Fairtrade products increasingly popular with Belgians

Never before have Belgians bought so many Fairtrade products. This is what De Standaard and Le Soir wrote Monday, based on figures from Fairtrade Belgium, the Belgian branch of the international Fairtrade organisation. The fair trade market has grown by 20 per cent compared to 2021.

The total market value of all Fairtrade products sold in Belgium in 2022 was 312 million euros, an increase of 85 per cent in five years. Chocolate and bananas are doing exceptionally well.

"Fairtrade has had an excellent 2022," says Philippe Weiler, CEO of Fairtrade Belgium. "By expanding our product range, we are reaching more consumers, who are also increasingly willing to pay more for fair production. These are very good results, especially in a year when consumers have had to cope with sharp increases in the cost of food and electricity".

Yet the total market value of Fairtrade products is still only 1 per cent. In fact, the total value of the entire Belgian retail sector was estimated by the knowledge platform Gondola Academy at 30.8 billion euros in 2022.

^{© BELGA PHOTO ALINE BRUGMANS}