Selected stories from Ethical Consumer 105, March/April 2007

Ethical Consumerism on the up and up
More money was spent in the UK in 2005 on ethical consumerism than on retail tobacco and alcohol, according to the Co-operative Bank’s annual Ethical Consumerism Report. The report has tracked British consumers’ ethical spending in the UK annually since 1999.

Growth Market
The value of the ethical sector continues to show steady growth, with an increase of 11% from 2004 to 2005. Over the same period, overall household expenditure increased by only 1.4 per cent. The sector has a total market value of £29.3 billion, up from around £8 billion
in 1999.

Both the organic and the fairtrade markets showed huge growth from the previous year (30.5% and 38.3% respectively), demonstrating the extent to which issues around food production and trade justice have entered popular consumer consciousness. The organic market is now worth over £1.5 billion. Despite the massive leap, fairtrade still only accounts for £195m of sales out of total UK food and drink spending of £67 billion, demonstrating how far there is to go to an equitable global market. Spending on ethical food overall was up 18 per cent from £4.6 billion to £5.4 billion.

Growth in Forest Stewardship sustainable timber slowed to 7.1% after a fourfold increase in market value between 2002 and 2003. The ethical finance market, which includes banking, investments, credit unions and shareholdings is now worth £11.6 billion, a steady increase of 8.7% on 2004.

Energy Market
Spending on green energy leaped ahead by 42.1%, but still only amounted to a market of £54m in 2005. When compared to total value of household expenditure on energy - £18.3 billion - it suggests there is a long way to go before the threat of climate change translates into the simple action of changing energy supplier. Perhaps surprisingly, compared to this figure, the value of the home micro-generation market increased by a quarter to £26m.

Maturing Market
Just over half of consumers avoided a product or service on the basis of company reputation, which translated into valuing boycotts at around £3.7bn. Conversely 61% of consumers made a positive choice on the basis of company reputation. In 1999 however the figure was not substantially lower at 55%. There has not been much of an increase in number of ethical consumers therefore, rather that those consumers make far more purchasing decisions on an ethical basis. The maturity of the market, bringing with it availability, quality and choice, is surely a determining factor.

A Supported Market?
Despite these encouraging figures Co-op Executive Director of Business Management Craig Shannon sounded a note of caution:
"Total ethical spending is spread over a wide range of products and services, and in very few markets has it become the market norm. Overall, spend on ethical foods still only accounts for 5% of the typical shopping basket. Where the ethical or eco-choice has become the market leader, for example in sales of A-rated energy fridges (which account for some 60 per cent of the market), this has been underpinned by an EU labelling scheme, inefficient products being removed from sale and the support of well targeted subsidies.

If, as many scientists are saying, we have ten years to make a dent in climate change, it is this type of radical overhaul of the choices made available to people that is going to deliver the rapid market changes required. The efforts of far-sighted, highly motivated consumers need to be leveraged and supported with business innovation and government intervention."

More statistics on the rise of ethical consumerism are available from the Co-operative Bank's website.


Fairtrade Fortnight
Fairtrade Fortnight, the annual promotional campaign of the Fairtrade Foundation, which encourages people to buy products carrying the Fairtrade Mark, takes place this year from 26th February until 11th March. The theme this year is 'Change Today, Choose Fairtrade', an urgent call to people in the UK to engage with the Fairtrade Foundation's vision of an even bigger movement for positive change on unfair trade.

The estimated retail value of sales of Fairtrade products in the UK in 2005 was £195m, a 40% increase on 2004. The Fairtrade Foundation expects sales of products with the Fairtrade Mark to at least maintain the pace of recent years, doubling every two years.

During Fairtrade Fortnight last year around 10,000 events were held, from fashion shows and football matches to concerts and exhibitions. Tastings of Fairtrade products were held in churches, mosques, synagogues, schools, universities, supermarkets and workplaces. Throughout 2006, there has been a host of major developments for Fairtrade in the UK. One of the main successes has been an increase to 210 in the number of Fairtrade Towns. There are also 50 Fairtrade Universities and 3,000 Fairtrade Churches. Fairtrade bananas currently make up 7.9% of the UK banana market by value. Fairtrade roast and ground coffee now accounts for around 20% of the market and Fairtrade pineapples 5.2%. Over 2,000 Fairtrade certified products are now available.

For resources, such as an Action Guide and events listings, visit the Fairtrade Foundation website

Go to the Ethiscore website to see our Top 20 Fairtrade products - those that come top of the table in all areas of corporate and social responsibility.

Fashion victims
War on Want’s new report, ‘Fashion Victims’, finds that workers in Bangladesh are regularly working 80 hours a week for just 5p an hour to produce cheap clothes for British consumers of Primark, Tesco and Asda’s ‘George’ range.

Primark, Tesco and Asda have all made public commitments to the payment of a living wage to suppliers – commonly calculated to be a minimum £22 a month in Bangladesh. Yet starting wages in the factories researched for War on Want’s report were as little as £8 a month, barely a third of the living wage.

Primark, Tesco and Asda have also pledged that their suppliers must not be required to work more than 48 hours a week on a regular basis, and should have at least one day off in seven on average. But workers interviewed for War on Want’s report can toil up to 96 hours a week – double the supposed maximum – and often lose their day off. Factory owners have forced staff to work up to 140 hours a month overtime, often unpaid, or face dismissal.

Primark, Tesco and Asda have given their commitment to fair treatment for suppliers’ workers. But employees interviewed for War on Want’s report said their managers had been given prior notice of these companies’ social audits, and workers themselves had been bullied by their bosses to lie about their pay, hours and safety.

Louise Richards, Chief Executive of War on Want, said: “Bargain retailers such as Primark, Asda and Tesco are only able to sell at rock bottom prices in the UK because women workers in Bangladesh are being exploited. The companies are not even living up to their own commitments towards their overseas suppliers. The Labour government must bring in effective regulation to end such shameful practices.”
Asda’s ‘George’ range is also the focus of the Clean Up Fashion campaign that EC discussed in issue 104.

War in Want is asking supporters to:
• buy ethical clothes that will last a long time. Check out our urban fashion and sportswear reports on Ethiscore. EC's Clothes Shops report in issue 98 also contained an Alternative Clothing Directory. The report costs £3.75 and can be ordered by telephoning 0161 226 2929.
• contact the companies (addresses in the report)
• write to the UK government and call on them to support regulation of UK companies

Download War on Want's report or ring 020 7549 0555 for more information.




Doomsday clock moves closer to midnight
In January, The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS) moved the minute hand of its closely watched 'Doomsday Clock' two minutes closer to midnight. It is now 5 minutes to midnight.

The move reflects growing concerns about a 'Second Nuclear Age' marked by worsening threats, including: nuclear ambitions in Iran and North Korea, unsecured nuclear materials in Russia and elsewhere, the continuing 'launch-ready' status of 2,000 of the 25,000 nuclear weapons held by the U.S. and Russia, escalating terrorism, and new pressure from climate change for expanded civilian nuclear power that could increase proliferation risks.

This will be the first change to the Doomsday Clock since February 2002, in the aftermath of 9/11. It also marks the first time that climate change has been factored into an adjustment of the hands of the clock. For more information, see the bulletin.

Replace animal experiments in Europe
A massive pan-European petition has recently been launched calling on the European Union to increase action on replacing animal experiments with non-animal techniques. The petition is in response to the current revision of Directive 86/609/EEC, Europe’s 20 year old legislation governing animal experiments. Political pressure is needed to encourage EU legislators to do everything they can to maximise non-animal research efforts.

The petition has been launched by the Dr Hadwen Trust for Humane Research, the UK’s leading non-animal medical research charity, and is supported by leading animal protection organisations across Europe. In the UK the Dr Hadwen Trust’s petition is being supported by leading UK animal and patient advocacy groups - Advocates for Animals, Animal Aid, Europeans for Medical Progress, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and Uncaged.

Sign the petition today and use the ‘email a friend’ facility to forward the petition to other interested parties.



Starbucks - Fair Trade for Ethiopia?

In 2000, the US Organic Consumers Association (OCA) called for a boycott of Starbucks over a number of issues including the company's then refusal to brew Fair Trade coffee. Starbucks eventually responded to OCA protests and announced it would make Fair Trade coffee available “upon request“ in all of its stores. According to the OCA, Starbucks rarely follows this policy. Today, with just 3.7% of Starbucks’ coffee fairtrade, the OCA suggests consumers take the “Starbucks Challenge“. Visit your local Starbucks, ask for a cup of Fair Trade coffee, and let the OCA know how it went.

The limitations of the company’s commitment to fair trade were recently highlighted when it lobbied the US to turn down Ethiopia’s applications to trademark its three regional coffee varieties. Oxfam suggest that obtaining the trademarks would significantly raise the incomes of many of the 15 million Ethiopians who are dependent on the coffee trade.

The Ethiopian varieties, used in Starbucks’ premium line, sell for up to $26 a pound - producers receive only 5 to 10% of the retail price. After Oxfam took up Ethiopia’s cause in a media campaign, generating some 70,000 complaints to the company so far, Starbucks launched a media counter-offensive. Pressure has further mounted on the company with the release in the US of 'Black Gold,' a documentary following a representative of 74,000 struggling Ethiopian coffee growers as he travels the world in an attempt to find buyers willing to pay a fair price. To date no agreement has been reached between Starbucks and the Ethiopian government on the trademark issue.

For news about boycotts of Starbucks, see the Boycott News pages.

OCA Starbucks campaign resources are available online or by calling 001-218-226-4164. For Oxfam’s campaign to tell Starbucks to give Ethiopian farmers a fair price go to Oxfam or call 0870 333 2700. 'Black Gold' is released in the UK this year.

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