Fair trade and organic products (Sainsbury's SavaCentre)

Member Name: stmatth

Product:	Sainsbury's SavaCentre
Date:	14/08/00 (575 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quality; fair trade products

Disadvantages: Expensive

To be honest, the main reason why I shop at Savacentre (Edinburgh Cameron Toll) is plain simply because there are no other supermarkets in reasonable distance from my flat. And it seems that Savacentre does take full advantage of the the lack of competitors - everything seems to be a bit more expensive than it could be. However, for me quality is more important than price, and Savacentre does have the advantage of offering an amazing range of high quality products that you would not find in other supermarkets.
One of my favourites is good solid black rye bread from the continent - wins easily against the soft and flavourless white bread that dominates the British market.
More important is the range of organic and fair trade products. In fair trade products, the producers get a higher share of the profits, and they are often produced by farming cooperatives rather than big companies. By buying fair trade products one can directly support a sustainably economy in poorer countries. Furthermore, as the use of pesticides is one of the biggest health hazards to farmers in e.g. Mesoamerica, the organic option directly can save lives.
I am glad that Savacenter stocks organic and/or fair trade products for many product categories. But where have the organic bananas gone? It seems that I am again forced to buy big American Chiquitas and Doles. Well, they won the recent US-European banana trade wars, so I guess we don't have much choice.....

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