The Heart of England Co-operative Society – the area’s leading supermarket supporter of Fairtrade – is set to introduce the world’s first fairly traded charcoal, working in partnership with Traidcraft.

Produced in Namibia, the fairly-traded charcoal provides valuable employment for about 1,000 producers. The production is controlled by the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC), which means that only surplus trees are cut down, allowing overgrown land to become productive again.

At present there are no international Fairtrade standards for charcoal products. But on identifying the opportunity for enhanced producer support, the Co-operative liaised with Traidcraft – the UK’s leading independent fair trade organisation – to help develop independent standards that reflect the recognised Fairtrade model. The fairly-traded status means that the producers have contracts, are provided with free kilns and typically receive three times the minimum wage. A social premium will also be generated by sales of the charcoal, which will go towards community projects. A committee of producers will be set up by Traidcraft, which will democratically decide how the money will be spent to help benefit and enrich the community.

The Heart of England Co-operative Society hopes that before too long appropriate standards will be developed to allow the products to carry the Fairtrade mark.

The fairly-traded charcoal will roll out into selected Heart of England Co-operative Society stores from April 20 and consists of the following products.

The Co-operative fairly-traded instant barbecue with stand - £1.99 or three for £5
The Co-operative fairly-traded instant party size instant barbecue with stand - £4.99
The Co-operative fairly-traded instant lighting charcoal 3kg - £3.99

Peter Fletcher, Deputy General Manager Food of the Society, said: “This is another example of the Society taking a leadership position and identifying opportunities for growers and producers whose products do not yet have Fairtrade standards applied to them.

“The Co-operative was the first high street retailer to list Cafedirect back in 1992, two years before it received official Fairtrade certification. And in 2001 we worked in partnership with Traidcraft to launch the very first fairly-traded wines. Following this internationally agreed Fairtrade wine standards were developed and our wines soon began to carry the Fairtrade Mark. We hope that our pioneering work on charcoal will once again open up market access for suppliers in Africa and allow them to capitalise on the ever increasing demand for Fairtrade products.”

The Co-operative’s supplier of charcoal, Rectella Bar-Be-Quick, has also played a key role in this new venture having taken inspiration from the Co-operative’s other Fairtrade initiatives over the past few years and the retailer’s desire to broaden the range of Fairtrade products available to Co-operative customers.

For further information log on to www.co-operative.coop/food/ethics
 or call the Co-operative Customer Careline on 0800 0686 727.