Fairtrade

1992 - Cafedirect
The Co-op is the first major retailer to sell Fairtrade Mark Cafedirect coffee. It now stocks an expanding range of fair trade products.

1998 - Fairtrade Fortnight
The Co-op establishes itself as the leading retail supporter of Fairtrade Fortnight. In-store promotional features are supplemented when the Co-op mobilises its members by calling for voluntary membership action in-store to help raise consumer awareness of fairtrade.

1998 - Fairtrade Coffee Challenge
Following the introduction of Fairtrade coffee in all of its vending machines, The Co-operative Bank launches its Fairtrade Coffee Challenge' to encourage other companies to serve fairly traded coffee from their drink dispensers.

1999 - Fairtrade Products in all stores
The Co-op makes a strategic decision to stock a Fairtrade Mark tea and instant coffee in all of its stores, even the smallest community store. This means that the Co-op has the largest number of outlets selling Fairtrade Mark products. (All store stocking now includes Fairtrade chocolate and roast and ground coffee).

2000 - First supermarket own-brand fairly traded product
Working with The Day Chocolate Company, we become the first supermarket to launch a product that carries the FAIRTRADE mark - the Co-op Fair Trade Milk chocolate.

2000 - First Fairtrade Mark Bananas
The Co-op becomes the first retailer to bring Fairtrade Mark bananas to the UK. This move signals a breakthrough in the campaign to support small, independent producers and shows the Co-op's commitment to Fairtrade. When Co-op shoppers choose Fairtrade Mark Bananas they will be helping to improve the lives of many poor and marginalised producers.

2000 - Co-op Fair Trade Divine Milk Chocolate
Another Fairtrade First - The Co-op scores a supermarket first with the launch of its own label Fairtrade Milk Chocolate, in conjunction with the Day Chocolate Company, makers of Divine. The chocolate is the first in a number of own label Fairtrade products planned by the Co-op.

2000 - Fairtrade Pledge
Co-op supermarkets in partnership with the Co-operative Bank launch the Fairtrade Pledge which invites customers to pledge to buy one Fairtrade Mark product a month.

2000 - Co-op Fairtrade Roast and Ground Coffee
Another Supermarket first for the Co-op as it launches its third Co-op Brand Fair Trade product.

2001 - Co-op Fairly Traded Red Wine
The Co-op launches the UK's first supermarket fairly traded wine - Co-op Fair Trade Chilean Carmenere This is another ground breaking venture for the Co-op as at present no internationally agreed criteria exist for fair trade on wine, therefore it has been made possible to bring the product to our shelves through partnership with Traidcraft whose expertise in establishing fairly traded products has been used to set up a program of support and development for the producers of the wine, the Los Robles co-operative.

2002 - Co-op Fair Trade Mangoes
The Co-op's Fairtrade mangoes are the first Fairtrade mangoes to go on sale in the World. The Co-op - which also was the first British supermarket to stock Fairtrade bananas in 2000 - is thus continuing in its tradition of 'Fairtrade firsts'.

2002 - Chocolate range
Our Chocolate Report, a Food Crimes investigation into exploitation in the developing world, focuses on the poverty of West African cocoa growers and shows what a huge difference can be made by supporting fair trade. We take the momentous step of converting our entire own-brand block chocolate range to Fairtrade and campaign for others to follow our lead.

2002 - Co-op Fair Trade Crispy White Chocolate
The Co-op introduces a Crispy White Chocolate to its growing Fairtrade range. This white chocolate is unique to the Co-op.

2002 - Co-op Fairly Traded White Wine
Following the successful 2001 launch of the Co-op Fair Trade Chilean Carmenere - the Uk's first supermarket own brand fairly traded wine - the Co-op once again works in partnership with Traidcraft to bring another excellent product from the Los Robles co-operative to UK consumers.

2002 - Co-op Fair Trade Chocolate Cake
The ninth product to join the expanding range of Co-op own-brand fairly traded products is the delicious Co-op Fair Trade Chocolate Cake. The Fairtrade product of its kind, takes Fairtrade into a new product area and introduces many more customers to the concept of Fairtrade.

2002 - Co-op Fair Trade Pineapples
The Co-op brings the world's first Fairtrade pineapples to the UK. They are grown by the Asoproagroin association of pineapple farmers in Costa Rica.

2001 - 2002 - Fairtrade Awards
The Co-op's commitment to Fairtrade is recognized within the industry through prestigious awards including the highest accolade from our peers in the retail industry. The Co-op is confirmed as Multiple Retailer of the Year at the Prestigious Retail Industry Awards 2002, where the judges highlight our Fairtrade actions as one of the reasons. Other accolades include the award for in-store Promotion of the Year at the Retail Week Awards and the Retail Industry Award for Marketing Campaign of the year 2001 for our Fairtrade Campaign.

2003 - New coffee range
We strengthen our position as the UK's leading fair trade retailer with our decision to switch all Co-op brand coffee to Fairtrade. The conversion is set to boost the value of the UK.

2003 - World Aware Award
The Co-op scoops a major award at the Worldaware Business Awards in recognition of its commitment to fair trade. The Co-op receives the Award for Sustainable Development which recognizes the contribution that commercial activity can make to the sustainable growth of developing countries throughout the world.

2003 - New Co-op Fairly Traded Wines
The Co-op launches the first supermarket own brand fairly traded South African wines Co-op Fair Trade Cape Trinity and Co-op Fair Trade Cape Unity. At the same time, the Co-op launches the first fairly traded boxed wine, Co-op Fair Trade Chilean Shiraz Cabernet 3 litre.

2004 - Co-op Fair Trade set to double
We launch nine Fairtrade own-brand lines, including: Co-op sugar, Easter eggs, plums, pears and organic oranges, with 22 more to follow. This is part of our pledge to double the size of our own-brand range of fairtrade products by 2005.