Sainsbury’s Holds Groundbreaking Talks with African Suppliers

The talks, held at a series of events in Cape Town (8-9 Feb), Nairobi (11-12 Feb) and London (16 Feb), represent the first time a supermarket has brought developing world suppliers together to discuss food security, Fairtrade and ensuring a sustainable future for the food industry.

23 Feb 2010 --- Sainsbury's has just completed a series of ground-breaking talks with its African and Fairtrade producers in an effort to foster closer relationships with suppliers in the developing world.

The talks, held at a series of events in Cape Town (8-9 Feb), Nairobi (11-12 Feb) and London (16 Feb), represent the first time a supermarket has brought developing world suppliers together to discuss food security, Fairtrade and ensuring a sustainable future for the food industry.

Liz Jarman, head of Fairtrade at Sainsbury's, said, "Africa is really important to Sainsbury's and our customers, not only because we are the biggest Fairtrade retailer but also because we source a wide variety of products from this vast continent. These events have helped to bring us closer to our African growers and suppliers, and we in turn have given them a greater understanding of the UK Grocery market."

The African conferences were followed by Sainsbury's first ever Fairtrade conference, held in London on Tuesday. This took place shortly after Sainsbury's announced that it has become the largest Fairtrade retailer in the world, with sales amounting to £218m over the past year. Almost one in every four pounds spent on Fairtrade in the UK is spent at a Sainsbury's store, and the supermarket's annual Fairtrade sales have increased by around 10% on this time last year.

Sainsbury's efforts have generated far-reaching results thanks to the social premiums paid to Fairtrade communities across the world. The 800+ Fairtrade products currently sold in Sainsbury's stores generate an annual total Fairtrade premium of $16 million - which is substantially more than any other retailer. This means that Sainsbury's customers have contributed to the education of thousands of school children, helped to improve health and social care for workers and their families, and added to community infrastructures such as roads, bridges, lighting and wells.

Harriet Lamb, executive director of the Fairtrade Foundation, said: "Sainsbury's sells more Fairtrade products than any other retailer in the world and this commitment is helping make Fairtrade part of the nation's everyday shopping habits. They have shown inspirational leadership in the UK and right across Europe with the conversions of their own label bananas, ground and roast coffee, own-label tea, and own label sugar to Fairtrade.

"We look forward to working with Sainsbury's in 2010 and through the next decade so that together we can tip the balance of trade in favour of disadvantaged producers."