PROTESTERS have taken part in a peaceful protest to challenge Sainsbury’s decision to abandon the Fairtrade mark on some of its own-brand tea in favour of a new in house scheme.

A protest took place at Sainsbury’s, in Wallop Drive, Hatch Warren, on Saturday, 28 October where Jill Gibson and Marianne Weineck sought to raise awareness of Sainsbury’s decision to replace the Fairtrade Mark on its Red Label tea and selected other teas in favour of its own ‘fairly traded’ version.

Currently Fairtrade guarantees tea producers receive and additional premium payment on top of the price for their tea to invest into their business.

Campaigners are concerned that tea farmers will lose control of the social premium they would earn under Sainsbury’s alternative scheme, with suppliers instead having to apply to a UK-based board for their funding.

On its website, the supermarket has stated that the pilot period for this new version of Fairtrade will bring benefits above and beyond the current systems and the farmers have welcomed the trial.

The new scheme means that the money raised for the farmers will now be held by a board in London, with farmers having to apply for it like a grant and Sainsbury’s will decide how the money is distributed.

Jill said: “We spoke to hundreds of Sainsbury’s shoppers and highlighted the fact the tea is not fair trade anymore, but is instead an in-house scheme that disempowers farmers and means they can’t decide themselves how to spend the extra money.

“Many shoppers were very surprised and shocked as so many people had admired Sainsbury’s for being such pioneers and ambassadors of the Fairtrade campaign.”

She added: “I have to say that Sainsbury’s management were very polite and accommodating.

“They didn’t want to comment but said we were entitled to our opinion and let us carry on, so we stood right at the entrance campaigning and leafleting all afternoon.

“It was political activism but not as we know it, it was all very civilised.”

The pair looked the part and donned a teapot headpiece and earrings made from teabags during the protest.

So far the online petitions asking Sainsbury’s to keep the Fairtrade mark has already attracted more than 130,000 signatures and campaigners are urging members of the public to sign the petition.

The supermarket states that the tea farmers are free to sell their tea to other purchasers as there is no exclusivity clauses in its relationships with suppliers, but they remain with Sainsbury’s for the benefits to their wider business as well as their communities.

A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: “Our Fairly Traded tea pilot will deliver even more benefits to farmers in Africa than the current Fairtrade model.

“We should be judged on the benefits we can bring to some of the most deprived communities in the world - not by which logo is on the packet of our tea.”

To find out more information about Sainsbury’s Fairtrade policy, and the proposed new scheme visit; j-sainsbury.co.uk/discover-more/fairly-traded