Sainsbury’s has ditched its controversial in-house Fairly Traded tea accreditation scheme.
The label was introduced in 2017 on its Gold and Red Label teas as a lower-priced alternative to Fairtrade, claiming it would benefit both farmers and customers “on the basis of a secure and sustainable supply chain”.
But it faced fierce criticism from charities including Banana Link, Oxfam, CAFOD, Christian Aid, Traidcraft and The WI – who accused it of “risking Fairtrade’s lifeline for the world’s poorest tea producers”.
In an open letter to the supermarket, a group of Fairtrade Africa tea producers said they were “extremely concerned about the power and control Sainsbury’s seeks to exert over us”. And a petition to stop Sainsbury’s from binning the Fairtrade mark garnered over 100,000 signatures, with the NGO-led campaign culminating in a series of protests held outside the supermarket chain’s annual general meeting in July 2017.
As a result, fears that the scheme would be extended to other categories such as bananas, coffee and sugar – which could spark “a race to the bottom” if other retailers followed its lead, said the charities – never materialised as Sainsbury’s backtracked.
The Grocer understands that a decision was taken early last year to move all Gold and Red Label tea SKUs from Fairly Traded to Rainforest Alliance.
It was the “natural next step for the pilot”, a Sainsbury’s spokeswoman said.
“We launched our Fairly Traded tea pilot over three years ago to understand how we could better support our tea producers while bringing sustainable and delicious tea to our customers.
“We’ve learned a lot in that time and are working with the Rainforest Alliance to continue this work and collaborate on new and exciting projects and initiatives.”
The supermarket added it was seeing through all ongoing Fairly Traded projects to completion, and would continue to have support teams in Kenya, Malawi and Rwanda for producers on the ground.
“The overwhelming majority of our producers are already Rainforest Alliance certified so the transition has caused minimal disruption,” the spokeswoman added.
The Rainforest Alliance said it was “excited to support Sainsbury’s” when they showed interest in transitioning to the Rainforest Alliance certification programme in early 2021. It added the process had been “smooth” as the producer organisations and tea estates that supplied the grocer with their Fairly Traded tea were all also Rainforest Alliance certified.
“We look forward to continuing our partnership with Sainsbury’s, working with tea producers to continuously develop their businesses, improve their livelihoods, promote their human rights and help them mitigate and adapt to climate change,” said RA strategic account manager for UK&I, Michel Harms.
One of the activists that spearheaded the 2017 campaign said the move to Rainforest Alliance was “a downgrade” as the organisation did not guarantee a non-negotiable independently set minimum price for farmers to cover their cost of production, as well as a fixed premium – which Fairtrade does.
“Rainforest Alliance certification offers nowhere near the same protection and benefits to producers and workers as Fairtrade does,” said Alistair Smith, international co-ordinator for NGO Banana Link.
“Sainsbury’s switch from its Fairly Traded badge to a Rainforest Alliance one shows that it was not prepared to undertake the challenge that is to deliver social justice and equity for farmers while maintaining resilience within local supply chains and building credibility amongst customers.”
According to Kantar’s Fairtrade consumer insights 2021 report, three quarters of consumers claim that they would have a more positive impression of a branded product if it began carrying the Fairtrade label.
Sainsbury’s is currently stocking over 20 own-label Fairtrade tea SKUs, and its Taste the Difference tea range continues to be Fairtrade certified. It has also introduced a number of lines through the Fairtrade Sourced Ingredient (FSI) certification model in the last year, including the Raspberry Infused Earl Grey and Cocoa and Coconut Rooibos Infusion lines.
Despite Sainsbury’s’ decision not to revert to the Fairtrade certification for the tea products in question the Fairtrade Foundation insisted Sainsbury’s “remains a committed Fairtrade partner”.
“We noted, with interest, Sainsbury’s move from Fairly Traded to Rainforest Alliance, and we are pleased that this move has had no negative impact on Sainsbury’s Fairtrade tea volumes or lines,” said Fairtrade Foundation head of responsible business Anna Barker.
“[Sainsbury’s] have a long history of support for Fairtrade, having sold Fairtrade licensed products since 1994, and raise millions of pounds in Fairtrade Premium for farmers annually through their Fairtrade banana, tea, coffee, sugar and wine sales.”
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