Fairtrade Banana Challenge exceeds goal ‹ Fruchtportal
November 15, 2022
10 million Fairtrad bananas were consumed throughout Austria in just one month – in the end it was even more than 10.9 million. A result that gives pleasure and shows for the future is possible.
Photo © FAIRTRADE Austria
The FAIRTRADE market share of bananas is currently around 28 percent, over 90 percent of which are organic at the same time. The majority of the yellow fruits come to us from Latin America, for example from Ecuador or Peru. It is up to 10 million meters from Austria and this is where the FAIRTRADE Banana Challenge was started. From October 5th to November 5th a virtual bridge should be built from here to Latin America. Each banana symbolizes one meter on the way from Europe to its tropical origin.
The campaign was supported by our numerous trading partners, but also by a committed civil society, who drew attention to the challenge in a variety of ways in supermarkets, in schools, communities and at events and diligently consumed FAIRTRADE bananas. “It’s always nice to see what can be achieved when everyone pulls together and pursues a common goal. But the real challenge is only beginning now – namely to continue this great development in such a way that consumers always reach for FAIRTRADE bananas,” says Hartwig Kirner, Managing Director of FAIRTRADE Austria.
Anniversary for FAIRTRADE bananas
Fair trade bananas have been on domestic shelves for 20 years. They come from plantations and smallholder cooperatives and sustainably improve the living and working conditions of the people in cultivation. FAIRTRADE bananas make a big difference, because conventional bananas in this country often cost only half as much as local apples, even though they have traveled the world. The consequences are low income, a lack of social security and environmental destruction in cultivation. To support people at the beginning of the supply chain, FAIRTRADE relies on minimum prices, unionization and a basic salary for workers. In the previous year, the producer organizations benefited from direct income estimated at 21.7 million US dollars. Nevertheless, it is important, especially in the current times of crisis, to further increase sales of fairly traded bananas in order to ensure stable income and wages. A goal that each and every one of us can support with a daily consumption decision. The FAIRTRADE banana sales alone during the Challenge period generated an additional FAIRTRADE premium of over US$155,000 in one month, which is used locally for important community projects.
More information about FAIRTRADE Banana Challenge Is there … here.
Source: FAIRTRADE Austria
Release date: 11/15/2022