italians spent over 518 million euro on products containing at least one ingredient with the Fairtrade label, which certifies respect for the rights of producers and workers in many parts of the world and more generally fair trade criteria. The figure was released by Fairtrade Italy on the occasion of the event 'Thirty years on the path of sustainability', during which the social report was also presented.

Thanks to the purchases made in Italy, the farmers' and workers' organisations that are part of the network have received 3,686,407 euros in Fairtrade premium, i.e., 'an additional sum with which they can implement projects to improve productivity or community development'. The decision on how to spend the premium, Fairtrade explain, "must be made collectively by the members of the cooperatives, and the interest must be common. For example, agricultural products or tools for working in the fields can be purchased, small infrastructures such as warehouses or storage facilities or health clinics and classrooms can be built.

"This year Fairtrade Italia reached its 30th birthday: it is an exceptional milestone for our organisation, which was born from the bottom up to promote fairer trading conditions in favour of farmers in Asia, Africa and Latin America. There are so many results we have achieved in these years," said Paolo Pastore, general director of Fairtrade Italia - in the shops and supermarkets of our country there are more than 2,500 Fairtrade products on sale. Farmers' organisations have also grown with us: today we are talking about just under 2 million farmers and workers who benefit from the advantages of our circuit in 70 countries. Thanks to all the companies and consumers who want to be part of the change with us, we aim to reach even more people in the coming years'.

The retail value is an estimate of the sales of finished products containing at least one Fairtrade ingredient.The retail value is an estimate of the sales of finished products containing at least one Fairtrade ingredient.In 2023 it is declining slightly as some of the Fairtrade certified products have lost volumes "due to the general loss of retail volumes due to inflation and some stock shortages, particularly in the bakery, snack and ice cream categories. These,' the organisation explains, 'are categories that in many cases have a high price per kg and therefore the decreases have not been compensated for by the increase in inflation. These are products that use Fairtrade cocoa in tendentially low percentages and therefore a decrease in retail value does not proportionally affect raw material volumes, which, in fact, only recorded a slight decrease of 1%. The first 2024 data, although still partial, lead us to believe that in these categories both retail value and raw material volumes will return to growth'.

"2023 from the sales point of view was a year of transition, on the one hand some products such as coffee and sugar were affected by the generalised drops in volumes due to inflation, on the other hand products such as bananas and cotton showed significant growth,' said Thomas Zulian, Sales Director of Fairtrade Italy. 'Overall we are satisfied because during 2023 we saw an increase in both the number of companies we work with and the quantity of certified references on the market. The positive effects of these two factors are already showing themselves in the good results of the first months of 2024'.