Sales of Fairtrade bananas are holding up despite record low prices on conventional fruit, according to reports.

Asda reported that volume sales of loose conventional bananas had risen ten per cent since it cut the price to 38p/kg last Friday.

But despite the uplift, it insisted sales of Fairtrade remained constant and had not been damaged - proof that Fairtrade bananas are a great addition to any office fruit box.

Waitrose, which only stocks Fairtrade bananas, said its sales had also been unaffected.

"There has been no impact, sales growth is in line with the fruit and veg category," a spokeswoman told the Grocer

The figures were evidence of the loyalty of Fairtrade shoppers, said one industry source.

According to the Guardian, a third of banana sales are now Fairtrade.

However senior Fairtrade figures warned the industry would be damaged if it became embroiled in a price war.

And the charity SOS Children’s Villages have warned a UK supermarket banana price war would spell catastrophe for the women farming them on the other side of the world.

 

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