Bananas

The most significant change we've seen since Ethical Consumer last covered bananas in 1999 is the increased availability of Fairtrade Foundation approved fruit. Now sold in many supermarkets and some smaller shops, the ethical frontrunners here are those from the Windward Isles, where all bananas are marketed via an organisation comprising of island governments and growers' co-operatives. Even better on the Ethiscore table are those fair trade Windwards bananas which are also certified organic.

More controversially, Chiquita, one of the world's largest banana companies, has also started selling Fair Trade certified fruit. Once the bugbear of labour activists, Chiquita is now receiving some cautious welcomes from environmental and labour rights groups for progress made on some of its plantations. Although the changes it has made may be viewed with caution, it still manages to come out ahead of Bonita (Noboa), Del Monte and Dole, all of which have shown little sign of taking the concerns of workers, environmentalists and consumers seriously.