The full press release below is from the Fairtrade Foundation and is also available on their site.

The global economic downturn made 2009 an incredibly tough year for the world’s poor seeking a fair deal for their produce, the Fairtrade Foundation will tell stakeholders at a evening reception today in London to mark the launch of Fairtrade Fortnight 2010 (22 February – 7 March 2010). The global economic turndown has been felt worst in developing countries, where an estimated 50-90 million more people were thrown into extreme poverty in 2009, according to UN Millennium Development Goal figures. Meanwhile, here in the UK, just over 7 in 10 people told YouGov that they cut back on their personal budgets in some way as a result of the recession, such as eating out less. Yet the UK public has remained staunchly loyal resulting in another increase in the value of Fairtrade sales, up on 2008 by 12% to an estimated retail value of over £799m, and 71% (who don’t already buy everything they can Fairtrade) of people say they are willing to swap one or more products to Fairtrade in the next two weeks, according to the new YouGov poll commissioned by the Foundation.

‘2009 was a tough year for everyone, but a desperate year for many poor communities and small farmers in developing countries,’ says Harriet Lamb, Chief Executive of the Fairtrade Foundation, will say. ‘For millions of growers and their families and communities, Fairtrade was able to make the difference that has helped them survive a difficult year and plan for the future. It is to the credit of the decent British and Irish public that they do care and, despite the recession, they are still voting with their wallets for fairness and want to change the indignities of an unjust trading system. These challenging times have been a wake-up call and forward-thinking companies have also been re-evaluating their priorities, seeing sustainability as the way forward for business, building relations with producers and introducing many Fairtrade products in the past year.’

Business momentum for Fairtrade continued to grow throughout 2009 fuelling sales growth, with a string of major commitments. Mainstream moves to Fairtrade included Cadbury Dairy Milk, all Starbucks espresso-based coffee, Nestle’s four-finger KitKat, Sainsbury’s rolling out their commitment to convert all their tea and coffee, Morrison’s converting all their roast and ground coffee, Tesco converting Tesco Finest Tea and Tate & Lyle converting their retail sugar. And, with the new Fairtrade standards for cosmetics, companies like Boots, Lush, Bubble & Balm, and Neal’s Yard all introduced Fairtrade lines. This week Ben & Jerry’s announced that they will be going 100% Fairtrade in the UK and throughout Europe by the end of 2011 and globally by end 2013 – which means that every ingredient they use, from sugar to nuts to cocoa, that can be Fairtrade certified, will be. And last month Green & Black’s announced they will switch their entire range of chocolate bars and beverages to 100% Fairtrade by the end of 2011. These moves complement earlier big swaps: all M & S tea, coffee, bagged sugar and conserves are Fairtrade, all own-label beverages at the Co-op are Fairtrade, all bananas sold in Sainsbury’s and Waitrose are Fairtrade, all coffee at Pret A Manger, EAT and AMT Coffee is Fairtrade whilst pioneering companies such as Cafédirect, Divine Chocolate, Liberation, Traidcraft, Equal Exchange and Bishopston Trading Company apply Fairtrade principles throughout their business.

International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander who will be on a panel at the launch says: ‘Farmers and producers in some of the world’s poorest countries have suffered at the sharp end of the economic crisis and, in many cases, it is thanks to Fairtrade that they have been able to feed their families and keep their children in education. The label’s success on the high street is testament to UK shoppers’ desire to make a difference through their everyday purchases. I'm delighted that the Government’s recent promise of £12m for Fairtrade will help increase the amount of products on our supermarket shelves and support thousands of extra families in the years ahead.’

Fairtrade Fortnight 2010 has the theme of ‘The Big Swap’ to rally people across the UK and Ireland to swap everyday shopping basket items such as tea, coffee, chocolate, cotton tee-shirts, pineapples, bananas, cakes, sugar and a host of other products for Fairtrade ones during the fortnight. Fairtrade Fortnight is the annual nationwide campaign to promote awareness of Fairtrade and encourage people to buy products which carry the FAIRTRADE Mark in order to help farmers in developing countries. Attending this evening’s reception will be around 300 Fairtrade campaigners, retailers, manufacturers, producers, consumers and government ministers.

‘This extraordinary support for Fairtrade means we are well placed to make an even bigger difference in 2010. We are redoubling our efforts to expand Fairtrade to more producers, enabling them to sell more on Fairtrade terms,’ Harriet Lamb will say. ‘Fairtrade Fortnight 2010 is focussed on the Big Swap. The message is unequivocal, for producers to benefit, shoppers must actually put Fairtrade products in their baskets – they can only sell more if we buy more.’

Research shows that even among people who are likely to agree with the ideals behind Fairtrade, entrenched shopping habits sometimes prevent them from consciously looking for and choosing new Fairtrade products. The Big Swap shows shoppers how easy it can be to break out of old shopping habits and start new ones – especially as more than 4,500 products are now licensed to carry the FAIRTRADE Mark.

With companies rallying behind the Big Swap theme with point-of-sale material and signing up to major product swaps for 2010, consumers should find it easy to make the Big Swap and help reach the Fairtrade Fortnight campaign target of one million and one swaps. During Fairtrade Fortnight, the Fairtrade Foundation will tot up product swaps on a special online swap-o-meter at www.bigswap.org.uk

Business Big Swaps include:
Chocolate:
· Divine Chocolate, the only Fairtrade chocolate company co-owned by cocoa farmers, has bought the first shipment of Fairtrade cocoa from Sierra Leone so chocolate lovers will be enjoying it in all Divine’s products.

· Cadbury Dairy Milk – already a Fairtrade product –- is celebrating Fairtrade Fortnight by releasing an album Big Swap Songs which includes an exclusive track by Paolo Nutini plus five other UK chart hits covered by Ghanaian group, The Big Ghana Band. The release has been created as a free thank you to anyone who swaps to any Fairtrade product during the fortnight.
· Dorset Cereals is offering two Fairtrade Chocolate granolass using Fairtrade chocolate

Coffee
Starbucks are offering their first 100%Fairtrade certified whole bean coffee from Rwanda, after switching all their espresso-based coffee to Fairtrade during the year

Nuts
Harry Hill is going nuts for the new look given to his own brand of Fairtrade nut snacks Harry's Nuts!

Sugar:
· The UK’s largest caterer, Compass, has committed to purchasing 100% Fairtrade sugar across its business by June 2010 with sugar sachets available in Fairtrade Fortnight

Cotton:
· ASOS is launching a fashionable new Fairtrade jersey wear collection.
· Tesco has agreed to double the number of Fairtrade cotton school uniforms in its stock.
· People Tree is introducing a new collaboration with Emma Watson which features a range of younger fashion styles aimed at the teen/youth market.
· Warehouse is bringing new innovative designs made from 100% Fairtrade cotton to their Warehouse Cares label, roll-up trousers, blouses and button camisoles.

Tea:
· Oxfam shops are swapping tea for donations – anyone bringing in a bag of quality donations to an Oxfam shop will get a free box of 40 Cafédirect tea bags as a swap in return.
· Sainsbury’s remains on track to convert all of its own-brand tea to Fairtrade for Fairtrade Fortnight (adding to its existing 100% Fairtrade ranges of bananas, sugar, roast and ground coffee).
· There is up to 20% off selected Fairtrade products at Co-operative and Somerfield stores, including the retailer’s iconic 99 Tea range, to encourage shoppers to switch their cuppa to Fairtrade. Clipper Teas has switched all of its green tea range to Fairtrade, with new packs in store for Fairtrade Fortnight. Clipper was one of the first products to receive the FAIRTRADE Mark in 1994.

Cosmetics:
· Bulldog, the UK’s largest natural skincare brand for men has launched a range of Fairtrade products including shaving gel and moisturiser. The range contains green tea from Sri Lanka, Shea butter from Ghana and sugar from Paraguay.
· Boots has added a new Fairtrade Honey Body Butter to its Extracts range, using Fairtrade honey from Chile.

Meanwhile Fairtrade supporters and campaigners have already registered tens of thousands of swaps on the Fairtrade Foundation website. Pupils at Ysgol Llangynfelyn primary school, Ceredigion, say there are already many Fairtrade products all over the school, from the tea, coffee and sugar in the staff room to Fairtrade cotton uniforms for pupils, but they are going to be totting up further swaps between them this Fairtrade Fortnight.

The Diocese of Ely made the swap to Fairtrade – 160 churches, half in the diocese, now serve Fairtrade tea, coffee and biscuits. Brunel University, which achieved Fairtrade university status in summer 2009, says more swaps are on their way on campus as they are looking into stocking Fairtrade cotton on campus, and trying to integrate Fairtrade into the curriculum for business students.

Businesses are also involved. A hairdressing salon, Hair, in Leigh on Sea has been turning heads among locals by offering Fairtrade coffee during a cut. They aim to encourage more hairdressers and beauty salons to use Fairtrade products in the Borough of Southend.

As Britain and Ireland are famously nations of tea drinkers, the Fairtrade Foundation is also releasing a briefing paper today on the international tea trade which includes a call to ‘swap your cuppa.’ Stirring up the Tea Trade describes the problems faced by many who work within the global tea industry – and highlights the differences which, uniquely, can by made with Fairtrade. In the YouGov poll, 28% of respondents (those who don’t already buy everything they can Fairtrade) chose tea as one of the products they would be willing to swap to Fairtrade during the next two weeks.

Mr Greaves Balraj Henriksen, Fairtrade Officer for the United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co Ltd in Tamil Nadu, south India, featured in the briefing, is one of several producers touring the UK for Fairtrade Fortnight, speaking to Fairtrade campaign groups in towns, schools, universities and colleges up and down the country. He will begin his tour speaking at the evening reception in London. He will describe to the gathering how, with the Fairtrade premium, workers at the United Nilgiri Tea Estates have been able to buy school buses, equip the hospital with a ultrasound scanner and other medical equipment, buy pressure cookers and gas stoves for homes, buy furniture for the community hall and, something of which they are most proud, provide pensions. He will explain that they have been able to do all of this and more selling only 10% of their tea on Fairtrade terms to the UK, Japan, Germany and the US, but that now they want to increase their sales on Fairtrade terms: ‘I have a message for the UK people: buy more Fairtrade teas, make us happy, make the community happy where a lot of lives have benefitted out of this. Keep buying Fairtrade teas.’

Supermodel and TV presenter Lisa Butcher will also speak at the evening reception about her recent experience of visiting cotton farmers of Agrocel Pure & Fair Cotton Growers’ Association, in Gujarat, India who supply the UK Fairtrade market. ‘Now that I have seen for myself the difference Fairtrade can make, I believe that the fashion world should consider using more Fairtrade cotton,’ Lisa will say.