Retailers, licensees and commercial companies are gearing up for Fairtrade Fortnight which runs from February 23 to March 8.

The theme is Make it Happen. Choose Fairtrade. This urgent call is pertinent this year as the Fairtrade Foundation is one year into its ambitious five-year strategy,

Tipping the Balance, which aims, by 2012, to enable twice as many producers to be benefiting from selling Fairtrade goods in the UK, while those already supplying the UK market should be able to double the proportion of the crop they sell through the Fairtrade system.

Fairtrade Fortnight presents companies with a unique opportunity to market Fairtrade and is the perfect time for companies to improve visibility at point-of-sale, or even consider extending their range of Fairtrade certified products.

There are now more than 4,500 Fairtrade mark products certified, over a wide range of product categories.

This is expected to include olive oil and cosmetics in the coming year as the Tipping the Balance strategy aims to increase sales four-fold by 2012, partly through the introduction of new product categories.

The Fairtrade Foundation is encouraging companies to build on the successes of last year’s Fairtrade Fortnight, which saw several all-important conversions to Fairtrade. Harriet Lamb, Fairtrade Foundation’s Executive Director said: “Fairtrade enables companies to put value back into products and engage consumer interest in attributes beyond price.

By creating sustainability in the supply chain, businesses not only secure long-term quality relationships with their suppliers, but are also responding to consumer demand which shows people are buying Fairtrade mark products regularly.”

Recent research by Feel shows that despite feeling the pinch, 92 per cent of consumers still claimed to be willing to pay extra for a product perceived to be ethical and, Fairtrade was shopper’s favoured type of ethical product.

“In these difficult economic times consumers are making more considered choices and Fairtrade is coming out on top which is good news for producers in developing countries who need Fairtrade now more than ever.

People in developing countries, who typically spend over 50 per cent of their income on food, are the most severely affected by rising global food costs. Many producers are also facing rising production costs as the price of fuel and other inputs soar.

Major commercial developments during 2008 include:

Tate & Lyle’s retail cane sugar range will be entirely Fairtrade by 2010. In the first year alone, this increases tenfold the total volumes of Fairtrade sugar sold in the UK.

Starbucks espresso-based coffees including its cappuccino, caffe latte and other espresso-based beverages will all be Fairtrade certified by the end of 2009. The 100 per cent Fairtrade Certified Espresso in the UK and Ireland forms part of a global plan that will mean Starbucks will become the largest purchaser of Fairtrade certified coffee in the world, doubling its global purchases to 40 million pounds (volume) in 2009.

The Co-operative switched its entire own brand hot beverage category – worth over £16million annually – to Fairtrade, including its 99Tea.

Sir Steve Redgrave launched a range of Fairtrade certified cotton menswear Five G in Debenhams and new Fairtrade certified cotton lines were launched in Top Shop and Top Man.

Sainsbury’s switched 95 per cent of their own label tea to Fairtrade. Over the next three years, their entire range of roast and ground coffee will move to Fairtrade.

The value of UK Fairtrade sales has grown more than tenfold since 2001, reaching nearly £500million in 2007 and now helps more than 7.5 million people to have more security and control over their lives.