Retail sales of Fairtrade-certified products in Italy were worth €110.2 million last year, representing annual growth of 11%.
According to Fairtrade Italia, turnover has doubled over the past five years, with bananas accounting for the majority of sales (50%). Sugar is the second largest category, followed by cocoa and coffee.
The first Fairtrade-certified bananas were introduced to the shelves of Italian supermarkets in 2002, with sales growing to over 11,000 tonnes by 2016. The consumption of Fairtrade coffee has also grown significantly, experiencing an increase of 22% last year, thanks to overseas sales.
Fairtrade Programmes
Fairtrade Italia says that 2016 was the year of the 'definitive consolidation' of its Fairtrade programme, Marchi, which was launched in 2014 and enables companies to buy and use Fairtrade-certified raw materials, such as sugar and cocoa.
The premium generated, in addition to the 'fair price' paid to producers in 2016, rose to an estimated €1.3 million for major products. Globally, the premium reached €138 million.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
