Spring 2014 Supply Side Report
Free From Food 2014 to co-locate with Free From Food Ingredients 2014
The Free From Food Expo 2014, a European tradeshow focused on the ‘free from’ industry, announced that this year it will be co-locating with a new expo titled Free From Food Ingredients. This new expo will offer allergen, additive and intolerance solutions for food manufacturers and retailers. The two expos will run from 3-4 June 2014 at the Exhibition and Conference Centre in Brussels, Belgium.
More than 150 exhibitors from across Europe, including manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors and traders, will be at the Free From Food 2014 event. Visitors will be able to attend 25 seminars covering topics such as labels and certifications, importing and exporting trends, the gluten-free market in five years’ time and product development from the consumer’s perspective.
Fairtrade International overhauls Fairtrade Standard for Hired Labour
Fairtrade International, Bonn, Germany, said it overhauled its Fairtrade Standard for Hired Labour to strengthen the position of workers in Fairtrade-certified organisations producing tea, bananas and other fruit; cut flowers; herbs; vegetables; and sports balls.
The newly revised standard includes detailed requirements to guarantee workers’ right to freely organize and collectively bargain, Fairtrade International stated. Certified producer companies must not only declare this right publically to workers, but also allow unions to meet with workers and offer to engage in a collective agreement process with worker representatives if none is in place.
Fairtrade International also is introducing a new methodology to set living wage benchmarks and a clear process for plantations to progress toward offering workers a living wage. The new methodology was developed, and benchmarks already were set in some areas. Fairtrade International said it now is in the process of calculating rural living wage benchmarks for each region with Fairtrade-certified plantations.
The new Fairtrade Standard for Hired Labour was published on 15 January, Fairtrade International stated. It will go into effect in June.