Swedish fashion retailer H&M has published its 2011 Conscious Actions Sustainability Report, marking 10 years of sustainability reporting at H&M. Highlights from the report are: More than 442 000 workers in Bangladesh have been trained on their rights by H&M since 2008
The Quality Council of India (QCI), the government body set up to promote quality, and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the world’s global standard for responsible forest management, have signed an agreement, which is aimed at promoting responsible forest management in India.
Fairtrade fruit juice, Fruit Passion, is to relaunch after a decade on British shelves. The juice brand which first appeared on shelves in 2000 is being relaunched to coincide with Fairtrade Fortnight. The launch will focus on Fruit Passion’s two popular flavours
The Co-operative Food claims it is putting its weight behind Fairtrade Fortnight 2012 (27 February-11 March 2012), with a host of offers on Fairtrade food and wine. The retailer is encouraging its customers to “take a step for Fairtrade” by offering
The Co-operative Food has extended its premium Truly Irresistible Fairtrade coffee range with four new varieties in time for Fairtrade Fortnight (27 February-11 March 2012). The new additions to the Fairtrade coffee range come from Kenya, Guatemala, Tanzania and Papua New Guinea. According to the retailer, each of the new products has
Mike Coupe, group commercial director at Sainsbury’s, picked the 2011 IGD Convention to announce the launch of the retailer’s 20:20 sustainability plan. It comprises 20 commitments in sustainable and healthy products including: To achieve £1bn in Fairtrade sales by 2020
Green chef and eco-entrepreneur, Arthur Potts Dawson, has teamed up with the utility company, Good Energy, to produce a kitchen guide, featuring energy efficient cooking tips and recipes. According to the guide, the kitchen accounts for over a third of
Bart Spices is launching a range of Fairtrade organic herbs in Tesco stores this week. The Bristol-based ingredients brand claims to be the first major herbs and spices supplier to bring Fairtrade certified herbs to the UK consumer. The move
Ethical plasters, designed by students from Bushey Meads School, are going on sale in Co-operative stores today (1 June 2011). The One Careplast plasters are the result of a nationwide competition to design the next One product for Global Ethics,
Fairtrade campaigners, including Marks & Spencer and Waitrose, have contributed to a world record-breaking line of Fairtrade bunting to highlight a campaign demanding fair trade justice for West African cotton farmers. The Fairtrade Foundation hung a total of 3.3km (two
Fairtrade nut company Liberation Foods is adding peanut butter to its range of Harry’s Nuts Fairtrade nutty products, which feature the comedian Harry Hill. The new Fairtrade Crunchy Peanut Butter will be listed in 190 Sainsbury’s stores from June 2011.
Prepared meals company, Easy Bean, is claiming a first with the launch of two Fairtrade ready meals. The products – African Palava and New Mexican Chilli – will be available at 100 Sainsbury’s stores from 18 May 2011 and in
Department store Selfridges is launching a campaign to challenge the public to imagine a world with ‘no more fish in the sea’. The Project Ocean initiative is being spearheaded by the retailer’s creative director, Alannah Weston, working in partnership with
The Co-operative Group has been named the UK’s most responsible retailer for the fourth year running at the Oracle Retail Week Awards 2011. The judges were impressed by the depth of retailer’s commitment to being a responsible business and the
Fairtrade sales increased to £1.17bn in 2010, up from £836m in 2009, according to the latest estimates from the Fairtrade Foundation released during Fairtrade Fortnight (28 February to 13 March 2011). UK shoppers are continuing to embrace Fairtrade, which is
The Co-operative Group is launching a three-year corporate ethical plan, which it claims will spearhead its membership drive from 6m to 20m members by 2020 and help build a more sustainable economy. It includes operational carbon reduction targets, which it
Tesco today pledged all its canned tuna will be caught by the pole-and-line method by the end of 2012. Tesco director for corporate and legal affairs, Lucy Neville-Rolfe said: “We’re delighted to announce we will be progressing to 100% pole-and-line
The Co-operative Group has announced today (7 January) it is backing the campaign to reduce the number of fish discarded in the seas around the UK. At present, half of all fish caught in the North Sea is being discarded
Waitrose is selling the first Fairtrade baked beans, produced by Geo Organics from white kidney beans grown by farmers in China. According to the Fairtrade Foundation, the beans come from farmers who belong to the Jurihe/Zhaluteqi Nature Village Farmer Association,
Fairtrade promoter, The Fairtrade Foundation, is mounting a campaign on Facebook to promote its Show Off Your Label theme for next year’s Fairtrade Fortnight (28 February–13 March 2011) and is calling on retailers, licencees and businesses to show off their
The Co-operative Group is claiming a world first today with the launch of Fairtrade blueberries. The Fairtrade blueberries come from Blue Mountain Berries, a Fairtrade-certified co-operative in South Africa. Established in 2006, Blue Mountain Berries is a 70ha southern highbush
The Fairtrade Foundation is encouraging big name designers to design with Fairtrade cotton to mark the fifth anniversary of the ethically sourced product. It has put together an exhibition of celebrity photographs, wearing Fairtrade cotton clothes, taken by Trevor Leighton,
Bicester has become the 500th Fairtrade town today. The Oxfordshire town joins a growing international Fairtrade towns movement, which spans 19 countries and unites capital cities such as Rome, Brussels, Paris and London with small market towns and remote Scottish
Consumer demand for sustainable food and drink continues to grow in the US and suppliers are meeting the need, according to Mintel’s Global New Products Database (GNPD), which has tracked more than 13,000 new sustainable food and drink products since
Sustainability is the biggest challenge for Nestle, according to its CEO Paul Grimwood. Speaking at the 2010 IGD Convention this week, Grimwood highlighted dramatic climate and population change forecasts and water scarcity. Grimwood revealed calls to its business relating to
