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  amba nature Fairtrade Fortnight offer

  Celebrate Fairtrade Fortnight and receive 20% off all items with free UK delivery for orders over £50. Simply enter FF2010 in the Discount Voucher Code box in the shopping cart for 20% discount!! Offer ends 7 March 2010. Buy online at www.ambanature.co.uk

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  How deep is Consumer Demand for Fair Trade?

  The most recent data show that the sale of Fair Trade Certified products continued growing strongly last year- an expansion that as been slowed but by no means halted by the current economic recession. This both heartens Fair Trade advocates and suggests future growth in the amounts and range of products that consumers are willing to pay more for in the name of social justice. While the limits to that expansion are hard to predict, several indices-sales data, an international survey of consumer opinions, and the recent large-scale involvement of major corporate retailers- suggest the phenomenon has considerably further to go before exhausting its potential for growth. Globally, the sale of Fair Trade products grew 22% in 2008 to $4.3 billion.

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  Fairtrade Fights Banana Price War

  Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO) is raising the Fairtrade minimum price for bananas to its highest level to date despite downward spiraling supermarket prices. FLO considers the move necessary to satisfy producer needs in the face of rising costs of production.

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  People Tree & Emma Watson collaboration

  Launching in late February 2010, this exciting, long awaited collection brings a youthful and inspiring edge to Fair Trade fashion! "I wanted to help People Tree produce a younger range because I was excited by the idea of using fashion as a tool to alleviate poverty and knew it was something I could help make a difference with. It has been the most incredible gap year project."

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  £12 million investment for Fairtrade

  The Fairtrade Foundation is celebrating 15 years of the FAIRTRADE Mark with news that the UK Government is to provide £12 million over the next four years in funding to Fairtrade and its international partners in the Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International (FLO) in order to scale up its work supporting farmers in developing countries to access better terms of trade in global markets.

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  Starbucks to become 100% fairtrade certified

  Starbucks and the Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO) have announced that by March 2010, every cappuccino, latte, mocha and other espresso-based beverage served in Starbucks in Europe will be Starbucks™ Shared Planet™ and Fairtrade Certified.

"Our time for change has come"

So said Barack Obama, the newly sworn in 44th President of the United States, and he's absolutely right too! As the newly elected leader of the "Free World", he has the power to make real change happen, both at home and abroad. This prospect excites us at bestfairtrade.com a great deal.

We are also excited about some change that is starting to happen a bit closer to home. We intend to launch the USA version of our site towards the end of 2009, to keep up to date more efficiently with the significantly smaller, but rapidly growing USA Fair Trade Industry. Look out for exciting updates later this year...

We will continue to listen carefully to our users over the coming months to continue to refine bestfairtrade.com so please do get in touch with any ideas or comments about any part of the site - we are grateful for all feedback, good or bad!

What is bestfairtrade.com? (For those that don't already know)

bestfairtrade.com is an online guide to all aspects of the Fair Trade industry, from producers to end-retailers, and everywhere in between! The main aim of the site is to act as a relative 'Private Eye' for the Fair Trade Industry, not placing our focus on simply being another listings site, but aspiring to engage with consumers through interesting and relevant news broadcasts, instead of bombarding them with relentless sales offers and uninteresting pieces of information.

The directory is divided up into easy to navigate categories – everything from large on-line retailers to small start up companies who pride themselves in promoting their fairly traded products. We hope that we have made it as easy as possible for you to find what you are looking for – and hopefully to find other exciting things along the way!

Please register with us so that we can keep in touch – you will receive our newsletter and information about special promotions and events.

You will now be able to rest easy in the knowledge that you have contributed to the welfare of a farmer or craftsman somewhere in the world, and that they too will be able to sleep peacefully tonight!