Only one in ten bananas sold in Germany currently comes from fair production. Lidl now wants to switch from cheap bananas to fair trade fruit, but if the competition does not come along, the discounter has a problem. "We really hope other in the trade will follow," says Jan Bock, Managing Director Purchasing at Lidl Germany in an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
Of a trade-wide switch -like the one that took place in the UK long ago- is currently no question. That is because in recent years, an 
extreme price pressure has arisen, explains Bock. "Prices have dropped for a long time; now a new low is reached," says Bock. Should Lidl back down because of the price pressure on bananas, "this would be a disaster," warns Frank Braßel, campaign manager at Oxfam Germany.
Price-sensitive product
Lidl has set itself the goal of sticking to the decision, "but of course we can not sell our bananas ten cents dearer than those of the competition for years on end," said Bock. Banana is one of those products consumers will use to compare price levels of different stores, as they do with milk and chocolate. That is why these goods are considered particularly price sensitive. Bananas, which are produced biologically and fair, are on offer at all traders, but they cost significantly more and account for only about ten percent of banana supplies.
Lidl wants to switch to Fairtrade fruits and hopes others will follow