The popularity of Fairtrade products worldwide is emphatically demonstrated through the latest statistics. £1.6bn was spent on Fairtrade certified products in 2007 according to the Fairtrade Association. This phenomenal number was a 47 percent increase on the previous year. £712.6m was spent on these products in the UK in 2008. These statistics just go to show how important purchasing products which contain the Fairtrade trademark are becoming to consumers. But what actually constitutes a Fairtrade product, and why buy Fairtrade over regular products?

Fairtrade is a strategy to combat poverty and allows for the sustainable development of producers and workers in developing countries. The purpose is to create opportunities for those disadvantaged by the conventional trading system. Products are sold using the international Fairtrade Mark to get a better deal for these people.

When put in terms of the people the products are sold to help, over 7 million people, including farmers and workers, from 58 developing countries, directly benefitted from the total sales of Fairtrade products in 2007.

This goes to show that Fairtrade is a conscious way that people can make an effort help to support these people in developing countries. If we look at the sales of Fairtrade coffee in the UK, just £13.7m was sold back in 1998. However, in 2008, this had increased tenfold to £137.3m. These staggering findings demonstrate the growing clamour for Fairtrade products such as coffee.

Many businesses are now recognising the fact that people are demanding more Fairtrade products in the UK, with these sales figures just underlining this fact. Next time you look to buy your bag of coffee beans you may want to consider Fairtrade.

As a coffee lover myself, I have been enjoying this uplifting beverage since I was just a young lad. I have always known that tea was brought in to Britain in the seventeenth century, but the history of coffee is not as widely known.

The actual origin of the word “coffee” was entered into the English language in 1598 as a variation on the Italian “caffe”, which was created from the Turkish “kahve” and the Arabic “gahwa” which translates as ‘wine of the bean’.

The history of coffee has actually been recorded as far back as the ninth century. It was first cultivated in Ethiopia where there were many myths relating to its discovery, however, it was not long before the Arab world found out about this rich, exportable treasure. Coffee beans later moved into northern Africa. From there began mass cultivation.

The beans soon entered the Indian and European markets, as its popularity began to spread far and wide.

Italy was the first European country to import coffee due to the vibrant trade with Muslims in North Africa, Egypt and the East. This resulted in the opening of the first European coffee house in 1645.

As with tea, coffee became widely available in England through the efforts of the British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company, towards the end of the sixteenth century. The first known coffeehouse in England was opened in St. Michael’s Alley in Cornhill. By 1675 there were more than 3,000 coffeehouses in England.

Most people would expect tea to have historically been the beverage of choice for Britain – but history tells us a different story. It was indeed coffee, and not tea, that got here first. Today, there are coffee houses everywhere in Britain and many people choose to have coffee machines in their homes.