The organisation mentioned it hopes to ship respectable incomes for employees on Fairtrade licensed plantations internationally and assist retailers, together with UK companies, to fulfil sustainability commitments.
It added that greater than 35,658 employees and farmers employed by 265 Fairtrade banana producers stand to learn from the motion.
“We hope more UK companies will partner with us in the journey towards achieving living wages for the people behind the bananas that are much loved by British consumers.”
She added: “Our new initiative represents a clear and tangible step forward in the drive to deliver decent wages for workers who grow Fairtrade bananas.”
Fairtrade has additionally developed a brand new banana dashboard with all the required information to allow merchants and retailers to report progress again to their stakeholders.
The initiative combines three parts – the Fairtrade Minimum Price (FMP), Living Wage Reference Price and Fairtrade Living Wage Differential (LWD) – designed to assist shut the residing wage hole.
The publicly out there LWRP is calculated by Fairtrade to find out what a typical farmer family with a viable farm dimension and a sustainable productiveness stage wants to be able to earn a residing revenue from the gross sales of their crop.
The Fairtrade Minimum Price is the additional quantity earned by promoting on Fairtrade phrases and the Fairtrade Living Wage Differential is an extra voluntary fee per field of bananas bought, as a contribution in the direction of a full residing wage.
An elected employees’ Premium Committee on every plantation can distribute more money funds from the Fairtrade Premium to shut the residing wage hole.
As a part of the launch, Fairtrade has additionally introduced a median improve of 0.2% within the Fairtrade Minimum Price for “free on board” bananas – the acquisition value for importing merchants – which comes into impact from January 2024.
Our distinctive provide is a recreation changer for employees, merchants and retailers
The Fairtrade Premium – the extra 82p per field of bananas bought – stays unchanged, the organisation added.
Silvia Campos, Fairtrade International’s senior adviser for bananas, mentioned: “Our key commercial partners are increasingly demanding the tools and the data to enable them to fulfil their commitments to pay a fair price so that banana workers can earn a living wage.
“Our unique offer is a game changer for workers, traders and retailers.
“Fairtrade is working to strengthen protection for banana producers, workers and their families as they struggle to cope with mounting economic costs, climate change, human rights risks and the need to adopt more sustainable agricultural practices.
“Despite some slight reductions in the price of fuel and fertilisers, banana producers are still suffering from post-pandemic losses.
“They simply can’t afford to pay higher wages or invest in the future of their farms.”
Marike de Pena, president of the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Fair Trade Small Producers and Workers , mentioned: “The combination of an updated minimum price and a commitment by many of our major commercial partners is a real cause for optimism.
“Fairtrade’s unique offer is a win for plantation workers and a win for traders and retailers. I believe this service will lead to more companies sourcing more bananas under Fairtrade terms.”
