Fairtrade business worth £1.1bn

Sales of Fairtrade products in the UK have soared by 40% over the last year billion despite the tough economic climate.

Britain is the world's biggest consumer of ethical goods, according to the Fairtrade Foundation which supports farmers, workers and their families in the developing countries.

Britons consume 9.3 million cups of fairtrade tea, 6.4 million cups of coffee, 2.3 million chocolate bars, 530,000 cups of drinking chocolate and 3.1million bananas every day.

Sales of these products in the UK were worth £1.1 billion last year, compared with £836 million in 2009, the foundation revealed.

New categories are growing, with more than one million cosmetic products using Fairtrade ingredients also being sold in 2010.

Lifeline

Chief executive Harriet Lamb, launching Fairtrade Fortnight,  said: "It is fantastic to break the first billion. Fairtrade is going from strength to strength because the public want it.

"It makes business sense and, most importantly, because it's working for the millions of farmers, workers and their families who see Fairtrade as their lifeline in these tough times. They will be cheering to know that UK shoppers and businesses still care.

"The challenges of global poverty and inequality are more serious than ever," she added. "Especially for the farmers who grow the coffee, tea, bananas, rice or cotton on which we depend here in the UK."

There are community campaigns in more than 500 towns as well as thousands of schools and universities and faith groups in Britain.

Major companies have introduced Fairtrade products including Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolate, all Starbucks espresso-based coffee, Nestle's four-finger KitKat, Sainsbury's tea, coffee and sugar, Morrison's roast and ground coffee, Tesco Finest Tea and Tate & Lyle retail sugar.

The Co-op has a long-standing commitment to Fairtrade and has been supporting it ever since the trademark was introduced in 1994.