14 July 2017

Sainsbury’s: don’t ditch Fairtrade!


Sainsbury's is the largest retailer of Fairtrade products in the UK. But they’ve decided to drop the Fairtrade Mark from their own-brand tea and replace it with their own 'Fairly Traded' label instead.

Sainsbury’s has abandoned Fairtrade certification to set up its own pilot scheme, saying they want to secure their supply chain. ‘Fairly Traded’ sounds a lot like Fairtrade, but it doesn’t have the same gold standards. It is self-run by Sainsbury’s but most importantly it takes control away from tea farmers.

The new scheme is untested, unverified and unwanted and the ‘Fairly Traded’ label is likely to mislead customers. This petition was started because we can’t let Sainsbury’s undermine Fairtrade’s incredible impact on the lives of millions of farmers. 'Fairly Traded' is not my cup of tea!

Over 220,000 tea producers are affected by Sainsbury’s decision and their concerns about it have been blatantly ignored. In an open letter to Sainsbury’s, farmers said: ‘We told Sainsbury’s loud and clear: your model will bring about disempowerment. We are extremely concerned about the power and control that Sainsbury’s seeks to exert over us.’

Please read more here & sign the petition. Thank you.


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