UK: Banana eating bonanza at Co-op with fairtrade introduction

Employees at the Co-op, in Easington Colliery, have taken part in a banana-eating bonanza along with 25,000 other Co-op workers from across the UK.
Members of staff at the Seaside Lane store spent the day monkeying around after the Co-op announced it is to introduce Fairtrade bananas into all 3,000 of its shops for the first time.

Manager of Easington Colliery Co-op Robert Brown said: "We don't mind making monkeys of ourselves if it helps to promote this a-peeling initiative and encourage many more shoppers to support Fairtrade."

The Co-op introduced the UK's first Fairtrade banana back in 2000 and currently sells around 22 million Fairtrade bananas a year.

But by improving their relationship with producers in Ghana, Ecuador and Costa Rica, the company is hoping that this figure could rise to 43 million within a year.
The Co-operative Group's chief executive of food retail, Guy McCracken, said: "The Co-op has led the way in making Fairtrade mainstream and with more people than ever looking to buy Fairtrade and help producers and their families in the developing countries, this great news means that all our shoppers from Shetland to Penzance, can support Fairtrade by buying the UK's favourite fruit."

Source: cantonrep.com