If you were asked to think of a Fairtrade product, chances are you’d picture a banana. Or possibly a bar of chocolate. Maybe a bag of coffee beans?
In many ways, it’s no surprise. A quarter of a century after Fairtrade-certified bananas first hit supermarket shelves, they now account for one in every three sold in the UK. Fairtrade tea, meanwhile, is a British mainstay: 60% of all Fairtrade tea sales occur in the UK.
But products that bear the Fairtrade mark, which indicates that rigorous environmental and labour standards are met, are no longer limited to simple breakfast staples.
For Kerrey Baker, managing director at ethical investment organisation Shared Interest, the widening portfolio has been driven by people who now expect ethics and sustainability as standard. “[People] want to know about the provenance of the products they’re buying,” she explains. “They want transparency and they want to know that there’s been some kind of equity in the supply chain. Fairtrade is a recognition that that is happening.”
Powered by investments from regular people, Shared Interest loans money to smallholders to allow them to invest and grow their business, as well as regulate and manage their cash flow. “We often say we’re the original crowdfunder,” she says, “because we set up in 1990, before the internet was even in place. We brought people together who wanted to do something positive; it’s a hand-up, not a hand-out.
Baker is keen to stress that shopping Fairtrade really does make a difference to communities on the ground. She emphasises that the Fairtrade premium, an extra sum paid to help improve producers’ quality of life, has allowed some co-operatives that Shared Interest has worked with to set up shops, mobile phone charging points, and medical centres.
So, if you’re looking to make change through the power of your purse, here are five lesser-known products to add to the basket.