News, comment and features on fair trade, the the Fairtrade Foundation and trading conditions in developing countries
July 2024
Sick leaves: tea growers’ climate misery leads to jump in UK prices
Amid stagnant or falling yields producers across India and east Africa are being forced to adapt
April 2024
Father Frans van der Hoff obituary
Dutch missionary who co-founded the Fairtrade movement through guaranteeing prices for coffee farmers in Mexico
September 2023
Ethical fashion brand People Tree puts UK arm into liquidation, owing £8.5m
UK solar could be ‘dumping ground’ for products of Chinese forced labour, ministers warned
March 2023
‘They ransack our village for sport’: one Palestinian farmer’s story of Israeli settler violence
Fiona Beckett on drinks
Wines that taste good – and do good
February 2023
UK supermarkets expand budget Fairtrade ranges as demand grows
The ethical label has become mainstream, and is thriving despite the rising cost of living
September 2022
Consumer champions
Money is running out to pay for our Fairtrade products
Santander hasn’t transferred our balance to a new Lloyds account and we need it to pay Traidcraft
October 2021
Banana price war in UK supermarkets is hurting farmers, growers warn
The Audio Long Read
Food fraud and counterfeit cotton: the detectives untangling the global supply chain – podcast
September 2021
The long read
Food fraud and counterfeit cotton: the detectives untangling the global supply chain
The long read: Amid the complex web of international trade, proving the authenticity of a product can be near-impossible. But one company is taking the search to the atomic level
June 2021
Alastair Hanton obituary
Ethical banker whose innovations including direct debits and free accounts transformed financial services for the British public
February 2021
Fiona Beckett on drinks
Why South Africa's winemakers need our help now more than ever
Snap up Fairtrade Cape wines, help support beleaguered agricultural communities and get some choice tipples into the bargain ...
December 2020
UK public transport downturn to continue after pandemic ends
More than half of users will walk or cycle instead of taking buses and trains, Co-op survey finds
October 2020
Human rights in focus
Chocolate industry slammed for failure to crack down on child labour
Children as young as five still exposed to hazardous work in countries including Ghana and Ivory Coast, report reveals
September 2020
The global coffee market has had a rollercoaster year amid Covid crisis
Coffee sales around the world have fallen, risen and plunged again, hitting producers hard
July 2020
Notebook
Have a heart, KitKat, don't break with Fairtrade
Tim Adams
Nestlé is big in York, but the city is fighting the brand’s decision to make life harder for African cocoa farmers
June 2020
'Profoundly disappointing': KitKat cuts ties with Fairtrade
Fairtrade label guarantees farmers get a set minimum price and a financial bonus
March 2020
Other lives
Mark Hayes obituary
Other lives: Founder of a financial services cooperative for fair trade producers worldwide
February 2020
JD Wetherspoon to serve only Fairtrade sugar in pubs
Move will boost market for fairly traded goods in the UK, worth about £1.6bn
