Fair trade packaging often has to work harder than any other kind on the shelf. Not only does it need to communicate its fair trade message clearly and concisely to consumers, but it also needs to stand out from the masses by creating a striking brand presence.

It's not an easy task to achieve. "Product packaging for fair trade has to tread a careful balancing act.

"It has to give the ­consumer enough written information and pack visuals to encourage them to purchase this premium product, while at the same time not spending too much on packaging or being criticised for not delivering sufficient percentage return of retail price back to the producer," says Kate Sebag, sales director of fair trade food company Tropical Whole Foods.

Sylvie Barr, head of marketing at fair trade hot beverage company Cafédirect, adds: "Packaging pays a vital role - especially as we don't have the big marketing budgets of some of our competitors."

Cafédirect has a new image that evokes the idea of a 'virtuous circle'. Images of products and individual growers convey the brand's fair trade provenance.

Fair trade company Traidcraft also undertook a major packaging revamp, with its updated logo now carrying messages from individual growers.

And Divine chocolate's packaging received a facelift to herald the inclusion of 100% Fairtrade sugar last month. The new look also celebrates the brand's co-ownership by Kuapa Kokoo, the co-operative of Ghanian cocoa farmers.

The development of fair trade products is a complex process with tough certification standards, which means NPD takes longer than it would for conventional products.

Despite these challenges, a vast array of new lines entered the market last year.

Fair trade wine has perhaps been one of the most prominent of these.

Ehrmanns, a leading importer of fair trade wine into the UK, distributes three brands to supermarkets across the UK.

The Co-operative Group, one of the pioneers of own-label Fairtrade products, relaunched its entire Fairtrade wine range last year.

It also developed what it called "the largest fair trade project in the world" when it linked up with a South African co-operative, launched the UK's first Argentine wine and raised the bar by paying producers double the fair trade terms in these countries.

Other products to take their first steps on the fair trade stage last year were smoothies and fruit juices. The Natural Beverage Company became the first to launch a Fairtrade smoothie range, Fruit Hit, in October of last year.

The spice rack is another area into which the fair trade movement has spread over the past 12 months.

Bart Spices was one of the first to start supplying the supermarkets with Fairtrade spices in 2005, and a steady stream has followed.

There is also an increasing number of organic fair trade products entering the market. Cafédirect has launched an organic and Fairtrade instant coffee, while Venture Foods has introduced a range of organic, Fairtrade and vegan chocolate bars.

"More people are opting for organic and fair trade products, and a growing number are vegan or prefer to minimise dairy in their diet," says Mike Batten, director of Venture Foods.n