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Everybody knows
more than 60 Fairtrade Town groups around the country.
The newly elected Irish Government committed itself to
“sourcing goods on Fairtrade terms wherever possible”,
A message from Peter
which is a very good example to others. And, increasingly,
companies in wealthy countries such as Ireland are realis-
Gaynor, executive director,
ing that better business for Third World producers is also
better business for them. Examples of this trend include:
Fairtrade Mark Ireland
• Robert Roberts, which recently announced all of its retail
black tea will carry the FAIRTRADE Mark. It estimates
this will increase its Fairtrade tea sales by 90pc this year
AS Leonard Cohen, the American songwriter, put it: • The Lidl supermarket chain, which has announced it is
“Everybody knows, everybody knows, old black Joe is still converting all of its organic bananas to Fairtrade. This
picking cotton for your ribbons and bows, everybody should quadruple the volumes of Fairtrade bananas sold
knows”. There is and should be a profound challenge to the in its stores
status quo that elevates consumers to the status of gods and • Dunnes Stores, which has just launched an own-label
companies to the status of overlords while relegating the range of towels made from Fairtrade-certified cotton
producers of many products to the status of non-persons. • The Jack & Jones fashion chain, which is now supplying
Fairtrade attempts to rebalance these relationships so a whole range of Fairtrade-certified cotton clothing
that as consumers/citizens, we can take more responsibil- • Companies such as Bewley’s, Java Republic Roasting
ity for the goods we buy from Third World producers; com- Company and Fyffes are continuing to develop new
panies can profit from responsible supply chains and con- Fairtrade-certified products, and sales grew by 74pc in
tribute to development; and producers can participate in 2007.
international trade as equal partners. Everybody knows Fairtrade makes a difference. It
The good news is that 2007 was another interesting year doesn’t change the world on its own, but it contributes to
for Fairtrade in Ireland and internationally. Many things improvements in the lives of hundreds of thousands of
happened that we hadn’t expected, and there are now
Photograph by
Third World producers. On behalf of those producers we
more opportunities than ever to change the way trade is
Rock Photography
would like to thank the thousands of people in Ireland —
conducted with small farmers and workers in developing Peter Gaynor, executive director, Fairtrade Mark Ireland the volunteers, the educators, the people in towns and
countries. The bad news is that Fairtrade is still very parishes around the country, the companies and everybody
small! Some of the initiatives taken by individuals, compa- Choco is an indigenous Mayan from Belize who works with who buys products with the FAIRTRADE Mark — for their
nies and the Irish Government are highlighted in this the Toledo Cocoa Growers’ Association. Nimrod Wambette continuing support. During Fairtrade Fortnight 2008, as
supplement. is a member of the Gumutindo Coffee Co-operative Armando, Nimrod and Yahya tell their stories around the
Fairtrade Mark Ireland is proud to have representatives Enterprise in Uganda, and Yahya Msangi works with the country, hopefully more people will realise there is
of Fairtrade-certified coffee, cocoa and tea producers visit- Tanzania Plantation and Agricultural Workers’ Union. something constructive we can all do: Change Today —
ing Ireland during Fairtrade Fortnight 2008. Luis Armando In the past year some progress was made. There are now Choose Fairtrade!
Editor: Sorcha Corcoran Group sales manager: Trish Murphy
Editorial email:
T: 01 6251425
editorial@whitespace.ie Design: Emmanuel Tubbiolo
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“The views expressed herein are those © Whitespace Publishing Group 2008
of Fairtrade Mark Ireland and can in no
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opinion of Irish Aid”
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