FAIRTRADE

I have been buying Supervalu's brand of FAIRTRADE tea for a good while now. The fairtrade bit means that the product has been produced and traded to standards set by the Fairtrade organisation which, in turn, means that producers are adequately rewarded for their labour and the traders don't get up to any funny business.

I had been looking for a box for at least a week in my local Supervalu store but there was no sign of it. In one way I wasn't too surprised as they are always running out of things and the first to disappear is usually their own brand.

Anyway, I finally mentioned this to the staff and it sort of rang a bell. Apparently there had been some talk of re-branding and that it would be temporarily unavailable. They do this with things from time to time and it is both annoying and confusing.

Next thing one of the staff spotted the above box on the shelf. Lo and behold, the rebranded version under our very noses.

The style has been kept but the word "fairtrade" is now relegated to a subtitle and the product is now marketed under "Reserve Brand".

Apart from feeling a bit of a fool for not spotting it, I have been mulling over the change and wondering about the logic behind it.

I haven't quite finished my mulling and comments would be welcome below after you've had a think about it.

To facilitate the comparison I have reproduced the two versions together below. You will notice that the 80 bags are now packed into a very slightly smaller space.

http://www.fairtrade.net/standards.html