With 10,300 tons of organic Fairtrade bananas sold in 2020, Lidl wants to offer certified conventional bananas from Colombia and Ghana (currently being tested in eastern France). According to Michel Biero, executive director of purchasing and marketing at Lidl France: “If this test proves to be successful, with a plebiscite among consumers for this new reference, the initiative to offer Fairtrade/Max Havelaar bananas will be deployed more widely in France.”
An offer based on the current price of conventional bananas at 1.49 € [1.82 USD] per kg (basic range at 0,99 € [1.21 USD] per package and Fairtrade organic bananas at 1.99 € [2.44 USD] per kg).
Fairtrade/Max Havelaar and organic certified bananas already represent 11% of its volumes. With the new conventional bananas, the percentage of Fairtrade certified bananas will then reach 67%.
“In addition to the minimum price, 497,665 € [609,401 USD] of development premiums have been paid to banana cooperatives in 2020 thanks to consumer purchases at Lidl,” explains Blaise Desbordes, general director of Max Havelaar France. “This has enabled the implementation of collective projects to improve production (infrastructure, agricultural diversification, training…) and services to the community (schooling for young people, access to health services, collective infrastructure etc).”
Source: lineaires.com