NOW CLOSED: Do you buy Fairtrade products? Share your views (and hear about The Big Fair Bake) – and you could win a fab Baking Goodie Bag worth £100

[AnnMumsnet]

We've been asked by The Fairtrade Foundation to find out your thoughts on why Fairtrade products aren't bought by more people and also to encourage you to get involved in the Big Fair Bake.

Add your thoughts below - or share how you're getting involved (including who (person, group etc) you'd love to bake for) for a chance to win a lovely Baking Goodie Bag (worth £100).

The Fairtrade Foundation say "we think baking tastes better when you share it, so we want The Big Fair Bake to inspire the nation to bake for others. It's as simple as buying a few Fairtrade ingredients, popping on your pinny or rolling up your sleeves and baking up a treat - not just for friends, family, colleagues, but also the farming communities in developing countries who grew the ingredients".

"Baking with Fairtrade ingredients is one easy way for everyone to make a difference to millions of people who desperately need a better deal from trade. Without a fair price for the crops they grow, many farmers struggle to support their families. Fairtrade offers farmers and workers the safety net of a fair price today and a little extra to invest in projects which benefit the whole community, such as clean water, education and health care".

"The good news is that sales of Fairtrade products have reached £1.3 billion in the UK, however this still only accounts for 3% of all our food and drink purchases"

The Fairtrade Foundation would love to know your thoughts on what would make you bake with more Fairtrade ingredients? How can they encourage others to do so too?

Let us know what you think and you'll be entered into a prize draw where one Mumsnetter will win a fantastic Bake Goodie Bag, packed with £100 worth of Tala baking equipment, Fairtrade baking ingredients (including cocoa, vanilla, nuts, chocolate and dried fruit), cake decorations and complementary Fairtrade products to enjoy with your cakes, including tea and coffee.

You can find out more about The Big Fair Bake here.

Thanks and good luck!
MNHQ

[blondiedollface]

We buy fairtrade bananas and coffee as I know about the benefits of these products and a few pence more on just these 2 items does not massively impact on our family budget. The importance of fairtrade to our family is huge and we do try to do what we can but in the current financial crisis what we want to do for fairtrade and what we are able to do are vastly different!

[stephgr]

I buy Fairtrade as much as I can but the products tend to be more expensive so I can't always stretch the budget. If there were lower prices, promotions or extra offers then I think more people would buy Fairtrade.

[nextphase]

Oh, and totally unrelated to cooking, but we actually have fairtrade cotton school trousers here at the moment. Mainly because they were cotton and not anything else, and they had an adjustable waist, but they are lovely. I also have a couple of fairtrade cotton teeshirts.

[VainViolet]

I think fairtrade need to intergrate more with similar products. I have 4 children and shop in Aldi and free range chickens are more or less the same price as non free range so it's a no brainer, I will always buy free range. Can the fairtrade brand work more with supermarkets such as Aldi who mostly sell their own brand of goods? So we could buy fairtrade aldi chocolate for example.

[SirBoobAlot]

I buy fair trade where I can. Having just checked my cupboard, all my baking stuff is fair trade. I'd like to see more things fair trade automatically.

Clothing is hideously expensive, and whilst I know that sounds very selfish, unfortunately sometimes I have to put our own finances first.

[mummymccar]

I try to buy Fair Trade but to be honest I think that there needs to be more public education. Sometimes economics comes down to it, but I concentrate more on the taste when I'm choosing what to buy. If that product is Fair Trade then that is even better. I know that if there was more public demand for FT products then more established brands and household names would make the changes needed. This can only be achieved if the public understands more about fair trade.
My mum and my nan also bake but know nothing about Fair Trade and how the system works so they'll just buy the brands that they recognise.

[Trills]

I've just ordered some fairtrade coffee instead of my usual stuff - it had better be nice!

[roguepixie]

I always buy Fairtrade when the option is there: chocolate, bananas, tea, spices, sugar etc. Sometimes these items are the more expensive out of the choice available but I opt for the Fairtrade versions as they help support the farmers in those communities. The more people chose Fairtrade the clearer the message becomes that we want to support the efforts of those less fortunate than us.

[putri]

We buy fair trade when there is an option. We like the idea behind Fair Trade and support it. As for baking, I can't bake but hubby does and I do buy FT ingredients when possible.

[Jinsei]

Availability is key for me - I always buy fair trade products if I can find them, even if they are more expensive, but it isn't always possible to get what you need. Before we moved house, we used to shop in sainsbury's and I found that they stocked loads of fair trade items, but the one where we live now is much smaller so we don't really go there any more. Tend to shop in Tesco now, and there doesn't seem to be as much. I still by fair trade coffee always, and do without bananas if I don't like the look of the fair trade ones, but I do sometimes get ordinary sugar if I can't see the fair trade stuff. Have never noticed much in the way of fair trade baking stuff (except chocolate, which I do buy) but would buy it if I saw it.

Fair trade is an issue that is quite close to my heart. I have been buying some fair trade stuff for 20 years but the issue really hit home when I married DH as he is from a poor farming community in a developing country. They work so incredibly hard but get so little for their efforts. It only seems fair that they should be paid a decent price for the stuff that they grow - why should the middleman take it all?

The big fair bake sounds like a great idea. :)

[Firewall]

We buy a lot of fair trade products when it is easy to find the fair trade substitute. For baking especially it is generally quite easy to pick fairtrade products (sugar, cocoa/chocolate) especially when the fair trade version is along side the other brands on shelf. Not only that, the fair trade prices arent drastically different therefore even though times are tough, we feel it's still the right thing to do. I find baking with fair trade products feel a lot more 'natural' and the result from the baking is better and taste better.

I think showing kids where products like chocolate are made and how they are made would help. Showing them the labour and process that is involved and educating them about fair trade.

[VivaLeBeaver]

I think sometimes its because it isn't very visable what's Fairtrade.

I buy Fairtrade bananas as the stickers make it obvious.

Never crosses my mind with other products. I'll look next time I shop and if its not that much more I'll try and get more Fairtrade stuff. I don't mind paying a few pence extra but not 20p.

[WomanlyWoman]

It's a tricky one. I buy some fairtrade products. Reasons I don't buy more include; price, availability and habit.

I tend to stick to buying the same things and try new things only if they look extra enticing for some reason or if there is a special offer on. I just don't notice fairtrade products a lot of the time too.

Maybe emphasis needs to be on the fact that the quality makes them good value, as obviously many people see them as too pricey. People do want to be fair, but also love bargains so perhaps some way of making them seem like more of a bargain?

feeling guilty now

[Notgoingtotakeitanymore]

It's not always obvious what is fair trade. When shopping quickly I tend to just go for the standard sainsburys brand as it is prominently placed.
I have bought a lot of fair trade things at xmas, e.g. froom Oxfam catalogue - it reminds me to do this.

[californiaburrito]

I regularly buy FT items but there are a few exceptions- for instance vanilla extract/paste because of the quality of the non FT product. (I do try to do FT vanilla beans but not always). I am happy to pay about 10-15% more on a product if it is FT.

But I think FT can be a difficult sell because it seems complicated, there's a lot of scary economics and politics involved. And also, accusations of manufactures making a higher profit margin on FT products is worrying.

[AnnMumsnet]

Thanks for all the comments.
thefudgeling has been pulled out of the hat as the winner of the Fairtrade goodies. Congrats.