Meet Foncho, a man on a Fairtrade mission to make bananas fair

The Fairtrade Foundation has launched a report today showing some very positive news for Fairtrade products, coinciding with the beginning of Fairtrade Fortnight which runs from 24th February to 9th March.
The best news is that Fairtrade sales have grown 14 per cent in 2013 as the label becomes ever more recognised and demanded by consumers across the world. The 14% increase takes the total sales of Fairtrade products up to £1.78 billion. The one area which has seen the most growth is Fairtrade sugar which has grown by some 20% in the last year alone. This was not only sales of sugar but the sugar being used in other products such as chocolate, and ice cream.
Not everything is positive however, take bananas, in the past ten years the price of bananas has halved and at the same time the cost of production has doubled. The major supermarkets have driven dowjn the price which may seem good to you and me saving a few pence when we buy our bananas but this is at a cost to people’s livelihoods. This is forming the basis of the Fairtrade Foundation campaign to make bananas fair and push back the damaging effect the unsustainable supermarket pricing practices in orser to protect he millions of poor farmers who grow our favorite fruit.
You may have seen Foncho (he’s the man with the plan), Albeiro Aldonso ‘Foncho’ Cantillo is a farmer from Cienaga Colombia who is part of a Fairtrade certified co-operative called Coobafiro. Being part of a Fairtrade co-operative he receives a fair price for his bananas, but not all farmers are so lucky so he is coming over to the UK to led his support to Fairtrade Fortnight
Sign the petition to Business Secretary Vince Cable to make bananas fair.

Read the Fairtrade Foundation report on Britain’s Bruising Banana Wars.