Asda Broadens Range of Fair Trade Products
LEEDS, England - U.K. grocer Asda yesterday introduced four new Cafedirect hot beverage lines in response to the success of this year's Fairtrade Fortnight, a two-week awareness campaign that, according to the retailer, led to a huge increase in sales of fair trade products at the its stores.
The supermarket company, which is owned by Wal-Mart, has now added Cafedirect Decaffeinated Roast & Ground coffee, Cafedirect 5065 premium freeze dried coffee, Cafedirect 5065 Decaffeinated Organic premium freeze dried coffee, and Teadirect black tea to expand its total Cafedirect offer to nine lines.
Lisa Short, tea and coffee buyer at Asda, said the sales surge was a result of the company's in-store awareness campaign. "During Fairtrade Fortnight we produced point-of-sale materials for all our stores, conducted dry sampling of products, and distributed thousands of leaflets jointly produced by Asda and Cafedirect. The results have been remarkable," she noted.
Cafedirect general sales manager Siobhan Molloy said: "Asda's tremendous sales story demonstrates that consumers understand the way in which we trade benefits everyone -- from the quarter of a million growers with whom we work to the increasing number of people who enjoy our excellent, 100 percent fair trade hot drinks."
Chris McCann, ethical trading manager at ASDA, added: "Events like Fairtrade Fortnight not only help increase customer awareness for the concept, but they also lead to incremental uplifts in sales. Our range of fair trade products, such as Cafedirect coffee and tea, has continued to perform extremely well as a result."
Cafedirect, the largest fair trade hot drinks company in the United Kingdom, has been in operation since 1991. The company buys its entire product direct from the growers.
The supermarket company, which is owned by Wal-Mart, has now added Cafedirect Decaffeinated Roast & Ground coffee, Cafedirect 5065 premium freeze dried coffee, Cafedirect 5065 Decaffeinated Organic premium freeze dried coffee, and Teadirect black tea to expand its total Cafedirect offer to nine lines.
Lisa Short, tea and coffee buyer at Asda, said the sales surge was a result of the company's in-store awareness campaign. "During Fairtrade Fortnight we produced point-of-sale materials for all our stores, conducted dry sampling of products, and distributed thousands of leaflets jointly produced by Asda and Cafedirect. The results have been remarkable," she noted.
Cafedirect general sales manager Siobhan Molloy said: "Asda's tremendous sales story demonstrates that consumers understand the way in which we trade benefits everyone -- from the quarter of a million growers with whom we work to the increasing number of people who enjoy our excellent, 100 percent fair trade hot drinks."
Chris McCann, ethical trading manager at ASDA, added: "Events like Fairtrade Fortnight not only help increase customer awareness for the concept, but they also lead to incremental uplifts in sales. Our range of fair trade products, such as Cafedirect coffee and tea, has continued to perform extremely well as a result."
Cafedirect, the largest fair trade hot drinks company in the United Kingdom, has been in operation since 1991. The company buys its entire product direct from the growers.