Harriet Lamb reflects on 2011 and looks forward to 2012

Harriet Lamb, Executive Director, Fairtrade Foundation

Pheww what a year. It’s been tough for everyone – for so many in the UK and too many among our producer partners, hit by storms real and economic. And yet so much achieved in the last twelve months!

Sales hit the billion pound mark, Fairtrade gold was launched, with a Fairtrade church taking it one step further and gilding their weather vane, we broke the Guinness Book of Records with the longest piece of bunting and hit 1000 Fairtrade Towns globally, while – good news for all those with sweet teeth - Green & Blacks and Ben & Jerry’s brought their entire ranges to Fairtrade worldwide.

There’s no letting up in 2012 either. It will be twenty years since the Fairtrade Foundation was founded by NGOs Oxfam, Christian Aid, National Federation of Women’s Institutes, Cafod, World Development Movement and Traidcraft Exchange. So much has changed since then. In fact, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose are celebrating 5 years of offering their customers only Fairtrade bananas.

And yet so much has barely changed at all. Which is why we’re asking everyone to Take A Step for Fairtrade in 2012. Buy Fairtrade coffee on the way to work, look for Fairtrade wines or flowers, rice or nuts, tell your colleagues about Fairtrade or hold an event – and then come online and add the step you have taken to support Fairtrade to our ‘Step-o-meter’. We’re chasing 1.5 million steps registered online – to match the number of farmers and workers we hope to reach. The Step-o-meter goes live in February, but you can already find out more about the campaign at www.fairtrade.org.uk/step.

Meanwhile, so many producers are constantly knocking on our door asking to join. In 2012, we hope to launch the first Fairtrade certified seafood, shrimps from producers in Indonesia and Thailand, so watch this space. Maltesers will be going Fairtrade in the summer and then of course there’s the London 2012 Olympics. Thanks to the Organising Committee’s Food Vision, on site all the bananas, tea, coffee, sugar and most chocolate will be Fairtrade. Sounds fair to me. Though I am still sad that I didn’t get any tickets at all in the ballot. Still should be fun to cheer on the street events. And I really hope a local Fairtrade campaigner gets to carry the Olympic torch in the nationwide relay – as so many campaigners really are local heros achieving Olympian-scale success in putting Fairtrade on the map.

From all at the Fairtrade Foundation, a very happy and peaceful New Year!