THE RAPID GROWTH OF SUSTAINABLE MARKETS
17.11.2010 - A UN-backed report from the Geneva-based Reuters Agency shows how the market for sustainable products, such as those with the Fairtrade label, have expanded rapidly and are growing much faster than those for conventional goods. Amongst the findings:
- sales of certified sustainable coffee more than quintupled in 2009 to 392.347 tonnes - representing more than 8% of global coffee exports and 17% of global coffee production
- sustainable cocoa sales more than tripled to 46.869 tonnes in 2008 from 13.473 in 2003
- sustainable tea production has grown more than 50 times to 281.105 tonnes in 2009 from less than 5.000 tonnes in 2004
- sustainable banana sales rose to 3.48 million tonnes in 2009 from 2.13 million tonnes in 2004
The report says that these initiatives are bringing greater transparency to global supply chains and are opening up decision-making in supply chains to developing countries' stakeholders, who usually have significant representation at board levels.
