Sales of bananas at Sainsbury’s have risen 6% in the year since it switched all its bananas to Fairtrade. The retailer now sells 1,000 bananas a minute, with sales of the fruit at an all-time high, it claimed.

Sainsbury’s revealed the rise this week as it marked the first anniversary of its Fair Development Fund. This week stores began selling food from producers in developing countries, who applied for grants at the fund’s launch one year ago. Produce from Uganda, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia was the first to hit shelves.

Run by Comic Relief and financed by Sainsbury’s, the £1m fund aims to support producers in some of the poorest countries to meet Fairtrade standards. A grant of £178,000 went to supplier Twin Trading, towards equipment for nut producers in Mozambique, Zambia and Malawi, to improve product quality and increase efficiency. Another project is helping remote Ugandan smallholders gain Fairtrade certification for dried fruit, thanks to £113,875 it received through fair trade supplier Fullwell Mill.

“The projects have meant new producers have found a sustainable route to market. We’ve worked with them to produce great food that millions of our customers can now enjoy,” said Sainsbury’s chief executive Justin King.