Christmas shopping set to be the most ethical on record

Greenhouse

Good news for ethical business and the planet - this year could be the most ethical Christmas on record, according to the latest Ethical Consumer Markets Report published by Triodos Bank and Ethical Consumer, which shows how sales of ethical goods have grown dramatically over the last year.
The overall ethical market grew by 3.2% in a year when growth generally was below 1%. The UK's ethical market is now worth £81.3 billion across 27 business sectors, according to the latest edition of the report, which has tracked ethical spending since 1999.
Greenhouse worked with Triodos Bank to promote the report findings:
Merchandise
- Sales of ethical products in the UK are continuing to grow faster than those of ordinary products, for the fourteenth year in a row.
- Sales of ethical clothing increased by 22.4% and the sector is now worth £36 million.
- In a YouGov survey carried out as part of the report, local shopping for environmental reasons was up by 16%.
- Ethical food and drink has seen 9.7% growth, while conventional foods struggle.
- The organic food and drink market grew to £1.81 billion, a year-on-year increase of 3.8%.
- Sales of sustainable fish increased by 36.9% and the sector is now worth £694 million.
- In a YouGov survey carried out as part of the report, the number of vegetarians increased by 30%.

- Neal’s Yard Remedies (above) has some great options friends or relatives who value good toiletries. The award-winning organic health and beauty company was one of the original pioneers of ethical cosmetics when it opened its doors in 1981. It now offers the largest selection of organic, natural and chemical-free beauty products in the UK.
- Sweet-toothed relatives are sure to appreciate a gift from award-winning craft chocolate producer Chocolate Tree. They use heritage cacao varieties farmed without pesticides from farms in Peru, Colombia, Venezuela and Madagascar. This allows them to create fine flavour chocolate while protecting biodiversity and rewarding farmers with a premium price for their produce.
- For coffee lovers, there are now many Fairtrade and organic options available. Cafédirectwas the first 100% Fairtrade hot drinks brand in the UK. The social enterprise goes further than many others, investing 50% of its profits to date into the Cafédirect Producers’ Foundation, a UK-based charity that is run by farmers, for farmers, in 14 countries across the world.