Fairtrade bananas are All Good in NZ

By Harriet Lamb, Executive Director, Fairtrade Foundation

I am going from Auckland, biggest city on North Island to the South Island for just an overnight stop so you would think a tiny bag would do it. But no – now it seems I carry more for one night than I used for one year. For we are running from meeting businesspeople and journalists to Government Minister to school kids to academics to receptions…I am in New Zealand to learn and to share. There’s an energy and enthusiasm for Fairtrade here which is infectious and sales grew more than 100% last year. New Zealand campaigners have been notching up a few firsts – they are keen on banana bread here so a Fairtrade version is a natural; and Fairtrade chocolate custard is also a first – though I haven’t tracked any down yet… shame…

Another great idea I’m bringing back is a ‘Keep Cup’ – a sturdy, insulated cup which you use whenever you want a take-away coffee. The campaign to make Auckland a Fairtrade City has branded their own Keep Cups and I’m bringing one back home with me. 

Fairtrade bananas were launched here for the first time just over a year ago and have been flying off the shelves. They have already bitten into over 2 percent of the banana market, with a million bunches sold in year one alone. The bananas come from El Guabo in Ecuador, who were among the very first smallholder groups to launch Fairtrade.

It has been a tough battle. Their first idea was to have bananas from the Pacific islands with whom people here feel a natural affinity – but they couldn’t get it to work. Then for over a year, All Good, the Kiwi importers, could not get any of the container shipping boats to bring the Fairtrade bananas to Auckland as all the shippers had deals with the banana big-boys. But they’re there now and growing – changing the world one banana at a time.