Sugar company Tate and Lyle makes Fairtrade commitment
The agreement should help sugar cane farmers in Belize
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Saturday, 23, Feb 2008 02:37
Sugar company Tate and Lyle has made a commitment to make all of its retail products Fairtrade by 2009.
Tate and Lyle made the announcement as it begins the launch of its first variety of sugar which will come from Fairtrade sources.
The one kilogram bag of cane sugar has been sourced from farms in Belize and has been accredited by Fairtrade who worked with the company and producers for the last two years to set up the agreement.
Around 70,000 tonnes of sugar cane is expected to be exported to Tate and Lyle in the first year alone and the company hopes to expand the Fairtrade sugar to all its brands in the future.
Steven Hermiston, retail sales and marketing director of Tate and Lyle Sugars, said: "We are only at the beginning of the journey but are ambitious to have all our retail cane sugar range bearing the Fairtrade mark by the end of 2009.
Today's announcement makes Tate and Lyle the largest UK company to carry the Fairtrade logo and will increase the value of the Fairtrade sugar sector from £4 million a year to an estimated £60 million in 2008.
Harriet Lamb, executive director of the Fairtrade foundation was delighted with the deal and claimed it was the best way to start the Fairtrade fortnight campaign.
She said: "The conversion of such an iconic household brand to Fairtrade means many more people will be able to choose Fairtrade sugar every time they shop, confident in the knowledge that small farmers in Belize are able to improve their lives and their communities as a result."
Tate and Lyle's Fairtrade sugar will only be available in Waitrose and Nisa stores to begin with before being made available in other outlets.