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Fairtrade Fortnight: 84% of Britons willing to pay more for ‘fair’ bananas
A poll has revealed that the majority of consumers would agree to pay more for bananas if this means that farmers have better wages and working conditions.
The survey by the Fairtrade Foundation has been released on the second week of the Fairtrade Fortnight, which is focusing on bananas. Bananas price has almost halved over the past decade, despite farmers facing an 85% increase in the production cost.
According to the new poll, 84% of consumers said they would pay more for bananas, if this means better lives for farmers in developing countries and 60% believed that the government should step in to investigate the policies of retailers.
Surprisingly, 40% of interviewees believed the price of bananas had increased, despite being the opposite. More than half of respondent (58%) think that supermarkets should increase prices to a level that ensures fair conditions for banana farmers.
Fairtrade Foundation CEO Michael Gidney commented, “Even in times of austerity, people in the UK do care about the people who produce the foods we enjoy. They clearly want supermarkets to be responsible. More and more people understand that, when things are too cheap, someone somewhere is paying the price.
“This poll shows that there is a public mandate for change. It is a clear message to government to show leadership and stop this race to the bottom, where the price of cheap bananas is poverty in developing countries”.
The Fairtrade Fortnight’s campaign has called on retailers to stop the price war on bananas and ensure that they are not sold below the cost of production. It also launched a petition asking the government to investigate pricing policies of supermarkets in relation to the cost.
Further reading:
Fairtrade Fortnight and the environment: fair is the new green
Fairtrade Fortnight: sales of Fairtrade goods hits new £1.78bn record
Fairtrade Fortnight: the great banana ‘price war’ uncovered
Fairtade Fortnight calls on UK to pay a sustainable price for bananas